Ep. 31-& A.C. & Cayla & Tyler & Lamplighter Brewing Co.

Hi everyone and welcome to this week’s episode of People & Pints! No, you did not read the title incorrectly; I indeed have 3 (!) guests on this episode–a P&P first! The team behind forthcoming Lamplighter Brewing Co. were able to squeeze in a podcast recording session on a busy Tuesday evening. I arrived to find contractors hard at work and the team either busy brewing or busy painting. Although the space was still a work in progress, I could see how beautiful it would soon turn out. Cayla, A.C., and Tyler were all very hospitable and provided some wonderful conversations and delicious beer. Right after finishing, though, they were back to work and I happily packed up my bag, wishing them a good evening as I headed back to the T. I am very excited to see the final product soon and hope you enjoy this conversation with the co-founders and head brewer of Lamplighter Brewing Co.!

Cayla and A.C. took some time to explain the history of Lamplighter and described their desire to bring more craft beer to the Cambridge scene. It has been a long process to get Lamplighter up and running but the progress has been exciting!

Cayla, A.C. and Tyler were kind enough to share some of the beers with me! We sampled the gose, Metric Systems, which is brewed with coriander and sea salt. It was sour and refreshing, absolutely enjoyable! Next, we tried Ele, a saison, named for the Stranger Things character! The saison was very tasty and had some great spice and character to it. Afterwards, we had Luicd Nonsense IPA, a bright, aromatic IPA. Finally, we had Easy Tiger, a Brett IPA, which was phenomenal. I certainly recommend checking out all of these for yourself, when you can.

The Lamplighter team had a lot of setbacks to work through and their timeline has had to change quite a bit. But they’re right at the finish line and it’s exciting to see their vision becoming a reality. As mentioned on the podcast, they are waiting on an inspection to be able to open their growler counter and they are expecting a mid-October opening date for the taproom! Follow their progress on Twitter.

Thank you everyone for listening and thank you especially to Cayla, A.C., and Tyler! It was certainly one of my favorite podcast episodes and I was glad they took the time out of their busy days to chat. Hope you all enjoyed it!

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Ep. 30-& Brennan & Mayflower Porter

Hey everyone and welcome to another episode of People & Pints! With this episode, I officially have recorded with all of my roommates!! I think they’ve all been a lot of fun and this one is no different. Brennan and I chatted about his study abroad experience, his musical tastes, and his upcoming performance in the musical Assasins. And, of course, we talk about some good beer from Mayflower Brewing Co.

Brennan spent his junior year studying at Trinity College in Dublin. He described his experience to me and explained the ways he felt at home in Ireland. He was able to connect with the people and the natural beauty of the country. Brennan also elaborated on the drinking culture in Ireland. He found that it was very widespread and just added another level to the friendliness and openness of the Irish people. “They really like the Guinness over there,” Brennan shared.

I decided to get Brennan a stout or porter to replicate the beer he enjoyed in Ireland. After a recommendation from one of the employees at Craft Beer Cellar in Fenway, I picked up Porter from Mayflower Brewing Co. We both agreed it was a good beer and had fun “reviewing it.” Brennan described it as effervescent and I said “chocolate bar.” Then, we said that the ideal location would be in a comfortable easy-chair, beside a roaring fire, in a log cabin. Finally, we had to choose for whom we’d order the beer. Brennan picked Taylor Swift while I said it could be good for both someone who doesn’t always love stouts and for someone who already appreciates stouts or porters.

We then started talking about Brennan’s upcoming performance in Assassins. Brennan described some of the challenges of playing a dark character. We chatted about cast dynamics and the fun in performing! Check here soon for more information.

 

Where’s Brennan? Oh that’s right, all the way up front by the stage.

 

Lastly, we dove into the band MisterWives, who played a concert at Boston College. Brennan has become a big fan and I really enjoy listening to their music and loved seeing them live. The music is extremely catchy and the band has an electric stage presence. Also, to clarify, I said I really enjoyed “Our House” but the name of the song is “Our Own House.”

Thank you very much for listening to another episode! We hope you enjoyed it!

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Ep. 29-& Tyler & Down the Road Rasenmäher Kölsch

Hey everyone and welcome to another episode of People & Pints! It’s the long-awaited introduction of Tyler Coyne! Tyler is part of the band Starving of Thirst, who provide the intro and outro music for the show. We had a truly goofy, crazy episode so be prepared to laugh and/or cringe as we fumble through our podcast. Tyler is one of my closest friends and is a wonderful, funny, talented person. He let loose on the podcast but he also shared some thoughtful points about drinking culture and his own palette. We also messed up some German and laughed through our nonsense, but ended up having a good time and hopefully you enjoy it!

Tyler is a fellow senior at Boston College and we recorded from our house on campus. Tyler isn’t a huge fan of beer, but began to describe the place of alcohol in social situations. M0re specifically, Tyler mentioned that he enjoys drinking beer or wine around friends and family and often over a meal. After elaborating on his experience abroad in Paris, we got into the beer.

For this episode, we drank Rasenmäher Kölsch from Down the Road Beer Co. Down the Road is a production brewery in Everett, MA (neighbors to Night Shift and Bone Up) and features some interesting artwork on its cans. Tyler had a tough time with the pronunciation and translation (which I later found out was “lawnmower”) but we enjoyed it nonetheless. When asked to describe the beer in a word, Tyler said he imagined drinking the beer at a water park in Disney. When I pointed out that he answered the wrong question, Tyler ultimately said that he thought the beer was “crisp” and also “fuschia.” I decided to answer both questions, saying I could imagine drinking Rasenmäher near a lake and I would describe it as “neutral,” but qualified that it was pleasant, aromatic and tasty. Finally, we tried to find an accurate music pairing and Tyler said “beach rap/reggae like Aer” while I was taken back to a random Jazz club in Heidelberg. It was a very tasty beer despite some head issues and certainly one I’d have again.

We closed by having a brief discussion about Tyler’s music career and initial thoughts on his final year at Boston College. Starving of Thirst is very similar to The Postal Service in the process of recording music across the country, so Tyler elucidated some of the challenges of being part of a band while in university.

We had a great, silly, fun time and we hope you enjoyed our conversation!

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Ep. 28-& Todd & Dorchester Brewing Co.

Hi all and welcome to this week’s episode of People & Pints! I had the chance to sit down with Todd, one of the co-partners behind Dorchester Brewing Co., a new brewing endeavor focused on contract brewing. Todd shared a lot of wonderful information about what it means to be a contract brewer and why opening a brewery in Dorchester is important. People have varying opinions about contract brewing, in terms of claiming a location. Some may argue, “how can you be a brewing company from X if your beer is brewed in Dorchester, MA.” Todd helped clarify that, I think. Moreover, I found his model of both brewing his partners’ beers and then serving them in the taproom very intriguing. For one, it will introduce potentially out of market beers to the Boston scene. On an even simpler level, it just creates a dignified taproom environment for some of the partner brewing companies who don’t have a physical space to showcase their beers. I really enjoyed one of Dorchester Brewing Co.’s original beers as we chatted. So much so, that I took a crowler of it home for my roommates and myself. It didn’t last very long (read: we all shared it that night).

Todd, like many brewers in the New England brewing community, began his professional career at Harpoon, “a breeding ground for young brewers,” as Todd mentions. His plan for Dorchester Brewing Co. has been growing for a long time and his experience helped shape his vision, I think. Contract brewing or “partner brewing” was a key part of Todd’s plans and he tried to construct a facility that put its partners first. “Our focus is really on our partners,” Todd stated quite clearly. He wants Dorchester Brewing Co. to function as a steward for other brands. Todd also elaborated on why opening the brewery in Dorchester was so important in his vision. Two of the partners have roots in Dorchester and felt that bringing their business to Dorchester could do a lot of good. By rebuilding and renovating an old industrial space, by hiring locals from the community and by functioning as a destination to bring consumers to the area, Todd believes DBCo. can add some great value to the area. Moreover, he touched on a very interesting aspect in terms of bringing craft beer to a market and demographic that hasn’t been exposed to craft before. Alongside being a steward, I found Todd had an important role as educator.

Todd and I drank an Imperial Pilsner–brewed by DBCo–which is an amped-up version of a traditional pilsner. It’s very drinkable and refreshing as an end of summer beer! Todd then ran through the list of some of the beers they’ve been brewing. Todd has found a lot of joy in reintroducing some traditional, sometimes unheard of, beers–particularly German beers–to the local market! Todd talked about being able to experiment within limits. He likes to stick to style guidelines and accurately nail down the traditional styles. Still, he is more than happy to have some fun and experiment with his beers.

Todd ended by elaborating on the importance of having the taproom. The ability to showcase beers and bring people into the physical brewing space is paramount. Moreover, it helps pull the curtain back for his partners and announce, proudly, where the contract/partner brewing company’s beers are actually brewed!

I really enjoyed my chat with Todd and hope he had some fun talking about DBCo with me! He shared some breaking news with me that DBCo.’s baltic porter, which is being brewed, will be available in the winter in wooden barrels, which will give some great flavor to the surely already delicious beer.

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