The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast

One of the beers we poured tasted like we tripped into a campfire and brought the smoke home with us. That surprise kick-off turns into a full Germany-themed tasting where we sort out what’s actually “Oktoberfest,” what’s simply German, and which bottles are worth hunting down when fall beer season hits.We work through a lineup that accidentally includes German wheat beers alongside the Märzen Oktoberfest classics, and the contrast is honestly helpful. You’ll hear our reactions to Hofbräu Hefeweizen, Weihenstephaner, and Hacker-Pschorr Weissbier as we chase the usual tasting-note promises like banana, clove, and spice and talk about what we really get on the palate. Then we get into the heart of the season with Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Märzen, Paulaner Oktoberfest Märzen, and Spaten Oktoberfest, scoring each one and debating what separates a “pretty good” Oktoberfest from a true benchmark.Between pours, we dig into beer history that explains why Märzen exists at all: the 1553 Bavarian summer brewing ban, the spoilage and fire risks that drove it, how March brewing and cold cellar lagering helped shape the style, and why that story connects to the rise of the Bavarian beer garden. We also break down the Reinheitsgebot German purity law, including the real 1516 date and what ingredients it actually lists, plus the key Festbier vs Märzen distinction that confuses a lot of Oktoberfest shoppers in the U.S.If you love German beer, Oktoberfest beer, Märzen lager, or beer history, this one is for you. Subscribe for more tastings, share the episode with your beer buddy, and leave a review, then tell us what your number-one Oktoberfest pick is this year.Send us Fan MailThank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well. 

A brewery sale can either kill the dream or light a fire under it. I’m in Lake Mills, Iowa with my brother Brian and our buddy Larry to tell the story of how a two and a half year plan to launch a brewery got squeezed into six chaotic weeks, and how 5 Alarm Brewing became Iron Post Brewing after months of licensing, paperwork, and nonstop work behind the scenes.We get into the real business side of craft beer and small town breweries: the stress shift from “just brewing” to owning everything, keeping the cooler full, paying the bills, and making sure the taproom is a place people want to stay. Brian also shares why the name Iron Post Brewing ties back to Midwest history near the Minnesota Iowa border, and how a good brand has to work on the wall, on the tap handle, and in the community.Then we do what we love most, we drink beer and talk flavor. You’ll hear tasting notes and brewing details on an Apple Pie Cream Ale that nails apple and cinnamon without the harsh bite, a Chocolate Peanut Butter Milk Stout made with cocoa and PB Fit, plus a Brown Ale and the Rusty Spoke Amber Ale that bring real malt depth. We also talk about building “gateway” craft beers, why Mosaic IPA works for newer IPA drinkers, how to handle customers asking for big brand beer, and what’s next with sours, trivia nights, and small batch experiments.If you’re anywhere near Lake Mills, stop into Iron Post Brewing and tell Brian you heard him here. Subscribe, share the show with a craft beer friend, and leave a review so more people can find the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast.Send us Fan MailThank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well. 

Pumpkin beer can be cozy, or it can be chaos when the ABV climbs into double digits. We grab six high-ABV pumpkin beers and put them through real tasting notes and real scores, from a 6.1% pumpkin lager all the way to barrel-aged heavy hitters that drink way too easy.Along the way we get into what “pumpkin flavor” actually means in craft beer. We talk IBUs and why a number like 38 does not automatically mean bitter when spice, malt, and sweetness are doing the balancing. We also chase the age-old fall question: are you tasting pumpkin pie, or are you tasting cinnamon and nutmeg trying to fake it? The nitro pumpkin spice latte throws another twist into the lineup, so we break down how nitrogen, the widget in the can, and that silky mouthfeel can smooth things out while also muting flavors you expected to pop.The barrel-aged segment is where things get serious. We compare caramel-forward imperial pumpkin ale, bourbon barrel-aged pumpkin beer built with pumpkin butter, and a brandy barrel-aged imperial that brings a surprising fruitiness and layered finish. Then we rank our top three and talk honestly about who these big pumpkin beers are for, especially if you’re newer to craft beer or usually stick to lighter lagers.Hit play, try a few of these as singles if you can, and tell us where you land on pumpkin beers. If you enjoy the show, subscribe, share it with a beer buddy, and leave a quick review so more people can find us.Send us Fan MailThank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well. 

Pumpkin beer has a reputation problem, but a good one can taste like dessert without drinking like syrup. We’re back in the studio to chase the real question: which fall seasonal beers actually deliver that pumpkin pie payoff, and which ones just wear an orange label?We start with a Fair State festbier and dig into what we want from a fest beer style lager and an Oktoberfest style pour: bready malt, clean finish, and enough flavor to justify the season. Then we pivot hard into pumpkin beer tasting notes, scoring, and the weird reality of trying to find pumpkin ales on shelves when releases feel smaller and vanish fast.The pumpkin lineup is all about low ABV drinkability and clear flavor. Sam Adams Jack-O steals the show with legit cinnamon, nutmeg, and classic autumn spice that lands like liquid pumpkin pie. Third Space’s pumpkin spice cream ale comes off light and easy but missing that pumpkin punch, while Four Hands looks perfect on the can and in the glass yet doesn’t bring the spice it promises. Evil Twin finishes strong as the surprise runner up, giving us a muted but real pumpkin spice profile that we’d happily sip again.Along the way, we share the American history of pumpkin beer, including colonial origins and the 1771 published recipe, plus the key brewing insight that explains everything: pumpkin flavor can disappear during fermentation, so brewers use spices to rebuild what your brain expects from “pumpkin.” Subscribe for more craft beer reviews, share this with your favorite fall beer hunter, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.Send us Fan MailThank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well. 

Oktoberfest beers all wear the same costume, but they don’t act the same once you crack the can. We line up seven American Oktoberfest releases and taste them in order, looking for the classic hallmarks people expect each fall: toasted malt, clean lager snap, and that cozy “one more sip” finish. What we find is a spectrum, from subtle and crisp to sweet leaning and even a couple pours with a finish that just doesn’t land for us. We start with Shiner Oktoberfest and Eagle Park’s MC Hammerschlagen, then work through TitleTown’s Bent Tuba, New Glarus Staghorn, and Great Lakes Oktoberfest, scoring each beer and calling out what a new craft beer drinker might actually enjoy. The conversation keeps expanding beyond tasting notes into Oktoberfest history, including how the festival began, the songs that echo through Munich beer tents, and the surprising modern reality that Munich serves Festbier rather than the traditional Märzen many Americans picture when they hear “Oktoberfest beer.” We also connect the dots to the German immigrant brewmasters who helped build Wisconsin’s brewing legacy. Then we turn up the volume with bigger interpretations: Avery’s The Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest tests whether higher ABV automatically brings better flavor, and we finish with the standout of the lineup, Founders Ultimate Oktoberfest, a bourbon barrel aged Märzen that’s shockingly smooth for a double digit beer. If you love Oktoberfest season, craft beer reviews, and real talk about what’s worth buying, this one is for you. Subscribe, share with a beer friend, and leave a review with your favorite Oktoberfest pick for the year.Send us Fan MailThank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well. 

Eight American Oktoberfest beers hit the table, and we do not let a single one skate by on fall vibes alone. We’re tasting for the stuff that actually matters: that copper to amber color, the malt backbone, any caramel or “biscuit” notes the label promises, hop bite, sweetness, and the finish that either stays clean or clings to your palate like it owns the place. If you’ve ever grabbed an Oktoberfest lager expecting one thing and got something totally different, you’re going to feel seen.We start with the reality that “Marzen style” does not guarantee sameness. Some of these seasonal lagers come across muted and beginner friendly, others swing hoppier than we expect, and a couple land with a weird bitterness or tart edge that sparks debate. Along the way, we also get distracted by can art choices, big label claims, and the ongoing challenge of scoring eight beers without boxing ourselves in.Then we zoom out into Oktoberfest history and culture, because the festival is bigger than any single pour. We talk about the first Oktoberfest in 1810, the Munich rules and the six breweries allowed to serve at the official grounds, the massive tent sizes, and even steinholding, the unofficial “sport” where your shoulder taps out before your pride does. We close with our personal top threes and a simple truth for fall beer season: American Oktoberfest beers can taste dramatically different, so the best one is the one that fits your palate.If you enjoy beer reviews, Oktoberfest beer talk, and Midwest craft beer banter, subscribe, share this with a friend who buys every fall seasonal lager, and leave a review telling us which Oktoberfest we should try next.Send us Fan MailThank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well. 

A barrel-aged stout can taste like old wood, coffee roast, rye spice, and bourbon char all at once, and somehow still go down smooth. We’re back at Callahan Lake Resort with BK, catching up on what it’s like to trade corporate life for resort ownership, how a family-friendly lodge atmosphere changes the whole feel of a “bar,” and what they’ve got planned next, including a major remodel and an expanded black walnut bar setup for the winter season.Then we get into the reason you’re here: a craft beer tasting and honest beer review scoring across five very different picks. Lagunitas Willetized Coffee Stout 2022 brings huge barrel-aged flavor at 13.1% ABV without the harsh burn. 3 Sheeps Hot Honey (with peppers) sparks a real debate about sweetness, stout bitterness, and how much heat a pepper beer should deliver. Pipeworks Phantom Unicorn adds bourbon-barrel and vanilla into the mix, while Commonwealth Brewing Modern S'morefare nails an impressive s’mores-style stout that still tastes like an actual stout.We close with a curveball that stuns us both, Eagle Park Joint, a New England style double IPA that’s dangerously easy to drink for an 8% double. If you love barrel-aged beer, imperial stout, Wisconsin craft beer, or you’re hunting for your next “diamond in the rough,” you’ll have a lot to take from this one. Subscribe, share the show with a beer buddy, and leave us a review so more people can find the podcast.Send us Fan MailThank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well. 

Most cocktail mixers promise convenience and deliver regret, so we brought the bottles to the bar at Callahan Lake Resort to find out what’s real and what’s hype. We taste Fresh Victor mixers the “suggested” way first, then start tweaking like a true mixology session: rum versus tequila, shaken versus topped with soda water, and small adds that can rescue a drink from being too sour, too sweet, or just one-note.We get into the details that actually matter for great cocktails, even if you’re making them at home. How acidity hits your palate and triggers that heartburn fear. Why aroma can completely change what you think you’re tasting. And why a quality spirit can make a simple build feel like a craft cocktail instead of a shortcut. Along the way we land on a few standouts: a tequila and prickly pear version of a citrus-mint mixer, a shockingly smooth bourbon drink with a raspberry finish, a thick strawberry-lemon pour that turns into a creamy “strawberry smoothie” little beer, and a cactus pear and pomegranate combo that gets even better when we swap triple sec for Northwoods maple syrup.We finish with a lemon sour mixer that goes two directions: a whiskey sour that stays bright and natural, then a tequila-forward build that tastes dangerously close to a perfect margarita. If you love cocktail experiments, bar hacks, and real-world tasting notes from a working resort bar, you’ll get plenty to steal for your next backyard hang.Subscribe, share this with your favorite drink-maker, and leave a review if you want more tasting sessions like this. Which mixer and spirit combo should we try next?Send us Fan MailThank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well. 

Alaska sounds like the perfect place for bold beer stories: glaciers, pioneers, and cans that look like they belong in a national park gift shop. So we went back to our Alaskan Brewing Company haul and tasted five more beers from the “40 beers for 40 years” pack, scoring everything and comparing our notes to what the brewery promises on the label and online.We start with Wilderness, a beer that literally calls itself an “Alaskan Cold Beer,” then move into hop-forward territory with Ascender Pale Ale and Juneau Juice Juicy IPA. Along the way, we keep bumping into the same tension craft beer fans know well: when a brewery lists strawberry candy, lemon peel, pineapple, tangerine, pine, and cedar, what happens when your palate mostly gets “mellow”? We’re not trying to dunk on anyone, but we do get honest about how missing tasting notes affect trust, especially when you’re making a buying decision from the can.We also take a detour into Alaska taproom rules that blew our minds: a 36-ounce daily limit per customer and a hard close at 9 p.m. Then we give Alaskan Brewing real credit for sustainability, including CO2 recapture and a biomass boiler that turns brewing waste into fuel. We wrap by ranking our favorites across all ten beers from both weeks and teasing what’s coming next with Oktoberfest, and pumpkin beer reviews.Subscribe for more straight-talk beer reviews, share this with a craft beer buddy, and leave a rating and review so more folks can find the show. What brewery has the biggest gap between the tasting notes and what you actually taste?Send us Fan MailThank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well. 

A random grocery store find turns into a full-on craft beer variety pack review: Alaskan Brewing’s “40 Beers For 40 Years” box. We expected forty different beers, but it’s ten styles with four cans each, so we start by cracking the first row and tasting five side by side. The goal is simple: figure out what’s actually in the can, how the flavors land, and whether these are worth buying if you want approachable craft beer without getting blasted by bitterness.We sip and score Alaskan Amber (alt-style ale), Alaskan Kolsch, Alaskan White (Belgian-style witbier), plus two IPAs: Icy Bay IPA and Husky IPA. We talk ABV and IBU, compare aroma versus finish, and keep coming back to the same surprise: even when the numbers look big, the drinking experience stays smooth and mellow. That makes these beers solid “starter set” options for newer craft drinkers, while flavor-chasers may wish the citrus, spice, and hop bite were dialed up.Jim also brings Alaska-specific brewing facts that genuinely change how you think about logistics and ingredients, from spruce tips and their vitamin C history to how Alaskan Brewing pioneered CO2 recapture because shipping gas was so expensive. Then, right when you think we’re staying serious, we take a hard left into a hornet sting story that proves the Northwoods always finds a way into beer night.If you’ve seen Alaskan Brewing on the shelf and wondered where to start, this is your roadmap. Subscribe, share the episode with a beer buddy, and leave us a review, then tell us what you want us to crack next.Send us Fan MailThank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well.