Season 5, Episode 8 - In this week's episode of Drinking Socially, hosts Harrison Hickok and Kyle Roderick chat with Sierra Nevada's Innovation Supervisor, Isaiah Mangold, and Product Manager, Terence Sullivan. 'Tis the season for drinking Celebration - Sierra Nevada's Fresh Hop IPA - so kick back, crack one open and learn all about the history of this widely-beloved ale.

In this week's special episode of Drinking Socially, hosts Harrison Hickok and Kyle Roderick chat with Firestone Walker Co-Founder David Walker about how this iconic twenty-six year old brewery continues to innovate, their growing focus on sustainability, and the constant pursuit of the perfect beer.

Our guest on this week’s episode is Sam Tierney, Manager of The Propagator - Firestone Walker’s R&D Brewhouse. He joins Drinking Socially hosts Harrison Hickok and Kyle Roderick to talk about innovation, collaboration, and some current projects he’s working on.

In this week's episode of Drinking Socially hosts Harrison Hickok and Kyle Roderick chat with Sierra Nevada Innovation Brewmaster, Scott Jennings about how this crushable session IPA delivers such a full, hop-forward flavor without sacrificing body and hop intensity.

On this week's episode of Drinking Socially hosts Harrison Hickok and Kyle Roderick chat with Rogue Creative Director Evan Bartholomew and Innovation Manager Danny Connors about bringing the Monsters of IPA beasts and beers to life!

In this week’s episode of Drinking Socially, hosts Harrison Hickok and Kyle Roderick say hello to Firestone Walker Brewmaster Matt Brynildson. The six time winner of "Brew of the Year" at the Great American Beer Festival and wizard behind Firestone Walker's amazing beers will blow your minds as he chats about West Coast IPAs, new school hops, and Hopnosis.

A word from Harrison about the next few episodes of Drinking Socially. Follow us on social media to stay in the loop.

While many are enduring winters that are either an ice storm or cold rain, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is experiencing this season as something you can actually enjoy- with snow and skiing, and we're sure some BBA Narhwal in a Hot Chocolate mug and jumping in between the hot tub and the ski lift. They’ve captured the best part of winter in beer form with their new addition, Powder Day IPA, and hosts Jon Dispenza and Harrison Hickok are going to get to drink some of it with Scott Jennings, Innovation Brewer at Sierra Nevada. Whether you choose to spend your snow days by the fireplace or on the slopes, this episode of #DrinkingSocially is worth the listen.

More explosions, more mystery, more knife fights maybe? Season 4 had none of those things, so the bar is low for us. But not for the beer. We’re starting off this season strong with some beers that the hosts have never had and a badge that’s been a little too hot for us to handle - the Raising the Heat Badge! We're also sitting down with Joel Holland - one of the geniuses behind Harvest Hosts. If you love beer and adventures, you’re going to love everything Joel has to say. If you own or rent RV’s every year, you’re DEFINITELY going to love it, so stay tuned. And hop off the press is Hopculture's Beers With(out) Beards Festival, coming to Portland, Maine this April! Check it all out now on our season premiere of #DrinkingSocially.

Another season of #DrinkingSocially is in the books! As 2021 comes to a close, we are reminiscing on the past twelve month's best stories, jokes, and most importantly our Year in Beer. And what a year it was. We're also discussing the official Drinking Socially badge. Long story short, you all crushed it. Now it's time to relax, put your feet up, grab your favorite stein, as hosts Harrison Hickok and Jon Dispenza find themselves in all too familiar Lagerville one more time. But something is different. It smells like someone is trying to burn Lagerville down! What do we mean? One of the most historic beers of all time has the answer... and it's hopefully one that most of you can grab no problem to help push that Drinking Socially badge to the max! Cheers and we will see you next year! 🍻

Here we are again to celebrate another December 15th... A fabulous day for film history marking the release of such greats as Gone with the Wind, Million Dollar Baby, and Spice World. Oh yeah, and the day Untappd released its Year in Beer Wrap-up for 2021! We're celebrating all the new beer we had this year and there are many highlights we expect to see as the week rolls on, but this episode is all about the pioneer days. There are over 8,000 breweries in the US, over 11,000 in Europe, and Asia is catching up in craft, while still producing the most beer in the world! Only a few years ago China alone was making almost twice as much suds as the U.S. per year! So, Harrison is not lying when he says that we're in a golden age of beer, and we may even say we're in an even golder age for beer exploration. On this episode of #DrinkingSocially, hosts Harrison Hickok and Jon Dispenza are going to grab some supplies and head west, east, or downtown in the spirit of adventure and discovery. They'll be fording the rivers in their Honda Civics, and hunting for new breweries in their local bottle shops to discover their own version of a California gold rush. Let's join them for the ride.

If Oktoberfest is Lager-Christmas...then what is National Lager Day? Is it like a birthday party? How would one celebrate? What are the traditions? We couldn't find any so we made up a few! Maybe everyone leaves a cold, crispi boy on the front porch of the guy with the biggest lawnmower in the neighborhood and in exchange he promises not to mow the lawn before 9am for another season! Or maybe it's more mischievous, and on National Lager Day you're supposed to hide a lager somewhere in the house, and the first person to find it has to climb on your roof and drink it? Maybe it's simpler: perhaps take a self-care lager bath? Light some candles, put on some polka, and just vibe out. There's really no wrong way to enjoy it, but let us know what traditions you think there should be for this phenomenal holiday in the comments below! On this episode of #DrinkingSocially, hosts Harrison Hickok and Jon Dispenza unlock the National Lager Day badge while chatting with Half Time's Chris Weiss about their amazing gift boxes as well as the Hop Culture x Half Time Beer Meme Awards! Let's unpack it all together.

It's that time again... We blinked and now the holiday season is here. The number of weekly "Dunkelwiess Nights" is increasing, we're on our roofs stapling lights to everything, and all we want for breakfast, lunch, and dinner are Thanksgiving leftovers sandwiches. Well, we could actually have that all year round. Regardless, the holidays are here! That means a lot of exciting things - great food, family get-togethers, and football. And maybe most importantly... beer! And not just one, or two, or three - but twelve. The 12 Beers of Christmas! On this episode of #DrinkingSocially, hosts Harrison Hickok and Jon Dispenza are unlocking the 12 Beers of Christmas badge with the Clown Shoes Head Brew himself (and of course drinking Space Cake in the process)! It's near impossible to not get into the holiday spirit during this episode as we gear up for the festive season ahead. 🎄

While we'll try to contain our excitement for the upcoming holidays and festivities, we're here to discuss a very special event. One that in fact falls shortly after a day where most Americans eat turkey and watch football (or complain about football). We're talking about Small Brewery Sunday coming up on November 28th! So, for those of you who need a break from the crowds and coupons, leave the shopping bags in the trunk and enjoy a pint of well-deserved local suds as you celebrate getting your holiday gifts done early. On this episode of #DrinkingSocially, hosts Harrison Hickok and Jon Dispenza talk about why Small Brewery Sunday is the best Sunday to drink a beer and celebrating old ales.

It's getting colder, it's getting darker, and the haze of summer is slowly being replaced by flavors like fruits, and nuts, and pine. The colder weather makes hot coffee taste better, gives you an excuse to wear that scarf you looked good in last year, and a reason to stay inside (because it's dark at 4 p.m.) and crack open some of those beers you've been sitting on for the last couple of months. Not everyone celebrates the arrival of cold weather like those in Antarctica (where Harrison informed us there are no bees), but even going back to the Ancient Romans who celebrated Saturnalia as the end of the planting season, and treated everyone as equals (they were onto something there!). Or Buffalo where we just store our beer outside. But here in Untappd-land, we get pretty excited for the cold fronts and darkness. We thrive on the juniper flavored pale ales, and snowy barley wines. On this episode of #DrinkingSocialy, Hosts Harrison Hickok and Jon Dispenza unlock the "Winter Wonderland" badge and discuss the joys of the chilly, yet delightful season that is approaching. They also give an inside look on the Untappd Insiders program! Watch now to learn more about the exclusive perks and how to join for less!

You likely think of wheat beers as summer beers. It's a pretty easy pitch - something that is crisp, refreshing, and almost tastes like a liquid fruit salad (heavy fresh oranges of course). The perfect companion for too many hot dogs and a minor league baseball game. Well, you may have a change of heart after Harrison shares his experience with Allagash White on a festive fall night, and how his mind is forever changed. On this episode of the #DrinkingSocially podcast, Hosts Harrison Hickok and Jon Dispenza unlock the "Wit, Weiss, and Weizen" badge while discussing why wheat beers can be the perfect partner for sweater weather. So sit back, relax, and let the spices take you on a clove filled journey into that cool dark evening, trading in memories of summer beach beers for looking forward to pairing wheat beers with a fire pit, or a honey baked ham and mustard sandwich. Listen now to become a whole lot w(e)iser.

There are a lot of made up holidays. Well actually, they're all made up... but everybody wants to celebrate International Leave the Office Early Day on June 6th. Or how about the World Toothache Day on February 9th- Can't wait to celebrate that one again next year. And coming soon... December 8th! Or "Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day" (or just a regular Wednesday for Harrison). Anyway, the point of all these is, well probably to support the greeting card industry. But there is one International Day that supports great beer, and hopefully some of your favorite breweries- International Stout Day! That's way better than International Nutella Day (of course you could aim for a 2-for-1 and drink Stoutello from Knee Deep out in Auburn, CA). This holiday goes back to 2011 in Southern California when TheBeerGoddess (Erin Peters) wanted to promote attention and awareness of the style. It caught on and we're now in the 10th year celebrating this beautiful beer style. The celebration happens on the first Thursday of November each year, so mark your calendars for this Thursday, November 4th, and get ready for host Harrison Hickok to tell us a little more about Untappd's role in this Elective Holiday worth celebrating!

There are more 16,000 different kinds of Bees...16,000!!! They're found on every continent on Earth- expect Antarctica - and they've been on this planet for 30 Million years! More than 75% of the crops in the world that we eat depend on animal pollination. And bees carry out most of that! So they're pretty important. So much so that Albert Einstein once said, “If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than four years left to live.” Whoa! Move over zombies. So, we're lucky in many ways that we live in a world with bees, not least of which is that without bees we'd have no honey, and without honey we wouldn't have mead! On this episode of the #DrinkingSocially podcast, hosts Harrison Hickok and Jon Dispenza are drinking the once mysterious but now extremely popular elixir that is mead and unlocking the "Hey Honey" badge in the process. We couldn't BEE more excited!

Have you been fortunate enough to hang out with a brewer and ask them what their favorite beer is? Did they tell you it was Orval? Orval has become a beer of legends. Hailing from a Game-of-Thrones-esque abbey in the middle of the Belgian woods, this beer has ascended from the shelves of Belgium across the world. Generations of drinkers now consider this one to be...well kind of the GOAT. Not the animal people invite to yoga to eat your shoelaces, but one of the best and most well-respected beers of all time. On this episode of #DrinkingSocially podcasts hosts Harrison Hickok and Jon Dispenza are drinking the equivalent of a Pliny the Elder mixed with a Bourbon County and a Hair of the Dog "Dave" as they unlock the "Trappist Travesty" badge. Tune in if you're really into chasing Whales because they're taking it all the way back to 1931 to shed some light on one of the most distinguished beers of all the Trappist brews!

Michigan has a lot of great things - Detroit style pizza, @meijer (which is like a Target on Steroids), Bill Knapps, and almost 400 breweries! It's also the only place in the WORLD that has a floating post office - the JW Westcott II. And we mean floating on the water, not the air. Those don't exist anywhere...yet. A waterway post office sounds about right for the state that ranks number one in boat registrations. Thanks in large part to Michigan owning the longest freshwater coastline in the U.S. Clearly water plays a big role in the history of most Michiganders. So it stands to reason that one of Michigan's most famous beers is named after a river - the Two Hearted River, to be exact. Today, we're recognizing the producer of that beer - @bellsbrewery in Kalamazoo, MI. They're celebrating 35 years of making world class beer! Bell's should be a household name to most of our listeners, but it wasn't always that way. Like many great things, it all began with a soup pot - the vessel Larry Bell used for his first commercial brew back in 1985. Fortunately for us Bell left the soup pots behind and increased production. You can now find Bell's iconic beers like their most popular Two Hearted Ale available in all but 8 U.S. states. On this episode of the Drinking Socially Podcast, hosts Harrison Hickok and Jon Dispenza pay tribute to this revered brewery by tackling four Bell's beers to unlock the Always Inspired badge.