Random Acts of Brewing Kindness

Welcome back to The DC Beer Show, your go-to podcast for all things local brew and beyond! In our latest episode, "Random Acts of Brewing Kindness," hosts Michael Stein, Jacob Berg, and Jordan Harvey dive into some frothy conversations with special guests Branden Roth and Steve McIntyre from RAK Brewing. It's an episode brimming with brewing wisdom, heartwarming community vibes, and a few chuckles along the way!

We kick off with Jacob and Michael reminding everyone about the sizzling summer events happening around DC. They can't stress enough—stay hydrated, folks! If you're heading to events like Suarez at Shelter hosted by the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, remember your H2O and, of course, blast that AC.

Branden Roth takes center stage to share his journey through the brewing world, stemming from his stints at Sapwood and Flying Dog to shaping his beer vision for RAK Brewing. He spills the hops on the importance of cleanliness, creativity, and how he juggles equipment constraints while pumping out top-notch hazy IPAs, sours, and mixed fermentation beers.

RAK Brewing is not just about tasty beers but creating a welcoming space. Steve shares their intent behind their name, "Random Acts of Kindness," which aligns with their mission to build community spirit in Frederick, Maryland. They've even revamped their taproom for the coziest beer-drinking experience, where good conversation flows as freely as the brews.

The episode bubbles over with excitement as Branden teases upcoming collabs and events, like a lager and a sour beer bursting with local berries. And don't miss Puckerpalooza, where they'll release a dazzling array of 12 different sours. The hosts can't hide their enthusiasm (or envy) for these intriguing concoctions!

The hosts also highlight some killer events in the pipeline, such as Hellbender's boiler-installed party, Bluejacket's cask beer offerings, and the formidable Snallygaster festival. They don't miss out on singing praises for bus drivers and chat about enhancing transit for better brewery hops in Frederick.

To cap it all off, there are shoutouts to charity events, fundraising efforts, and ways RAK Brewing is giving back to the community. It’s all about beer, community, and kindness—what more could you ask for?

So grab your favorite cold one, pull up a chair, and enjoy another exciting episode of The DC Beer Show. Cheers!

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Creators & Guests

Host

Jacob Berg

Jake’s beer education began when his dad brought home a 6-pack of Brooklyn Lager in the mid-90s. It was love at first sip.

Host

Jordan Harvey

As a born and raised Georgian, lover of music, and HBCU advocate, Jordan’s affinity for craft beer kicked off after being exposed to the craft beer scene in Pennsylvania and the legendary beer scene in Europe.

Host

Mike Stein

Michael Stein is President of Lost Lagers, Washington, DC’s premier beverage research firm. His historic beers have been served at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the Polish Ambassador’s residence.

Producer

Richard Fawal

President of DC Beer Media LLC and Publisher of DCBeer.com and The DC Beer Show

What is The DC Beer Show?

The official podcast of DCBeer.com! Everything you need to know about the people, places, and brews that make the DMV America’s best beer scene, including the best local places for eats, brews, trivia, live music, and more! Learn about the latest trends in craft beer – from the beers, to the breweries, to the business – from the editors of DC Beer.

Jacob Berg [00:00:06]:
Welcome everyone to the DC Beer Show. We are at DC Beer across social media. Mike Stein, what's in your stein tonight?

Michael Stein [00:00:13]:
Well, hey, Jake. I'm enjoying a Dovetail Helles open fermented, lagered forever. Lovely beer out of Chicago, and we're getting kegs. So they're getting draft at the Arlington brew shop, and I was trying to work through the Dovetail Hellas to get them to flip that keg to put on Dovetail pills. So I'm very excited about that prospect. Jordan, my man, what are you having this fine evening?

Jordan Harvey [00:00:40]:
You know, the universe is, is nature is healing. Everything is back in balance. I'm having a Kindness Kills, New England IPA with some notes of pineapple and orange. So very, very citrusy for the for the heat that we've been having this week from RAK Brewing, a random acts of kindness up in Frederick, Maryland. You guys will hear a bit more from them later, but, Jake, what's in the glass, sir?

Jacob Berg [00:01:03]:
So Mike's got open fermentation. You've got closed fermentation, and I've got very closed fermentation because I have here factor 12. It's a Flemish red aged for 12 months, hence the 12 in casks. It's only, like, 5 and a half percent. So, it's a little sweet. It's a little sour. You get those cherries. You get those dark fruits.

Jacob Berg [00:01:29]:
It's really well put together. Go get you some at definitely Downtown Crown. I'm a fan. Alright. I wanna kick this off with at least 1 upcoming event before people lose interest. Tomorrow, Union Market Dock 5, that's kind of like in the back behind. Drafts and crafts with parentheses, d for draft, parentheses, c for craft because it's DC, and it's a DC Brewers Guild and also the DC Makers Guild. So it's like 20 plus breweries, distilleries, cideries, meaderies, what have you.

Jacob Berg [00:02:04]:
And then also, 40 plus craft vendors. Should be a good time. Come see Brandy. Come see I. We'll be there. It'll be fun. And you might actually see 1 of DC's newest breweries in planning, henceforth. That's gonna be over on H Street.

Jacob Berg [00:02:24]:
They're gonna be there. They may have something, for you to sample in advance of them taking over the old H Street Country Club spot. Alright. What else is on people's radar?

Jordan Harvey [00:02:35]:
Well, I got a couple things. If you know, it's it's not the heaviest month. Right? It's July. It's It's hot as all get out outside right now, but, still have a number of live events. So definitely check the state of state social media and everything from, some comedy shows, some wild music. For those that like food, there's an Allagaz beer dinner at a lion hall. It'd be 4 courses, 5 beers. That's That's Tuesday, July 16th.

Jordan Harvey [00:03:00]:
There is a fee associated with it, but I think the awesome chefs and the the people who put the menu together, would definitely make it your while and, you know, you'll definitely get the bang for your buck. In terms of DC beer events, we have 2 in in 1 week, on Sunday, July 21st, we will be at ripetopper for our beer share members only. You can learn more on our Patreon. Please subscribe to the Patreon. You can not only support us, but you can support us as we support others. It's a mutually beneficial situation there. And then that Wednesday, 25th, you can find, yours truly at other half for the DC beer capital trivia link up at other half. So come out for some trivia.

Jordan Harvey [00:03:45]:
We appreciate the support and look forward to, to send you guys. Anyone else tracking anything come this this month or or next month? And also happy belated to our queen of beer, Brandy. If you didn't wish her a happy birthday or definitely show her some love. I'm sure she would appreciate it. She couldn't be with us tonight. So definitely show Brandy some love.

Jacob Berg [00:04:05]:
We missed you, b. Alright. The day before the beer show on 21st, 20th, Hellbender's boiler installed, up and running, making beer. They're gonna throw a party about it. So we thank everybody. This will include, like, all day happy hour. So thanks, like, some good deals on, usually, what I drink there is bare bones Kölsch. They do do pitchers, 1 of the few breweries in DC that will actually just give you a picture of Kosch, which is great.

Jacob Berg [00:04:34]:
They're gonna have a couple new releases there as well. Obviously, food trucks, you should watch their socials. We'll put it up at dcbeard.com/events as well. 1 more thing about food is that birch and barley is about to be no more. Taking a break and rebranding as to this new American southern style restaurant called Mallard. And you can check out some of what is coming at Mallard upstairs at Church Quay before Mallard opens. So sort of like a, you know, try. Have a little bit of mallet before you commit to dining downstairs.

Jacob Berg [00:05:13]:
Don't worry, everybody. The beer is still there.

Michael Stein [00:05:15]:
Yeah. I wanna clarify, Jake. You said if you go to Hellbender and you do as you do, Jake, which is order Kölsch, they'll give you a pitcher. Now you should pay for the pitcher. Yeah. This is not a steel

Jacob Berg [00:05:32]:
of titanite. You shouldn't walk out with a plastic pitcher either.

Michael Stein [00:05:35]:
Ain't ain't nothing in this world for free. Right. That being said, I was talking to a brewer, a good friend, who was at Hellbender for the save Hellbender, party at the moon tower, save the boiler and the brewery, and he was making a joke like, oh, yeah. Like, I love this beer. It's so good. Let me pay you for this pale ale that I'm getting. And, of course, they were like, no. No.

Michael Stein [00:05:59]:
No. You're 1 of our you're our favorite brewer's favorite brewer. And he was like, no. I need to pay you for this so you can get a new boiler, and now the new boiler has arrived. We're super excited for Saturday, July 20th, 1 to 9 PM, free entry at Hellbender, a day of music and beer. So they're gonna have food trucks, they're gonna have live music, and there will be a beer release. So I just wanted to plug that again. That being said, I also wanna plug everybody that's just doing wonderful stuff the best they can.

Michael Stein [00:06:32]:
I was at Blue Jacket on Thursday. Impeccable casks there. I know that Monday through Friday, Roe Gunzel, head brewer at Blue Jacket, is checking the cask. He is literally tasting beer at, you know, 9:30, 10 AM to make sure when they open daily at 11 AM, the beer is of top notch quality. I know that Dave Delaplane, longtime manager at Roofers Union in, Adams Morgan, is checking the casks on Saturday Sunday. When I was there, on a Thursday, he was making sure that the casks were top notch, and I had a couple friends from London in. So they're true experts. Right? Every corner pub in London has a cask.

Michael Stein [00:07:11]:
Actually, I haven't been to London, so I can't say every corner pub. I've been told I've been told. It's been about a decade since I last tried to hit every corner pub in London, but we are serving delicious cask at Blue Jacket. It's on par with the stuff across the pond in London, and the same goes for all of our local breweries that are doing the best they can. So I just wanted to give a shout out to everybody doing the best they can, making the best beer possible in the District of Columbia.

Jordan Harvey [00:07:39]:
Well, you know, that that has kinda started a a new goal, that I I'd like to set for us both. Like, maybe we just need to do some market research in London. Okay? So maybe we need to just book some flights and figure it out and just go taste the beer, for research purposes.

Michael Stein [00:07:57]:
This is the junket we've been talking about. Yeah.

Jacob Berg [00:08:01]:
I volunteer as tribute to help roll out at 9:30 or 10 in the morning to just to do a little quality control, quality assurance on these casks. I have been to London. It is a delight to walk into a pub and see, like, a 3.8% Green King IPA on and be like, oh, well, I guess this is what a session is is is when you sit there and just crush a bunch of sub 4% delicious living real ale flavorful beer. I would also like to go back, Drink so much, I can stop minding the gap and, you know, other various British things.

Jordan Harvey [00:08:39]:
Alright. Yeah.

Jacob Berg [00:08:40]:
We're skirting around 1 big event at the moment, and that's Snallygaster, which again is counter programming against Great American Beer Festival. Yes. So GABF in Denver released their beer list, and it's something like 40% of the breweries there are either from Colorado or California.

Jacob Berg [00:08:59]:
now you're actually gonna have maybe, like, a little bit more diversity, variety, you know, more states, international.

Michael Stein [00:09:07]:
This is a yes, Anne, Jake. Yes. Great American Beer Festival, arguably the greatest beer festival in America. However, you can't take WMATA, the Washington Metropolitan Authority Transit Association there, the way you can just hop off at archives, Navy Memorial, and just walk a couple blocks to Snallygaster. Wow. Yes. Great American beer festival. Wonderful beer.

Michael Stein [00:09:32]:
People have been doing it for literally decades. Absolutely, undeniably, 1 of the best. However, are they gonna have beer from Berlin? Are they gonna have beer from Munich? Are there gonna be some Brussels, a Belgian Lambic, some, some creaking beer, some. Right. You know, I'll just leave it I'll leave it as a yes and.

Jordan Harvey [00:09:57]:
Well, yes, I will be there, and I will be having all the great beers, as many as possible, as safely possible to consume, before I had on the metro and will model my way back to my home. So

Michael Stein [00:10:14]:
Shout out to the bus drivers union, to all the unions propping up, WMATA. We stan organized labor. We love to hear it. Reverend Barber was in, DC last weekend, 2 weekends ago, and we were saying he had called up some of the, bus drivers. So shout out to everybody driving a bus around the DC Metro. We love y'all.

Jordan Harvey [00:10:35]:
Yes. And we do love y'all. Thank you all for your service, and also thank you, Jake, for your service of volunteering as tribute. But I would just like to propose an idea that, you know, what can make the bus line just a smidge better was maybe if they would take us up to Frederick to visit all the wonderful breweries in Frederick, but specifically the kid on the block. There's this brewery called rack random acts of kindness. And I'm here with, 2 wonderful gentlemen with me. I have Steve McIntyre and Brandon Roth. Welcome to the show folks.

Jordan Harvey [00:11:01]:
How are you?

Branden Roth [00:11:02]:
Good. How are you? Thanks for having us.

Jordan Harvey [00:11:04]:
Doing well. Doing well. So, you know, I've had the luxury of making it up to Frederick, Maryland to check out, Ripe Brewing. But for those that haven't, Steve, why don't you tell us about who you guys are and, what your craft beer story looks like?

Steve McIntyre [00:11:17]:
Yeah. Thanks. We, we originally started rack kinda with a bit of a different start than we had anticipated. We were hoping for some event space, and a brewery happened to become available and tie up beer, and it worked out pretty well. We, we obviously didn't know much about beer, so we were very excited to get started and a little bit nervous as well, not knowing how to brew, knowing a lot about beer, but not knowing how to brew. The story kind of, it it's it started slow, and, we we found the right people to to be in the right positions. Started with the general manager who's very wonderful, Nancy, came from quite a few other breweries, and then we met Brandon. And Brandon, you know, came from Flying Dog in Southwood, and we're really excited to get started with him.

Steve McIntyre [00:12:04]:
And I think that his vision really is passionate about, you know, some of the things that we were really interested in where we're thinking about what does the brewery look like, and we wanted to push the envelope with kind of what what beer is around Frederick. There as you know, there's 8 or 9 other breweries around, so there's a lot to compete with. And we wanted to, just change the envelope and, you know, you're familiar with the ambiance. It's very different from most breweries out there. It's a little bit more swanky and little more upscale. It looks a lot more like a cocktail lounge than anything. So we were, yeah, we're really excited to see where it goes and what it offers the community. And, you know, we're very excited to be a part of a a really cool beer community and not only just Frederick, but Maryland as a whole.

Jordan Harvey [00:12:46]:
Brenda, I heard you got your start with Flying Dog and and Sapwood. Would you like to speak to that? Just, you know, were you, you know, brewing at both? You were you just kinda helping out, Masterhead Brewer? Like, how did that look for you at those 2 locations?

Branden Roth [00:12:58]:
So Flying Dog is pretty much where I got my start. I started off there as a seller tech, you know, doing nitty gritty. You know, you get about 1 year in, and you're like, man, if I don't love beer, why am I here? Because this is basically a manual labor job. But I worked my way up, you know, there and, you know, did filtration, did brewing, pretty much was, you know, well rounded there, but kinda saw the writing on the wall for Flying Dog as to where they were headed. So, you know, eventually kinda got out of there, and I was more just interested in the place that was, concerned with making the best product they possibly could, you know, from being at both ends of the spectrum, having, like, the big beer kind of place and the small beer kind of place. It was for me, it was kinda just more to be at a place that was really concentrated on making sure every drop of beer that came out of that place was the best that could possibly produce. You know, coming from mid tier brewery, it's a little bit different. You gotta worry about cost constraints and all that type of stuff.

Branden Roth [00:13:59]:
So it's a it's a different environment, but I feel like both kinda gave me a good experience on both ends of the spectrum to kinda make me realize a little bit more what I really wanted.

Jordan Harvey [00:14:09]:
I I would agree with you. I think, flying dog, I mean, they did some good stuff. You know, I'm not I'm not here to bash anybody. But, like, they definitely do new stuff every week or every other week, so definitely more, you know, experimental versus, probably kinda being, maybe boxed in is the is the right way to phrase it for for flying dog, where there's, like, a a set a tap list or or just set production schedule, I should say, of that. So I definitely could understand that. But so RAK is, RAK Brewing is the name of the brewing. But it's RAK is an acronym, random acts of kindness as I understand it. So if you could just tell us about the name, like, what was the the vision behind the name, or how did that how did that name come about?

Steve McIntyre [00:14:48]:
Rock stands for random acts of kindness. You know, we're all the partners in this brewery are also owners of a real estate team. A lot of the work that we like to do out for the community is part of our nonprofit, TGP Gibbs. And when we were coming up with names, we originally thought of RAK, you know, to kinda coincide with what our current branding is. Fied away from it, hired a marketing company. They put a ton of names in front of us, and as you can imagine with, you know, 9, 000 breweries in the country, but also all the additional names that have been taken for brewers that aren't in production or, you know, have never really come to fruition. It was pretty tough to come up with something, and so we just thought about, you know, who we are as people and, you know, what we're trying to do with inspiration of the community, and, you know, we love Frederick so much. We spent a lot of time here.

Steve McIntyre [00:15:34]:
We, you know, we patron everything that's around us. And so, you know, we wanted to basically continue on with with what we're doing traditionally with our other businesses. It just felt like it was gonna match well. And so we pulled back to rack and then we looked at some logos and some designs. And, really, our big first year is just Ari Arbery. It just looks so consistent with what that, you know, what that emblem and logo looks like. And the more that we talked about it, we just couldn't get away from it at that point. We're kind of engrossed in it and loved what it was about and felt like that it had meaning that, you know, a lot of other stuff doesn't have out there.

Steve McIntyre [00:16:07]:
So, we settled on it. And, you know, now that we're 6 months in, we're we're really happy that we made that decision, and a lot of people in the community have embraced it. So, it's worked out pretty well.

Jordan Harvey [00:16:18]:
I guess, you know, with the name like RAK or Random Acts of Kindness, have you guys, like, taken extra strides, to, you know, make the tap room more, you know, more homey, more, you know, more more warm and comfortable? It's definitely a beautiful tap room. I mean, it's like, I would go as far to say, and I've been to a lot of breweries, no offense to people out there, but it's probably 1 of the nice staff rooms I've ever seen just in terms of the lighting, the comfortable chairs. It's just the the open concept is just very nice. Like, but do you guys do extra have you guys taken any extra strides to make it feel more of a, like, a community place or more more home for your for your patrons?

Steve McIntyre [00:16:53]:
I would say not necessarily directly to the taproom. When when we started when we started with the whole project, we really wanted something that felt more comfortable. You know, you go into most breweries, and it's concrete floors and wooden furniture and metal ceilings, and it's loud and, you know, everything's dragging across the ground. It's just not a very comfortable place to have a conversation. And so when we started building out the taproom, everything in mind came with you know, we've already got sound deadening ceiling. You know, we wanted something plush, so to speak, leather, to be able to deaden some of that sound, wood on the walls to be able to help absorb some of it. I mean, we really thought of it as, like, a place to do day night or, you know, sit down and have a conversation with an old friend, just catch up where you didn't feel like you were being interrupted by the person sitting next to you. As far as what we've done with, you know, RAK and random acts of kindness, we've we've done a lot of charity stuff.

Steve McIntyre [00:17:47]:
In Frederick, every united United Way campaign for Frederick County hosts a big event. And so, we have spent you know, we spent about 2 and a half weeks fundraising for them, and, we host at least 1 nonprofit or charity each month. And, you know, obviously, we we wanna be able to do more as soon as we can.

Jordan Harvey [00:18:04]:
Just acknowledging some of how you guys have revamped the place, you know, you know, rest in peace and shout out to, I believe it was House Cat and, Smoke Town. Now did you guys have to perform any rituals or seances, for the the the former breweries before you guys opened, or was it was it pretty smooth outside of gutting the building, would it a pretty smooth transition?

Steve McIntyre [00:18:23]:
Most of the work was done back on Brandon's end. It was, you know, it was, you know, in in same thing. We don't we don't wanna talk about this. It's just, you know, we have expectations of of certain things and and how we wanted things to be done. And so front of house was just a lot of work with patching holes and stuff that that that wasn't seen in it. You know, I I very much think that that fit their business model. The type of person that was coming in may not be worried about that, but, of course, with the plans that we had for the tapering, there were just a lot of things that we had to we had to shore up, so to speak, to really fit the entire vibe. Brandon's very strict with his, you know, how he brews, and I'll I'll let him talk a little bit more about this.

Steve McIntyre [00:19:00]:
But he's very specific about how he brews, where things are placed, what cleanliness, and all those types of things. And when you start, you know, with a a blank canvas, it's easy. But when you start with a lot of stuff from someone else, it makes it tough. It's a lot of organization and, you know, cleaning and some of those other things that go into it.

Jordan Harvey [00:19:16]:
Yeah. What do you think has been your biggest challenge in in terms of getting, rack where it is or just getting rack open to begin with?

Steve McIntyre [00:19:24]:
I think that's kind of a twofold question. I'll let Brandon talk about the beer piece a bit because, obviously, that's a huge component. From the business end, you know, we we are right there next to 3 other breweries that have been along for a long time. You know, we we love where we're at. We love having that competition. We also like the fact that people can can make their way around, but standing out, you know, especially in Frederick where there are 9 other breweries right there in the downtown area. It, it's certainly a challenge to make a name with long standing you know, everybody's been there since 2018 and before, so we're kind of the new kid on the block, and we have to earn the respect and, you know, we have to make good neighbors. And, from a business standpoint, you know, I think we came in an interesting time with people that are trying to be healthier, trying to to save a little bit.

Steve McIntyre [00:20:12]:
You know, they spent the 2, 3 years out of COVID, like, kind of just in a tornado, so to speak. And I think people are trying to get back to normal life and really, really appreciate some of the things that they had missed for so many years. And so, you know, as far as

Michael Stein [00:20:26]:
gaining gaining a name, it's not like

Steve McIntyre [00:20:29]:
it was in 2021 where all I could do is sit outside at a brewery and drink beer for cheap, you know, a cheap afternoon. It was like that was kinda your only out. But now that people are finding, you know, travel is a big thing this year, and, I think people are definitely trying to be a little bit healthier in in in their lifestyle. So, you know, getting recognition and, getting people in the tap room is certainly, you know, certainly been something that we we hope would go a little bit better, but, you know, we're obviously really grateful for everybody that's come through as well.

Jordan Harvey [00:20:59]:
So, Brandon, I I hear you may have had to kinda revamp the the Brewhouse, just to kinda fit, you know, where you guys are today. Could you tell us about that? Just wanna kinda what that look like, what your vision for the beer is? You know, we're getting into some of the other questions about styles and whatnot.

Branden Roth [00:21:13]:
Yeah. I mean, a lot of it was just kind of, you know, coming from my background with Sapwood and from Flying Dog. I had different things that, you know, you wanna see done. You know, Flying Dog, I feel like the cleanliness and the sanitary process is kinda what they knock into your head. So I kinda brought that along as with Sapwood, it's it's it's kind of the originality and the creativity and, you know, trying to create something new. So I think it's both of those, but, it's really just trying to mold something in that someone else's vision into what you want your vision to be, which, you know, can be tough at times because there's other equipment out there that you would like to have that cost a lot of money, and there may be some constraints with what, you know, you're dealing with. But I think thus far, we've done a really good job of working with what we've been given and upgrading some things here and there, you know, to to to make our ability to create world class beer better, and we're still working towards that. You know? It's, it's it's never an overnight thing.

Branden Roth [00:22:15]:
You know? We're always improving, and I think that's the number 1 thing from my aspect is I just wanna always be getting better. You know? It's it's like our I I see where our untapped scores were initially, and I, you know, we're we're slowly raising those up, and that's what I wanna continue happen because, you know, developing anything, you know, along the lines of, like, a sapwood or anything in that, you know, realm, it it takes time. It doesn't just happen overnight. You know? It it takes some building, and that's what we're doing right now. So

Jordan Harvey [00:22:43]:
Since we're finally talking about the beer, most listeners know I'm a I'm a, I'm a hazy guy. It's not all I drink is but just what I like to drink. So what style of beer do you guys like? Steve, you know, Brandon, do you have a preferred style? Are you a Pilsner Lager kind of guy? Hey, sours? What do you what do you what do you prefer when you're not training for your your math?

Steve McIntyre [00:22:59]:
I like all beer when I'm training for my marathon. It makes me feel less bad about myself. I I tend to like IPAs. I went through a bout with sours for quite some time. I just felt they were unique. Actually, flying dogs, Berlin and Weiss was kind of my first introduction to sour beers, and I went through a little phase with that. I just like the the bitterness of the beer. But I I would say that I I tend to fall in the category of 5 to 7%.

Steve McIntyre [00:23:26]:
Hazy IPAs prefer a little bit more juicy than not, but I'll drink most stuff. I really loved our our protect y pills. When Brandon first made it, I told him, I don't like pills in there. I'm not gonna drink it. And then I had it. It's fantastic. So I found myself going to that more often than not, but, yeah, I'm pretty open to a lot of things. I I think there's a lot of great beer out there in it.

Steve McIntyre [00:23:48]:
Even if you don't like the you you don't particularly like the style, you can still respect the craft and, how much work has gone into it as well. So

Branden Roth [00:23:57]:
Based on the category of what I feel like we make the best, I feel like the beers that we make the best are hazy IPAs and sour beers. My particular favorite beers are usually lighter beers and mixed fermentation beers. You know, honestly, with with sours and, mixed fermentation beers and hoppy beers, that's where I feel like I have the most knowledge. So that's kinda where we're leaning towards right now. In this industry, for me, it's like you gotta constantly be learning. So we, you know, we're we're working on stepping up our light beer repertoire. We just did a collab last week with the former head brewer of Landmade on a light beer. It's a totally forged lager.

Branden Roth [00:24:39]:
Malt is from Bear Branch in Westminster. We've foraged spice bush, that's went in the Whirlpool, give a little bit of a citrusy kick, and then we also got hops from Heritage Hills in Urbana. So entirely produced within Maryland, and it it gives us a good learning experience to kind of learn a little bit more how to make a nuanced light beer that has some depth into it. You know? Because that's 1 thing I feel like maybe in my repertoire, I I don't know as well. You know? I'm coming from Sapwood, hoppy beers, and mixed fermentation beers was, you know, our wheelhouse, and that's what I feel like I have the best knowledge in. But Yeah. If you're not expanding in this realm, you're falling behind. So we're always trying to try to expand our knowledge and try something new, and, you know, that's kinda what this beer was for me personally.

Jordan Harvey [00:25:27]:
And I kinda test to the fact that the the hazy's are a little good. This kindness kills has been my, my special lady friend for this evening. So yeah, I've been enjoying it. I really appreciate it. I plan to plan to get back up to Frederick some more cans of that. Are there any other upcoming collabs or events you guys would like to leave with our listeners before we get up out of here for tonight?

Branden Roth [00:25:46]:
Yeah. So we had the the 1 collab that I told you about already with, Matt Firdos, a local brewer. He's not laminate anymore, but former head brewer, Landmade. So we have that forged auger coming out. We also have another collab coming up with rough edges, which is a brewery up in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. That is going to be a sour beer, and it's going to be basically every local berry you haven't heard of. It's gonna be a mulberry, black raspberry, marionberry, boysenberry, wineberry, and honey berry. And then he's gonna come down here, and we're going to do another end of the lab where it's going to be a West Coast, IPA, but with New Zealand hops.

Branden Roth [00:26:29]:
So it's going to be a Motueka Southern Cross West Coast IPA. Other than that, we've got Puckerpalooza coming up, mid August. It's August 17th, and we're releasing 12 different sours on the same day. We've got a couple, you know, Nuance traditional sours for regular people. We've got some kettle sours, and we've got some smoothie sours. So, we're gonna have 4 of those that are be canned and in big production and 8 of those, which will be 1 kegs off just for that day. But we'll have 12 different sours on for just that event. So if you like sours, come out August 17th.

Jordan Harvey [00:27:05]:
I know a few folks is first with the heat where we're looking for some sours. So, us at DC Bureau, we'll be sure to get the word out. But, Steve, Brandon, thank you guys so much for for coming on the DC Bureau podcast. So we've definitely hoped we can have you guys again in the future. We're happy to support and work with you guys as well. Thank you guys for the time, and, thanks for coming on the show. Cheers.

Steve McIntyre [00:27:23]:
Yeah. Thank you. We appreciate it.

Jacob Berg [00:27:25]:
Thank you so much to the good folks at RAK. Obviously, if you are taking a stroll on the lovely Carroll Creek, you should stop and check them out. And thank you, Jordan, for letting the folks know there are MARC trains that do go there, but I know that we have some of the 1 percent of the 1% who also listen to this show. And so if you're gonna try and do Snally and then get on a private jet, say, like, you know, out Prince William County Airport and fly to GABF straight after that, you should let us know. Editor at dcbeard.com. We definitely wanna hear from you if that is how you are traveling.

Michael Stein [00:28:01]:
Yeah. Let us know. Should your private jet be taking off from Anne Arundel County, any other undisclosed location?

Jordan Harvey [00:28:09]:
And also, let us know if we can borrow said jet to do some market research in London because we would appreciate it.

Jacob Berg [00:28:15]:
Alright, folks. I feel like that's what we've got for this week. It's really hot out, and as Jordan mentioned, it's July. I wanna give a big shout out to the folks who are still putting on the events. Neighborhood Restaurant Group is holding it down. Do check out some of their events. They've got Suarez coming up over, at Shelter, couple other events. Again, it's dcbeer.com/events.

Jacob Berg [00:28:42]:
If you've got beer events, we wanna hear about them too. And if you're at the beach, you know, whether it's Jersey, Delaware, Virginia Beach where just opened up another location, we wanna hear about those as well. We're at dcbeer across social media. Stay cool, everybody. Blast the AC. Fingers crossed for a little bit of rain, but not rain on Saturday Sunday. Right? It can happen on Tuesdays or whatever. That's great.

Michael Stein [00:29:10]:
Don't forget that water, folks. If you're having a beer, have a liter of water. If you're having 0 beer, have a liter of water. Stay hydrated. We'll see you around town.