We're starting to do "Icebreakers," mini-podcasts that we upload in advance of our live Groundbreaker events (which are always recorded and uploaded as the main podcasts).
In advance of our "Brewmasters" event on October 11 -- a live conversation all about beer with master brewers Steve Dresler of Sierra Nevada and Mike Mraz of Mraz Brewing -- we're sitting down in the recording studio with a few other people who also do groundbreaking stuff in the beer industry.
First off, a conversation with J-E Paino of Ruhstaller Brewing in Sacramento. Not only did he restart the once-largest brewery west of the Mississippi, (Ruhstaller Brewery operated from 1881 to 1933, and Paino opened it up again in 2010), he's the only beermaker in California, besides the mega-big Sierra Nevada Brewing, to grow his own hops. Sacramento used to be the largest hop-growing region in the U.S. in America, till Prohibition shut that all down. Now Paino wants to restart that industry too, and make this area the Napa Valley of hops.
(The great photo of Paino in his Dixon hop field is by Sacramento photographer Carlos Eliason at elias-visuals.com)
He brought a few Ruhstaller 1881 Red Ales that we drank while talking-- which is probably why this short conversation that was supposed to be 20 minutes max actually went to 50 minutes. But Paino is a good conversationalist with a great story, so it's all a worthwhile listen. We did break it down in the "Podcast Timeframe" below so you can go to specific sections if you want.
PODCAST TIMEFRAME
* O to 1:20 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers
* 1:20 min - Details about our next event - "Food for Thought: The Brewmasters"
* 2:30 min - Why J-E Paino is sitting here in the recording studio
* 4: 25 min - California as the (former) hop-growing capital of the United States
* 5:50 min - How did this weed-looking plant turn into a primary ingredient for beer?
* 7:40 min - How Sacramento became the Beer Capital of the West Coast -- and how/why it lost the crown after Prohibition
* 11:30 min - What the hop industry in California looks like now
* 14:40 min - Why Paino decided to be the lone-wolf brewer to grow his own hops -- and how Darrell Corti of Corti Brothers is involved
* 19:25 min - The hop-harvesting process, from climbing the vine to baling, boxing and brewing
* 24:45 min - How this year's harvest was different and stood out from the past five
* 31:30 min - Paino's other California-based hops suppliers -- and why Black Ops helicopters may fly in if he grew a specific type of hops
* 35:25 min - Does it really matter where the hops in your beer are grown?
* 41 min - What's stopping California from being the Hops Capital of the U.S again?
* 43:45 min - Can craft beer-loving Californians change their taste buds to like "non-standardized" beers made with local hops?
* 48:30 min - How beer lovers -- and potential hop growers? -- can get up and close with the hops at Ruhstaller's farm in Dixon
