Episode 37 - Chris Dill of Snipe Brewing

There's that chill in the air again, well, there was until today when we hit 64 degrees in the first week of December. It's been a while since our last show but it's been a busy time as well. Doing this on my own is no small feat and paying bills never ends. But with that my creative mind has developed some rather inspiring artwork that'll you will see on my Etsy store and local vendors. If you haven't already please visit it at etsy.com/shop/beerisok. Lots of good stocking-stuffers are there for home brewers, hop heads and all types of beer drinkers. I also want to take this time to thank the local retailers who sell my items: Okie Crowe and Ida Red in Tulsa; Blue 7, Tree+Leaf and Graphite Element in OKC. This state is nothing short of creative people that inspire and want to see artists grow and flourish. I surely wouldn't be successful without them and am truly grateful to them.

There's been a great deal of development in the past couple months with stout season upon us and local breweries and distributors keeping shelves stocked with strong ales, imperial stouts and a full spice cabinet packed into ales. I cherish this time of reflection whilst sipping on something strong and enduring, especially those beers that are made here. I recently did that at LOCAL's Tulsa Winter Warmer. A small, intimate affair to really interact with some of Oklahoma's finest breweries, try something new and original and relax with good friends. Our beer community is strong and growing which brings us to our guest this episode.

Chris Dill leads a simple life in Pryor, OK. About as simple as you can in the country with three kids under 7 mind you. For the past year he and his brother-in-law David have been brewing and like any hobby he takes up, he submerges into it completely. So much so that he's been volunteering at Prairie Artisan Ales for bottling days and picking the brains of local brewers as well. He envisions a small farmhouse brewery in Pryor making sour table beer and anything else that make strike his fancy. This is Chris Dill of Snipe Brewing.

Episode 29 - Celebrating 6 years of Mustang Brewing Co.

Tim Schoelen of Mustang has a natural business mentality. Something that is sacred when trying to grow a brewery in a state full of alcohol restrictions. Throw in a tornado that destroys your primary operation and now you have an evangelist that could have easily packed it in but instead built a bigger brewery and developed the OKCity Co-Op brewery for a second time. It's no wonder Mustang has been around for 6 years, now located in the outskirts of downtown.

Tim graciously took some time with me to discuss the beginning of the idea to build a brewery to moving away from canned craft beer while so many others are only canning. Tim knows what he likes and has the confidence in his staff which now includes collaborations with Choc Beer in Krebs to experiment and create the best craft beer for Oklahomans.

Settle in with some Tractor Therapy Session IPA and listen in as we discuss the evolution of Mustang Brewing Co.

Episode 25 - Prairie Boys

You certainly can find a lot to do around Tulsa when you're looking for a new career. For the past couple of months I've had the pleasure of bottling beers at the Prairie brewery in Tulsa. It's been a rewarding experience to say the least and getting to hear the dialogue between Chase and Jake about brewing tidbits or Wes and Collin joke about new beer names and labels. It's a small, tight-knit family that comes together and builds this massive movement in the craft beer industry. As we joked in the episode sometimes you get down to 2 people running the bottling line because the phone never stops ringing and the e-mail inbox is always full.

The perks of a long hard day are worth it but you have to be on your feet all day, eventually covered in water and sticky beer and lift heavy cases. As always most see it as a labor of love for a well hand-crafted product. It's a great feeling to know something I helped bottle will be shared around the country and more importantly is putting Oklahoma on the craft beer map.