1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,884 Welcome everyone to The DC Beer Show. We are 2 00:00:08,884 --> 00:00:12,424 @DCBeer across social media. 3 00:00:13,045 --> 00:00:16,710 Brandy, what are you drinking this lovely evening? Hi, Jake. And 4 00:00:16,710 --> 00:00:20,250 everybody. I am drinking Dynasty. 5 00:00:21,830 --> 00:00:25,404 I know it's not March anymore, so don't hate on me. I'm 6 00:00:25,404 --> 00:00:28,704 drinking Dynasty's Martzen-style amber 7 00:00:28,845 --> 00:00:32,524 lager, 6.3, clocking it in. I love the 8 00:00:32,524 --> 00:00:36,160 argyle pattern on the thing. Mike Stein, it 9 00:00:36,160 --> 00:00:39,920 looks like, visually, you're in a disco right now, but I'm assuming 10 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,145 you're not. Unless you are, and if you are, I'm gonna be upset about it. 11 00:00:43,225 --> 00:00:46,905 No, Brandy. I left the discotheque, so don't worry. You're 12 00:00:46,905 --> 00:00:50,265 not missing anything. I am having an 13 00:00:50,265 --> 00:00:53,770 Essex, an extra special bitter 14 00:00:53,770 --> 00:00:57,450 ale from our friends at Bluejacket. This beer is 15 00:00:57,450 --> 00:01:01,050 brewed exclusively with Valley Malt out of Hadley, 16 00:01:01,050 --> 00:01:04,745 Massachusetts. We are gonna be talking to them a little bit later on the pod. 17 00:01:05,125 --> 00:01:08,965 And it's just a wonderful humdinger of a 18 00:01:08,965 --> 00:01:12,150 humdinger. You know, jammy, malty, 19 00:01:12,930 --> 00:01:16,550 little bitterness, little sweetness, just an absolute Goldilocks 20 00:01:16,690 --> 00:01:20,210 of a beer. Balance, not too bitter, not too sweet, but all of the 21 00:01:20,210 --> 00:01:24,034 above. Jordan, mister Harvey of the Harvey 22 00:01:24,034 --> 00:01:27,414 Wilder Foundation, what are you having? 23 00:01:27,795 --> 00:01:31,130 Well, you know, I feel like people have missed, 24 00:01:31,450 --> 00:01:34,969 having a hazy on the pod, right? So, you know, I 25 00:01:34,969 --> 00:01:38,645 thought why not shout out my local haze factory that I'm there 26 00:01:38,645 --> 00:01:42,405 every Wednesday, especially shout out to GM. He's one of those hand 27 00:01:42,405 --> 00:01:46,250 truck heroes, and I'm currently having one of those bad boys, so I'm 28 00:01:46,250 --> 00:01:48,730 not sure if you guys got your hands on that, but that was a nice 29 00:01:48,730 --> 00:01:52,125 little imperial double IPA Mosaic Mosaic 30 00:01:52,344 --> 00:01:55,884 Incognito, even though it's very present, Citra 31 00:01:56,024 --> 00:01:59,820 Motueka, and Mosaic Cryo, so just some of my favorites. And, 32 00:02:00,860 --> 00:02:04,540 yeah. Jake, what's, what's in the glass? You know, in honor of 33 00:02:04,540 --> 00:02:08,205 our guests at Valley Malt, I looked long and hard to the beer fridge today 34 00:02:09,085 --> 00:02:12,865 for something from Notch Brewing. Didn't find it. 35 00:02:13,725 --> 00:02:17,310 Did find something from Fox Farm Cabin, their smoke 36 00:02:17,310 --> 00:02:21,150 hellish lager, but I'm not sure that uses Valley Malt. I think 37 00:02:21,150 --> 00:02:24,990 that might use Thrall, a Connecticut maltster, in addition to 38 00:02:24,990 --> 00:02:28,735 some other things. And so like Mike, I settled in on 39 00:02:28,735 --> 00:02:32,575 Essex, which at one point I believe was British malt 40 00:02:32,575 --> 00:02:36,290 as an ESB is, Maris Otter, and 41 00:02:36,290 --> 00:02:40,129 Crystal. But then in true American fashion, we threw that shit 42 00:02:40,129 --> 00:02:43,510 into the Boston Harbor, and now we are using Massachussetts' 43 00:02:43,970 --> 00:02:47,465 very own Valley Malt. Again, it's 44 00:02:47,465 --> 00:02:51,065 lovely on cask. It's very nice in my glass at 45 00:02:51,065 --> 00:02:54,830 about 55 degrees or so. Nice prickly hot 46 00:02:54,910 --> 00:02:58,750 presents, little jam, little biscuits. What can you say? It's 47 00:02:58,750 --> 00:03:02,450 got, like, a nice tea ish quality to it. It's 4%. 48 00:03:03,390 --> 00:03:07,135 We like it a lot. Thank you to Bluejacket, and thank you to 49 00:03:07,135 --> 00:03:09,474 Andrea at Valley Malt as well. 50 00:03:10,495 --> 00:03:13,689 Alright. We got action-packed events 51 00:03:14,150 --> 00:03:17,290 this weekend, Friday, today. 52 00:03:18,390 --> 00:03:22,230 See some DC Beer folks over at DC Brau for a 53 00:03:22,230 --> 00:03:22,565 happy 54 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,800 we've been all around the mid Atlantic and the DMV, and we're finally 55 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,400 back in Maryland for another beer share. So I'm excited about 56 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:41,815 that. We're gonna be at one of my neighborhood pubs, I'll call it, 57 00:03:42,055 --> 00:03:45,815 Third Hill Brewing Company. For those unfamiliar, it's in the the home 58 00:03:45,815 --> 00:03:49,640 of the place formerly known as Astrolabe. But, hey, 30 Hill 59 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,420 is in the building, and they are doing wonderful things, growing copious 60 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:55,660 amounts of beer, varieties 61 00:03:57,295 --> 00:04:00,515 seen everywhere and loved by all beer lovers 62 00:04:00,655 --> 00:04:04,489 worldwide. So, yeah, we'll be there. Come come and see us. Bring some of 63 00:04:04,489 --> 00:04:07,970 your favorite mixed firm or your favorite 64 00:04:07,970 --> 00:04:11,569 spring patio beers because we'll be enjoying those all beer share 65 00:04:11,569 --> 00:04:15,375 day. So that is gonna be Sunday, 2 to 5. In between 66 00:04:15,375 --> 00:04:18,975 Friday Sunday is Saturday, and 67 00:04:18,975 --> 00:04:22,600 there's gonna be a Women's Brew Culture Club event at 68 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,500 Lost Generation led by Brandy. 69 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,380 So this weekend is honestly the busiest weekend 70 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:34,125 in April for DC Beer. Friday is a thing, 71 00:04:34,185 --> 00:04:38,025 Saturday is a thing, and Sunday is a thing. Saturday is 72 00:04:38,025 --> 00:04:41,705 the Women's Brew Culture Club, and and we're at Lost 73 00:04:41,705 --> 00:04:45,370 Generation. We haven't been to Lost Generation since last year. It's been almost a 74 00:04:45,370 --> 00:04:48,970 whole year. It's our anniversary of Lost Gen, and I'm 75 00:04:48,970 --> 00:04:52,565 so excited to be back. It's from 2 76 00:04:52,565 --> 00:04:56,324 to 5 or 1 to 4. I don't know. I'll look it up, 77 00:04:56,324 --> 00:04:59,930 and I'll put it on the Instagrams for you. What 78 00:04:59,930 --> 00:05:03,610 else is going on? So many things. Yeah. We we actually you 79 00:05:03,610 --> 00:05:07,370 know, if you if you're busy this weekend, you should be busy with DC 80 00:05:07,370 --> 00:05:10,795 Beer, but if you're busy this weekend, we'll forgive you. Just come and see us 81 00:05:10,795 --> 00:05:14,475 on Wednesday, we'll be at Other Half. Again, my one of my 82 00:05:14,475 --> 00:05:18,240 favorite haze factories in the whole wide world will be there for trivia. 83 00:05:18,300 --> 00:05:21,500 We do trivia every Wednesday, but at least once a month, you'll get a a 84 00:05:21,500 --> 00:05:24,560 DC Beer, capital trivia, and Other Half 85 00:05:24,860 --> 00:05:28,565 exclusive trivia, right? And for our Patreon members, you guys get a you guys do 86 00:05:28,565 --> 00:05:32,405 get a 10% discount, and, one of the rounds will be all things 87 00:05:32,405 --> 00:05:36,199 beer. So for you guys that wanna learn about beer knowledge or 88 00:05:36,199 --> 00:05:39,560 just kinda fix your beer knowledge muscles, come out and see us at the Other 89 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:43,000 Half. We can start at closer to 7 o'clock, but, get there at 6:30 on 90 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,514 Wednesdays, April 10th specifically, and, we'll have a good show for 91 00:05:46,514 --> 00:05:50,275 you. Patreon, what's that? How can I be 92 00:05:50,275 --> 00:05:53,780 down and join Patreon? Well, Brandy 93 00:05:53,780 --> 00:05:57,460 has so eloquently put together some wonderful signs. You can 94 00:05:57,460 --> 00:06:01,155 scan our QR codes on our Patreon signs when you come to our events, or 95 00:06:01,155 --> 00:06:04,595 you can just click our link on our Instagram page. You can also learn more 96 00:06:04,595 --> 00:06:08,195 about us on Twitter or X, whichever you call it, it's still Twitter for 97 00:06:08,195 --> 00:06:11,400 me. Yeah. You can definitely do that, and you can and also just check out 98 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:14,840 our website, you know, DC Bureau across all social media and 99 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:18,475 dcbrew.com should it be starred and favorited in your 100 00:06:18,875 --> 00:06:22,555 favorite browser? I wanna talk about how dcbrow is the 101 00:06:22,555 --> 00:06:26,330 first canned NA beer, but I'm but 102 00:06:26,330 --> 00:06:30,010 I haven't had it. I'm curious what it tastes like, and I'm sad because Other 103 00:06:30,010 --> 00:06:33,855 Half has had theirs out for quite a while now, and we'll 104 00:06:33,855 --> 00:06:37,695 be packaging very soon, but missed the, I guess, 105 00:06:37,695 --> 00:06:41,430 deadline of the being the first package. Yeah. I am 106 00:06:41,430 --> 00:06:45,190 super curious about this as well. I don't think any of us 107 00:06:45,190 --> 00:06:48,965 have had the DC Brau beer. I think that all of 108 00:06:48,965 --> 00:06:52,645 us, the 4 of us on the show, we've all had all NA 109 00:06:52,645 --> 00:06:56,405 everything at one point. I mean, to me, it's good enough for, like, 110 00:06:56,405 --> 00:06:59,580 I'm at Other Half. And if I know I'm gonna be there for a couple 111 00:06:59,580 --> 00:07:03,199 hours, I'm gonna sub in all NA everything 112 00:07:03,900 --> 00:07:07,675 in the middle of a session and just, you know, chill out there for 113 00:07:07,675 --> 00:07:11,515 a bit and then go back to say, tall Kiwi, which I 114 00:07:11,515 --> 00:07:15,070 believe is still on tap, top notch, hazy, Jordan and I just making 115 00:07:15,070 --> 00:07:18,750 kissy faces, about tall kiwi. We love we love our southern our 116 00:07:18,750 --> 00:07:22,110 southern hemisphere hops, folks. You know? It's just So it's what we You're right. In 117 00:07:22,110 --> 00:07:25,794 that tall kiwi is delicious and that you can't have, 118 00:07:25,794 --> 00:07:29,314 you know, 4 of them in 4 119 00:07:29,314 --> 00:07:32,914 hours. But you could have 2 of them in 4 hours and 2 and all 120 00:07:32,914 --> 00:07:33,670 NA everything 121 00:07:43,544 --> 00:07:47,384 Yeah. For the women's for the women's panel at Other Half that I 122 00:07:47,384 --> 00:07:51,164 had to emcee. I started out with 2 at NA beers. 123 00:07:51,750 --> 00:07:55,509 And so and then my job was done and then and 124 00:07:55,509 --> 00:07:59,075 then I just drank whatever and then had that cocktail. But, yeah, for real. And 125 00:07:59,075 --> 00:08:02,675 a beer when you're at the control board and then something when it's, credit when 126 00:08:02,675 --> 00:08:06,515 the credits are rolling. But I think, Brandy, to your point, we always try to 127 00:08:06,515 --> 00:08:09,729 be, especially our esteemed editor Jacob 128 00:08:10,110 --> 00:08:13,889 Scoops Berg, first, first, right? We try to scoop 129 00:08:13,949 --> 00:08:17,705 Washingtonian and Barred In DC and DCist and 130 00:08:18,085 --> 00:08:21,285 all of our friends out there in the media escape but I think the reality 131 00:08:21,285 --> 00:08:24,980 is whoever puts beer in can first it looks like DC Brau is going to 132 00:08:24,980 --> 00:08:28,280 sort of best, quote unquote, best Other Half, if you will. 133 00:08:28,660 --> 00:08:32,345 Who's gonna be making NA beer 2 years from 134 00:08:32,345 --> 00:08:35,405 now, 5 years from now, 10 years from now? 135 00:08:35,785 --> 00:08:39,625 Because there is market share to be gained. Right? NA 136 00:08:39,625 --> 00:08:43,270 beer is ascending. Craft beer, beer 137 00:08:43,270 --> 00:08:47,030 sales nationally are down. So if 138 00:08:47,030 --> 00:08:50,785 we can have a brow and an Other Half beer 2 139 00:08:50,785 --> 00:08:54,385 years from now, 5 years, a brow and an Other Half and a beer 10 140 00:08:54,385 --> 00:08:58,060 years from now, I'm on board with all of that. 141 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:02,120 Yeah, just one point, and again, it's not beer, but it's 142 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:05,385 beer adjacent. I'm a huge Hoplark Cop Tea fan, 143 00:09:05,785 --> 00:09:09,145 and Other Half, they did a collab with them, so, you know, they may not 144 00:09:09,145 --> 00:09:12,985 have canned their NA, but Other Half and, Hoplark did 145 00:09:12,985 --> 00:09:16,780 a collab and they canned some hot water. So I think Other Half 146 00:09:16,780 --> 00:09:20,620 is on the horizon of doing it. But for now, you guys take the cake. 147 00:09:20,620 --> 00:09:24,095 I'm just, you know, I do have a can of, some Other Half 148 00:09:24,095 --> 00:09:27,775 hoplark in my fridge right now. I will say when it's done well, because I've 149 00:09:27,775 --> 00:09:31,455 had some pretty not good NA beers that I would 150 00:09:31,455 --> 00:09:35,160 not drink. Here's the thing. I don't drink unless I like 151 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,780 the flavor. Like, I know a lot of people who will just drink 152 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,295 whatever is put in front of them just to get drunk or just to 153 00:09:42,295 --> 00:09:46,135 drink. If I don't like the taste of it, I'm not going to 154 00:09:46,135 --> 00:09:49,654 drink it. I've rarely had an NA beer that I 155 00:09:49,654 --> 00:09:53,050 really liked, And and I will say Other Half for 156 00:09:53,050 --> 00:09:56,570 me, really is the best NA beer that I've had. So I'm very 157 00:09:56,570 --> 00:10:00,415 curious, to try more and more. And I think the more they 158 00:10:00,415 --> 00:10:04,175 come out, the better they will be. Right? For sure. No. You're you're 159 00:10:04,175 --> 00:10:07,660 not wrong, Brandy. There's just, forces in the 160 00:10:07,660 --> 00:10:11,279 market that I find don't always bring the best 161 00:10:11,980 --> 00:10:15,665 product to market or have it readily available. And so what I mean by 162 00:10:15,665 --> 00:10:19,105 that is, when Jake and I were writing this piece on 163 00:10:19,105 --> 00:10:22,885 nonalcoholicbeer, go to dcbeer.com, check out our most recent on nonalcoholicbeer, 164 00:10:23,870 --> 00:10:27,570 We scoped the supermarket, and there were hop waters and 165 00:10:27,630 --> 00:10:31,149 dry hop seltzers. All of these products that are not beer, they're not 166 00:10:31,149 --> 00:10:34,535 nonalcoholic beer, they're hop water. They didn't have Port 167 00:10:34,535 --> 00:10:38,295 City's hot water in this grocery store. Right? And 168 00:10:38,295 --> 00:10:42,010 I just felt like, yeah, the Lagunitas is good. Yeah. 169 00:10:42,010 --> 00:10:45,770 The Sierra Nevada is good, but I feel like the Port City is better, and 170 00:10:45,770 --> 00:10:49,370 that's just my palate. But to your point, Brandy, about I drink what 171 00:10:49,370 --> 00:10:53,185 I want, and I don't just drink it to get a buzz on. 172 00:10:53,185 --> 00:10:56,865 I really genuinely want the flavor. There needs to be a reason and 173 00:10:56,865 --> 00:11:00,440 purposeful mindful drinking consumption even with something that's 0 174 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:03,820 calories and 0 carbs like hop seltzer. 175 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:07,880 Exactly. Yeah. The Port City is the best product, but for whatever reason, I could 176 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:11,435 have La Canada seltzer, I could have Sierra Nevada, or I 177 00:11:11,435 --> 00:11:14,875 forget who the third one was. And so that's what's 178 00:11:14,875 --> 00:11:18,689 happened. Now we're hoping to see growth in the NA space because I 179 00:11:18,689 --> 00:11:22,290 saw over a dozen brands of NA beer, some that I didn't 180 00:11:22,290 --> 00:11:25,910 know, like, today I learned. Peroni has a 0.0, 181 00:11:26,895 --> 00:11:30,575 TsingTao has a 0.0. And I haven't tried 182 00:11:30,575 --> 00:11:34,355 either of those but, you know, if they're better than the Other Half 183 00:11:34,700 --> 00:11:38,540 or the Brau NA beer, I mean, 1, I'll be surprised. I'm biased, 184 00:11:38,540 --> 00:11:42,220 of course. But, 2, it's like the stylistically they're going 185 00:11:42,220 --> 00:11:45,905 for that, you know, light pale beer that cuts through street 186 00:11:46,205 --> 00:11:49,825 food, pizza, fries, like, lo 187 00:11:51,005 --> 00:11:54,840 mein, you know, those foods that are tend to be pretty hefty 188 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:58,460 comfort food with light, crisp, highly carbonated beer. 189 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:02,555 Right? But maybe you want a 0.0 beer. Alright. On 190 00:12:02,555 --> 00:12:06,075 that note, we've got a wonderful guest for 191 00:12:06,075 --> 00:12:09,569 you. Mike Stein, take it away. I'm 192 00:12:09,569 --> 00:12:13,009 so excited to have Andrea Stanley, owner and 193 00:12:13,009 --> 00:12:16,370 founder of Valley Malt, as well as Ground 194 00:12:16,370 --> 00:12:20,125 Up Stone-milled flours with us. Thank you for 195 00:12:20,125 --> 00:12:23,965 joining us on The DC Beer Show. Thanks, Michael, for having me. 196 00:12:23,965 --> 00:12:27,290 It's great to be here with you. It's great to see you. The last time 197 00:12:27,290 --> 00:12:30,650 I saw you, you were at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American 198 00:12:30,650 --> 00:12:34,485 History. What a what a great event that was. That was a 199 00:12:34,565 --> 00:12:38,084 a pretty amazing event, and, what a final 200 00:12:38,084 --> 00:12:41,740 moment for Theresa McCulla, who did such amazing work in 201 00:12:41,740 --> 00:12:45,420 terms of craft beer history and at the 202 00:12:45,420 --> 00:12:48,780 Smithsonian. We are we are massive fans of Theresa 203 00:12:48,780 --> 00:12:52,615 McCulla, and her work. The archives and all the beer history 204 00:12:52,615 --> 00:12:56,214 she's preserved have been wonderful. But speaking of 205 00:12:56,214 --> 00:12:59,740 archives and beer historians, I reached out to our mutual 206 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:03,100 friend, Ron Pattinson, who described 207 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:07,255 you thusly. He said, Andrea has a passion for malting as 208 00:13:07,415 --> 00:13:11,095 strong as any brewer's for beer. She 209 00:13:11,095 --> 00:13:14,935 helped enormously in my Obadiah poundage collaboration with 210 00:13:14,935 --> 00:13:18,509 Goose Island by making brown malt the really scary 211 00:13:18,649 --> 00:13:22,329 way. Something that something 212 00:13:22,329 --> 00:13:26,155 that I doubt I would have have ever dared take on. 213 00:13:26,455 --> 00:13:30,295 She's also great company if you're a huge beer nerd with her 214 00:13:30,295 --> 00:13:34,060 depth of knowledge of barley and malting. So 215 00:13:34,060 --> 00:13:37,900 that was our good friend Ron Pattinson. So we'll talk a little bit 216 00:13:37,900 --> 00:13:41,694 about, Ron and his Obadiah poundage beer later, specifically 217 00:13:41,694 --> 00:13:45,535 the beer and your contribution to it. But I wanted to say, they say 218 00:13:45,535 --> 00:13:49,375 that malt is the soul of beer. Do you believe this to be true? Does 219 00:13:49,375 --> 00:13:52,980 this make you a certified soul woman producing 220 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,720 the soul of beer? Michael, this is such a good 221 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:00,165 question. I think people are the soul of 222 00:14:00,165 --> 00:14:03,464 beer. You know? People need to make the malt 223 00:14:03,925 --> 00:14:06,805 and the ingredients and the beer, and it's 224 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,260 if I really think about what a soul feels like to me, 225 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:15,640 I would say it's it's the humans that put everything into what they're 226 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:19,305 making that make the soul a beer. However, making malt 227 00:14:19,305 --> 00:14:22,605 does take a lot of humans, so I guess, you know, 228 00:14:23,065 --> 00:14:26,525 it's a piece of it. But I can see why people back in the day 229 00:14:27,670 --> 00:14:31,450 made that statement because, you know, clearly so much about 230 00:14:31,830 --> 00:14:35,605 a beer relied on the malt, and even to this day it 231 00:14:35,605 --> 00:14:39,445 still relies on the malt for so much of what we 232 00:14:39,445 --> 00:14:43,020 love about beer. Well, that's that's certainly true. A lot of 233 00:14:43,020 --> 00:14:46,620 labor goes in, and you need people for the labor. You are one of 234 00:14:46,620 --> 00:14:50,425 those wonderful people. And without you, Valley Malt wouldn't exist. So 235 00:14:50,505 --> 00:14:54,185 tell us about Valley Malt. When did you start? How's it going? And and 236 00:14:54,185 --> 00:14:57,590 what projects are you currently working on that you're excited about? 237 00:14:57,910 --> 00:15:01,530 I'm gonna go real quick on the Valley Malte story. So 2009, 238 00:15:02,310 --> 00:15:05,885 was really interested in local food and trying 239 00:15:05,885 --> 00:15:09,644 to sort of have my footprint of what I ate and drank be as local 240 00:15:09,644 --> 00:15:13,290 as possible. And I've read an article in a local 241 00:15:13,290 --> 00:15:17,050 newspaper about a bakery that was starting to try to 242 00:15:17,050 --> 00:15:20,810 make one bread a week that had local wheat in it that 243 00:15:20,810 --> 00:15:24,555 was locally milled. And I thought, oh my god. I never 244 00:15:24,555 --> 00:15:28,315 thought about grains as a local ingredient and as an actual, like, 245 00:15:28,315 --> 00:15:32,020 agricultural product and that farmers had to grow, and that was, 246 00:15:32,020 --> 00:15:35,779 like, in the soil somewhere. So that kind of started my journey 247 00:15:35,779 --> 00:15:39,595 into thinking, oh, I'm a home brewer. Let's try to make an all local 248 00:15:39,595 --> 00:15:43,375 beer, realizing that malting was this missing step. 249 00:15:44,074 --> 00:15:47,134 And we started our 1st malt house in 2,000 250 00:15:47,779 --> 00:15:51,560 10 with 25 acres of barley that was grown in the local field, 251 00:15:52,100 --> 00:15:55,699 and it's been a great journey of just like learning how to malt, 252 00:15:55,699 --> 00:15:59,225 learning about grains, trying to support more sustainable 253 00:15:59,445 --> 00:16:02,665 agriculture, and then, you know, 254 00:16:03,045 --> 00:16:06,820 understanding what it is that craft brewers in the northeast actually might 255 00:16:06,820 --> 00:16:10,520 want from a local maltster. And so that can kinda answer 256 00:16:10,580 --> 00:16:13,960 part of, like, your question of what's going on right now, which is, 257 00:16:14,324 --> 00:16:17,625 you know, we're making really great pale malt, pilsner 258 00:16:17,685 --> 00:16:21,125 malt, a Golden Valley pale, which we tried 259 00:16:21,125 --> 00:16:24,510 to clone, like, a Golden Promise style 260 00:16:25,050 --> 00:16:28,430 malt, but more locally, a dextrin 261 00:16:28,650 --> 00:16:32,045 malt. You know, we've kinda streamlined what we make because we're 262 00:16:32,045 --> 00:16:35,565 making 9 ton batches now, but we're also having 263 00:16:35,565 --> 00:16:39,005 fun. So, I I received a book in 264 00:16:39,005 --> 00:16:42,740 20 19 when I was in the Czech Republic that was 265 00:16:42,740 --> 00:16:46,500 written by a maltster in 1929 in the Czech 266 00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:50,324 Republic, translated in 2005, and we're 267 00:16:50,324 --> 00:16:54,005 basically trying to recreate a Czech Pilsner malt. And so that's 268 00:16:54,005 --> 00:16:57,830 been really fun, is just to, like, think about how to recreate 269 00:16:58,130 --> 00:17:01,890 malts that we're not currently making, and why we 270 00:17:01,890 --> 00:17:05,570 would do that. And then like in this book, learning 271 00:17:05,570 --> 00:17:09,215 about, you know, even just tracing, like, COAs 272 00:17:09,755 --> 00:17:13,055 from essentially almost a 100 years ago. Right? 1929 273 00:17:13,595 --> 00:17:17,220 is almost a 100 years ago. What did they care 274 00:17:17,220 --> 00:17:21,060 about on their COAs? You know? And, like, 275 00:17:21,060 --> 00:17:24,440 okay. Can we even recreate those COAs 276 00:17:24,740 --> 00:17:28,505 with the current testing that we have? I mean, we can, but, 277 00:17:28,505 --> 00:17:32,184 you know, like, commercial testing is always hard to find, you 278 00:17:32,184 --> 00:17:36,030 know, labs that can do certain things like a dextrin maltose ratio 279 00:17:36,250 --> 00:17:40,065 or a sugar to non sugar ratio. So if you 280 00:17:40,065 --> 00:17:43,845 know anybody that wants to buy an under modified Czech Pilsner malt 281 00:17:45,264 --> 00:17:49,050 So let's let's zoom let's zoom back out here for a moment. What is 282 00:17:49,050 --> 00:17:52,810 COA? And let our listeners 283 00:17:52,810 --> 00:17:56,330 know you went to the Czech Republic. What happened after 284 00:17:56,330 --> 00:17:59,835 that? What does Czech barley have to do with 285 00:17:59,835 --> 00:18:02,895 malting in Massachusetts to grow in New York, and what's a COA? 286 00:18:03,355 --> 00:18:07,050 Yeah. So COA of a certificate of analysis. So it's like, 287 00:18:07,130 --> 00:18:10,970 you know, if I'm a brewer, I wanna know how much, like, what's the color 288 00:18:10,970 --> 00:18:14,090 of this malt gonna be on my beer? Is it gonna make me a dark 289 00:18:14,090 --> 00:18:17,275 beer or a light beer? Or is it gonna give me a little bit of 290 00:18:17,275 --> 00:18:21,034 sugar that is gonna create, like, a low alcohol 291 00:18:21,034 --> 00:18:24,770 beer or a lot of sugar that's gonna create a high alcohol beer. 292 00:18:25,070 --> 00:18:28,910 So that kind of thing is, like, these important characteristics that you need to 293 00:18:28,910 --> 00:18:32,485 know. So it's a little bit of a contract in a way, like, here's what 294 00:18:32,485 --> 00:18:36,325 we're supplying you. But as you start getting into 295 00:18:36,325 --> 00:18:39,970 different types of malt, you're looking at that COA to sort of figure 296 00:18:39,970 --> 00:18:43,650 out how it's gonna impact your, like, what you're gonna be able to make with 297 00:18:43,650 --> 00:18:47,465 it. And yeah, the, the Czech Republic thing was like 298 00:18:47,625 --> 00:18:50,845 pre COVID 2019. We were all like 299 00:18:51,065 --> 00:18:54,365 traveling. There was a heirloom barley 300 00:18:54,664 --> 00:18:57,559 conference that was going on in Munich, 301 00:18:58,420 --> 00:19:02,260 and we went a little bit early because we were interested in visiting 302 00:19:02,260 --> 00:19:05,625 with some Czech barley breeders because some of the best barley in the 303 00:19:05,625 --> 00:19:09,225 world for malting and beer making comes from the Czech 304 00:19:09,225 --> 00:19:12,985 Republic. I was like, Oh man, this is like, I've been making malt 305 00:19:12,985 --> 00:19:16,490 now for know, 10 years, and this is like my big 306 00:19:16,550 --> 00:19:20,390 sabbatical trip where I get to go and Yeah. See where it all came 307 00:19:20,390 --> 00:19:23,605 from. You know? You're looking at the source, and I think it's really important to 308 00:19:23,605 --> 00:19:27,365 note that, despite those of us in the craft 309 00:19:27,365 --> 00:19:30,970 beer, independent beer, small beer world, still the majority of 310 00:19:30,970 --> 00:19:34,410 beer sold in America is light beer, but that light beer even is based 311 00:19:34,410 --> 00:19:38,190 on the golden Pilsner style beers of Czechia 312 00:19:38,410 --> 00:19:42,155 or Bohemia, and that is based around 313 00:19:42,155 --> 00:19:45,595 a high quality barley as the lore sort of 314 00:19:45,595 --> 00:19:49,360 goes. You know, our barley grown in America wasn't as light 315 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:53,040 as the famous Czech barley, so we use rice or we use corn and 316 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:56,855 to produce. But, anyways, yes, you were tracking the source. And so 317 00:19:56,855 --> 00:20:00,535 now that barley has come stateside or there's there's 318 00:20:00,535 --> 00:20:04,220 some connection when we Yeah. Yeah. It was more just, we went to the 319 00:20:04,220 --> 00:20:08,060 promised land. We I learned in my time there that actually, 320 00:20:08,060 --> 00:20:11,760 like, when the Czech Republic became part of the EU, 321 00:20:12,424 --> 00:20:15,865 there was this agreement that they designated, like, 322 00:20:15,865 --> 00:20:19,705 this is Czech Pilsner malt, and this is exact you know, almost 323 00:20:19,705 --> 00:20:23,490 like an appellation where it's like, this is exactly how it's made. Same thing 324 00:20:23,490 --> 00:20:26,550 with Czech beer. You know, it had its own sort of 325 00:20:26,850 --> 00:20:30,450 designation with the EU, and I was like, wow, that's really cool, 326 00:20:30,450 --> 00:20:34,115 like, on a certain level. You know? Because it's so un 327 00:20:34,115 --> 00:20:37,875 American on a certain level. So from a cultural standpoint, I 328 00:20:37,875 --> 00:20:41,299 was like, wow. You know, that's a unified thing. Right. 329 00:20:41,299 --> 00:20:44,899 Well, you do do something different with with regards to 330 00:20:44,899 --> 00:20:48,434 Bluejackets. So we have the local brewery Bluejacket who's been buying your malt 331 00:20:48,434 --> 00:20:52,115 for at least a year now. They recently received, I don't 332 00:20:52,115 --> 00:20:55,690 wanna say an award, but a certificate, let's say, from 333 00:20:55,690 --> 00:20:59,230 you because they've been using your malt which supports, 334 00:20:59,690 --> 00:21:03,475 local economies or local agronomics. Tell us a little bit about, cause it's not just 335 00:21:03,475 --> 00:21:07,075 Bluejacket. It's everybody who uses your malt once they use enough of it. So 336 00:21:07,075 --> 00:21:10,730 there's the beer history nerd, which is part of me, and 337 00:21:10,730 --> 00:21:14,510 Valley Malt, and then there's sort of the sustainability and supporting 338 00:21:14,570 --> 00:21:18,205 local sustainable agriculture, which is a huge part 339 00:21:18,205 --> 00:21:22,045 of what we, like, exist to do. And so, 340 00:21:22,045 --> 00:21:25,485 if a brewery like Bluejacket buys a pallet of malt from 341 00:21:25,485 --> 00:21:29,049 us, that supports 1 acre of sustainable 342 00:21:29,269 --> 00:21:32,710 agriculture, because that grain is serving as a cover 343 00:21:32,710 --> 00:21:36,225 crop. It's helping with soil erosion 344 00:21:36,445 --> 00:21:40,205 and leaching of nutrients into watersheds, so it's 345 00:21:40,205 --> 00:21:43,930 a really important sustainable crop that, by 346 00:21:43,930 --> 00:21:47,550 supporting the malting of it, you're supporting 347 00:21:47,690 --> 00:21:51,525 that sustainable agriculture, because otherwise it's really hard for 348 00:21:51,525 --> 00:21:55,045 a farmer to grow something that's sustainable if nobody's there to buy 349 00:21:55,045 --> 00:21:58,105 it. So yeah, so they Bluejacket, 350 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,440 every time they get a pallet from us, they get a cute little card that 351 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:06,200 says this pallet supported an acre of local of local 352 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:09,565 agriculture. And then over the over time, 353 00:22:10,105 --> 00:22:13,945 they've racked up the acres so that then 354 00:22:13,945 --> 00:22:17,420 they get a a label for their brewery that says, you know, in 355 00:22:17,420 --> 00:22:21,100 2023, we supported 5 acres or 6 356 00:22:21,100 --> 00:22:24,924 acres of local agriculture, and then it 357 00:22:24,924 --> 00:22:28,144 could be a banner where they've supported 25 358 00:22:28,284 --> 00:22:32,125 acres, 50. So over time, it really builds up. 359 00:22:32,125 --> 00:22:35,880 That support really has impact. Yeah. The last time I 360 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,560 saw Roe Gunzel, who's the head brewer at Bluejacket, director of brewer 361 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,520 operations, he was letting me know about this. He was like, do you wanna see 362 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:46,005 it? But it was wonderful. And, you know, we 363 00:22:46,165 --> 00:22:49,945 we've been having Bluejackets Essex, their extra special bitter, 364 00:22:50,245 --> 00:22:53,590 and they used to use Maris Otter and English 365 00:22:53,650 --> 00:22:57,409 crystal malts, but they've now switched exclusively to your 366 00:22:57,409 --> 00:23:01,035 malt, to Valley Malt. Tell us a little about some of the value outside 367 00:23:01,095 --> 00:23:04,315 of the environmental value your malt adds to products, 368 00:23:05,655 --> 00:23:09,070 you know, like local beer or blue jacket or even local Spirits, because I 369 00:23:09,070 --> 00:23:12,910 know distillers are using your malts as well. Yeah. 370 00:23:12,910 --> 00:23:16,610 I mean, we try to be I think the sustainability is sort of our 371 00:23:17,205 --> 00:23:20,665 basic why we exist, but then also 372 00:23:20,805 --> 00:23:24,405 we have our own personalities that we each 373 00:23:24,405 --> 00:23:27,990 lend to how we run our malt houses, because I'm 374 00:23:28,070 --> 00:23:31,130 obviously, Valley Malt's not the only malt house in the northeast. 375 00:23:32,230 --> 00:23:35,450 And I think we're really into trying to 376 00:23:36,455 --> 00:23:39,895 find the malts that are coming from quite a distance that 377 00:23:39,895 --> 00:23:43,335 brewers just can't get away from, like something like a Maris 378 00:23:43,335 --> 00:23:47,160 Otter or, you know, serving German malts, 379 00:23:47,380 --> 00:23:51,220 Golden Promise is one of them. How do we try 380 00:23:51,220 --> 00:23:55,065 to make that malt locally and limit the amount of 381 00:23:55,065 --> 00:23:58,664 miles that that has to travel to get to the 382 00:23:58,664 --> 00:24:02,184 brewery? Not only for sustainability reasons, 383 00:24:02,184 --> 00:24:05,750 but bonus, it's fresher, and that actually 384 00:24:05,750 --> 00:24:09,430 does come through in the wort in the beer. When 385 00:24:09,430 --> 00:24:13,145 you're brewing something that was just malted 2 weeks ago, 386 00:24:13,205 --> 00:24:16,804 it's like coffee, you know? It's you can taste it, and you can 387 00:24:16,804 --> 00:24:20,165 taste that it has just a more intensity of 388 00:24:20,165 --> 00:24:24,010 aroma and and more layers of 389 00:24:24,309 --> 00:24:27,909 flavor in there. Yeah. Well said. I've heard you use the the 390 00:24:27,909 --> 00:24:31,735 metaphor as malt like coffee before, and it's so 391 00:24:31,735 --> 00:24:34,875 valid for It really makes a huge, 392 00:24:35,575 --> 00:24:39,340 tremendous difference with product. And, you know, 393 00:24:39,340 --> 00:24:42,880 it's it's interesting with your malt, you've had, 394 00:24:43,740 --> 00:24:47,440 big brewers like Goose Island. You know, Ron 395 00:24:47,685 --> 00:24:51,445 Pattinson, the the beer historian, mentioned using your malt in the Goose Island 396 00:24:51,445 --> 00:24:54,885 project, but you also sell the smaller brewers like Bluejacket, and 397 00:24:54,885 --> 00:24:58,450 others. Do you have a sense of, 398 00:24:58,990 --> 00:25:02,750 you know, the difference in selling to big brewers or 399 00:25:02,750 --> 00:25:06,434 small brewers? Do you have some favorites or people that you really 400 00:25:06,434 --> 00:25:09,414 enjoy working with? Both, honestly. 401 00:25:10,034 --> 00:25:12,934 Because at the end of every email is a person, 402 00:25:13,790 --> 00:25:17,150 and a lot of times, there's just, like, some really 403 00:25:17,150 --> 00:25:20,770 lovely relationships that can form even just over email, 404 00:25:21,985 --> 00:25:25,825 especially when you're geeking out about malt. So, yeah. No. I 405 00:25:25,825 --> 00:25:29,125 would say, like, I probably have certain biases 406 00:25:29,345 --> 00:25:33,020 against bigger breweries versus smaller breweries because 407 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,080 we trend toward the smaller malt house. Right? We're kind of the 408 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:40,665 underdog, and so I think I my biases are maybe more toward 409 00:25:41,205 --> 00:25:44,645 customers that are smaller. But also, 410 00:25:44,645 --> 00:25:48,410 it's you know, it really comes down to just, like, the relationships and who 411 00:25:48,410 --> 00:25:51,930 we're working with, and, like, there are some bigger breweries like Goose 412 00:25:51,930 --> 00:25:55,715 Island, where the people there are just so passionate about 413 00:25:55,715 --> 00:25:59,554 what they do and about, you know, trying to recreate this historic beers, and 414 00:25:59,554 --> 00:26:01,975 they have the platform to be able to do that. 415 00:26:03,890 --> 00:26:07,590 And, yeah, just the appreciation a lot of times that bigger 416 00:26:08,130 --> 00:26:11,350 breweries might have to be working with a smaller supplier, 417 00:26:12,050 --> 00:26:14,975 that relationship actually feels really great too. 418 00:26:15,755 --> 00:26:19,435 So before we close out, Andrea, I wanted to ask you a little 419 00:26:19,435 --> 00:26:22,690 bit about GroundUp, stone milled 420 00:26:22,990 --> 00:26:26,830 flours. So GroundUp started in 2019 as 421 00:26:26,830 --> 00:26:30,465 a sister company to Valley Malt. We had a 422 00:26:30,465 --> 00:26:33,985 bakery in our town approach us about milling for 423 00:26:33,985 --> 00:26:37,800 them, and we found out that there was a manufacturer of these 424 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,780 beautiful stone mills not that far away in Vermont, 425 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:45,405 so we added, a mill, and we just milled for that one bakery 426 00:26:45,545 --> 00:26:49,225 for the 1st year, and then COVID hit, and people couldn't 427 00:26:49,225 --> 00:26:52,950 find flour, and we started to really, started to really, realize that 428 00:26:52,950 --> 00:26:56,710 being a miller was something that we wanted to do, so and that 429 00:26:56,710 --> 00:27:00,245 was needed. And we make stone milled flours, 430 00:27:00,305 --> 00:27:04,145 which are very different than the normal flour that you would find on the 431 00:27:04,145 --> 00:27:07,585 shelves because it hasn't been bleached or bromated or 432 00:27:07,585 --> 00:27:11,280 enriched. It's just the whole grain going through the mill 433 00:27:11,740 --> 00:27:15,420 and then being lightly sifted, so it still has a lot of 434 00:27:15,420 --> 00:27:18,975 nutrition, a lot of dietary fiber, really 435 00:27:18,975 --> 00:27:21,955 good generally good type of carbohydrates, 436 00:27:23,615 --> 00:27:27,380 iron, potassium, things in it that, you know, are 437 00:27:27,380 --> 00:27:31,059 gonna give people the nutrition that they need in their 438 00:27:31,059 --> 00:27:34,679 carbs, and then we just added on a, 439 00:27:35,345 --> 00:27:39,025 pasta shop, so we're starting to make fresh pasta now out of these grains, 440 00:27:39,025 --> 00:27:42,830 which has been really delicious. And so, yeah, you just 441 00:27:42,830 --> 00:27:46,429 really get to really learn more and more about each type of 442 00:27:46,429 --> 00:27:49,950 grain and all the attributes of it in terms of 443 00:27:49,950 --> 00:27:53,765 flavor and texture, and it's kind of a fun adventure if 444 00:27:53,765 --> 00:27:56,745 people are interested in cooking, baking, 445 00:27:57,445 --> 00:28:01,205 making pasta. I would say check out Ground 446 00:28:01,205 --> 00:28:04,900 Up Grain because, you know, that's what we're trying to do is just be 447 00:28:04,900 --> 00:28:08,660 that local mill that is trying to express the 448 00:28:08,660 --> 00:28:12,395 best that local agriculture is growing 449 00:28:12,534 --> 00:28:16,215 in terms of grains. Andrea, thank you so much for 450 00:28:16,215 --> 00:28:19,840 joining us here on The DC Beer Show. You have been a wonderful 451 00:28:19,980 --> 00:28:23,740 interviewee. Any parting words or anything final you'd 452 00:28:23,740 --> 00:28:27,534 like to share with our with our listenership? Just that I can't 453 00:28:27,534 --> 00:28:31,375 say enough about how grateful I am for you, Michael, in our 454 00:28:31,375 --> 00:28:34,789 friendship over the years and, you know, what you do 455 00:28:34,789 --> 00:28:38,250 and the platform that you give other people to be able to 456 00:28:38,390 --> 00:28:42,195 share what they do. I really appreciate you. Thank you 457 00:28:42,195 --> 00:28:45,174 so much, Andrea. Thank you, Mike, for interviewing. 458 00:28:45,955 --> 00:28:49,475 Alright, everybody. In addition to all the events that we mentioned, we will see you 459 00:28:49,475 --> 00:28:52,980 out and about. The Maryland Craft Brewers Festival is coming 460 00:28:52,980 --> 00:28:56,420 up as well. It's happening on the 461 00:28:56,420 --> 00:29:00,055 11th May, and by that time, there could be, like, 6 more 462 00:29:00,055 --> 00:29:03,735 vanish locations in Maryland. I just learned this week there 463 00:29:03,735 --> 00:29:07,495 were 2 2 vanish locations in Maryland. I had 464 00:29:07,495 --> 00:29:11,020 no idea. I thought there was one. But no. Me either. 465 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:15,000 Yeah. Yeah. And, again, we wanna see everyone, come and check us out 466 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:17,559 at at Third Hill, and just come check out Third Hill. You know, they they 467 00:29:17,559 --> 00:29:20,525 make some awesome beer. And I'm not just saying that because I've had the the, 468 00:29:20,845 --> 00:29:23,805 honor and privilege to brew with them, but come check us out. And if you 469 00:29:23,805 --> 00:29:27,405 can't check us out, we just wanna wish all of you guys nationwide and 470 00:29:27,405 --> 00:29:30,860 internationally, happy National Beer Day. That is Sunday. 471 00:29:30,860 --> 00:29:34,460 Cheers. Be well, everybody. We are @DCBeer across social 472 00:29:34,460 --> 00:29:38,145 media. Please do not stare directly at the eclipse without 473 00:29:38,305 --> 00:29:41,825 protective eyewear. Be safe out there. See you this 474 00:29:41,825 --> 00:29:42,325 weekend.