Can you please introduce yourself and your role at the brewery?

Ryan Quinlan, I am the Head brewer of our Reno brewery and the Production Manager.

How did you first get started in the business and who or what inspired you? Did you homebrew?

Homebrewing is where I began to cut my teeth in the brewing world. To be able to create beer in my own home seemed to be a bit like harnessing a unicorn or riding a luck dragon. I have a degree in biology and chemistry which involved the study of yeast in a number of facets. This coupled with my interest in the culinary arts and the history of the world seemed to incorporate all of my interests into one hobby and ultimately profession.

How long have you been in the beer industry? What was your first job?

I have been homebrewing for over a decade and professionally brewing for a majority of that. My first job was washing kegs, and cellar work. Now I still wash kegs, clean floors, do cellar work, brew beer, formulate recipes, and manage a brewery.

What are your top three beer styles to drink?

I am a big fan of Belgian beers and Sour beers, but there is a beer for every occasion! For a decade now my favorite beer, and my desert island beer has been Orval. The hop character, the Belgian yeast character, and the bottle conditioning with Brett makes that beer my favorite thing to drink.

What are you top three beer styles to brew?

Beer! Any style.

In your opinion, what are the best destinations (i.e. websites, brew tours, books) for someone to learn about beer and the industry?

My favorite book will always be Charlie Papazian’s book. It was my first book and it not only included brewing techniques, but included the passion of what brewing encompassed…. as well as the mantra repeated throughout that brings things into perspective “Relax, Have a homebrew!” New Brewing Lager Beer was another of my favorites as it focus a lot more on techniques and theory and appeased the science side of my brain, but there are a lot of great resources out there these days.

What advice do you have for any home brewers or smaller breweries that are looking to get started or make themselves unique in the beer industry?

Love what you do, harness that passion, and never stop learning.

It looks like Great Basin Brewing Co. has an incredible beer selection with so many unique beers and new ventures. Do you have any exciting beers coming down the line that you could share with our readers to look forward to?

Our infamous Jalapeno infused Pilsner the “Chile Beso” is out now, our sweet “Outlaw Oatmeal Stout” won a silver medal at the World Beer Cup this year and will be on tap in the next few days, our berry beer will be out next week, and we are brewing a beer for the Reno Balloon Races this year so keep an eye out for that one. Also “Wild Horse Alt” will be the next release in 12 oz bottles!

Does Great Basin have a Twitter or Facebook page for our readers to check out? If so, have you seen an impact on your brewery from those social networks?

Thanks so much for your time! Really appreciate it and we look forward to drinking more of your beer.

Thank you Ben. I’m not sure where you are located, but if you pass through Reno contact me so we can have a beer!

He’Brew Genesis Ale
Shmaltz Brewing Company

This American Amber Ale is good but nothing special. It’s inital pour is a dark reddish color with a massive head and minimal lacing. The head of the beer disappears fairly quickly. The flavoring reminds me of a more carbonated iced tea with some hints of raisins. The bitterness is minimal but not completely gone. It’s a decent beer but nothing really stuck out for me on this one. I would suggest it but probably would recommend picking up a different beer if there are other similar choices. But at the same time I gotta respect it, since the beer represents some of my roots!

ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 48

Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout
North Coast Brewing Company

This malty stout really has a serious kick with a ton of different flavors added. It’s initial pour is a motor-oil like color with a massive head. Usually, beers with giant heads means that there is a ton of flavors that were added. The head acts as a protective shield to keeping all the flavors intact.

This beer is brewed in the tradition of 18th century English brewers who supplied the court of Russia’s Catherine The Great. It’s main flavors are coffee and chocolate with some taste of the alcohol. It’s tough to hide all of the alcohol flavoring when it is 9% ABV! The carbonation of the beer is not too heavy and the inital taste is light until the aftertaste kicks in. Overall, its a nice beer to sip on but not a beer I would have multiple of at once.

North Coast is one of my favorite breweries and they can never go wrong. I would definitely recommend to try out this beer next time you are looking for a good solid stout.

ABV: 9.0%
IBU: 75

Hightale Ale
Mountain Goat Beer Co.

This excellent Amber Ale was one of the two beers that was sent to me by Moutain Goat Beer out of Melbourne, Australia. This is the brewery’s flagship brew, a rich, malt-driven amber ale. The initial pour has a very deep red color with a medium head that shrinks but maintains through out the drinking process. The beers also has some toffee and caramel tones that balance the “Galaxy hops” which gives the ale a nice slight kick. Australian Pale and Pilsner malts along with British Crystal Malt and a dab of Roast Malt bring out the rich toffee character, which is why the ale is darker then most.

Definitely an ale that sticks out among the rest and one that I highly recommend. Go find this beer at your beer & wine store cause this one is a most try!

ABV: 4.5%
IBU: 35

Corona Extra
Cerveceria Modelo, S.A. De C.V. (Mexico)

When I started this blog, I told myself that I would post and write about ALL beers regardless of what they were as I want to be able to share everything. I happened to have an extra Corona (no pun intended) in my fridge so I thought I would post about it. I think this is the first “common” beer that I have shared on the site.

This is the perfect cheap summer beer to enjoy. It has a bright yellow color with a fluffy white head that fades with no lacing and a ton of carbonation. There is not so much scent besides the faint corn/grain flavoring. This beer is very water-y which makes it extremely easy to drink on any occasion. There really isn’t much else with this beer. It is usually paired with a wedge of lime which adds a boost and tartness to the overall flavoring. This beer reminds me of spring break during my college days. Definitely a great beer to bring to a summer party.

ABV: 4.6%
IBU: 13.4

Anchor Porter
Anchor Brewery Co.

This is a really great smooth American Porter from one of my favorite breweries Anchor Brewing Co. in San Francisco. It has a really dark color with a creamy medium head. It’s ingredients include coffee, dark chocolate, and toffee flavors, which make up the smooth texture to the porter.

The specialty of the beer is the roasted pale, caramel, chocolate, and black malts as well as top-fermenting yeast, creates the overall complexity without the bitterness. Anchor uses 100% malted barley, tons of fresh hops and entirely natural carbonation.

Anchor Porter became the first American Porter when it was introduced back in 1972. If you are a fan of dark beer, this will a really great smooth Porter to try. Check out a short video below of some of the Anchor brewers talking about the porter.

ABV: 5.6%
IBU: realm of 25 to 45

Gingerbread Ale
Bison Brewing

This porter is one of Bison Brewing’s specialty beers brewed with ginger, nutmeg, and a touch of cinnamon. The inital pout brings out a darker amber ale color with a medium sized head. The taste of the beer really becomes apparent the second it touches your lips. It is also brewed with 2-row, carmel, chocolate, roasted barley, and black malts.

This seasonal porter is perfect for a winter’s night. It is almost a dessert as it’s not too heavy but is full of taste. Even after you are done with the beer, the gingerbread flavoring lingers in your mouth for sometime. Really impressed with this beer and one that I would drink again during the winter. Gingerbread Ale is brewed by Bison Brewing out of Ukiah, CA.

ABV: 6.0%
IBU: 21

Thought I would share a couple Instagram photos of some beer related photos I have taken lately. If you are in Hollywood, CA and are looking for a good burger and beer, make sure to check out Stout Burgers and Beer. They are on point!

Chicory Stout
Dogfish Head Brewery

This delicious winter seasonal stout is one of Dogfish Head’s oldest brews originating at their pub back in 1995. The beer color is extremely dark pouring smoothly with little head. The initial taste really brings out the coffee flavoring of this stout. This beer is uniquly delicious because I am not usually a fan of stout’s but this one isn’t as heavy as a typical stout is, so it was easy for me to enjoy without feeling bloated. The dark beer is made with roasted chicory, organic Mexican coffee, and licorice root.

This beer pairs really well with with darker desserts and chocolate. You can most likely find this beer around November or December at your beer and wine store. Check out a short video of the founder and president, Sam Calagione, talking about the stout. Make sure to pick this one up.

ABV: 5.2%
IBU: 21

Kellerweis
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

Kellerweis is a really solid Hefeweizen beer. It pours a cloudy golden color with a large head, which is needed to hold in the many different flavors of the beer. The head ends up sticking around for much longer then I would have liked to start drinking. The beer has a really fruity aroma which you can tell immediately after popping off the cap. Coriander flavor is what really stands out for me after my initial taste. This beer seems to have a lot of different fruity flavors including banana, some apple, maybe a hint of citrus as well. It’s got a slight sour flavor but not too much to be overwhelmed.

Overall, its a really refreshing light bodied Hef. This is one to pick up for sure and should be available in most California grocery and liquor stores. I would definitely pick this one up again and one that will be perfect to enjoy for the upcoming Summer.

ABV: 4.8%
IBU: 15

Tire Bite Golden Ale
Flying Dog Brewery

The Tire Bite Golden Ale is a deliciously refreshing beer. It pours a really light golden ale color with little to no head and very little carbonation. The style of the beer is almost like a Kolsch, which is a very light German type of beer. There is not a whole lot of flavoring that sticks out, just a very light malt flavoring. The beer is almost too bland but still refreshing. This would be perfect to sip on during a summers day. I recommend this beer to ANY and ALL beer drinkers. This beer would go great with any spicy or hot foods.

The other reason why I love this beer is the bottle logo. The bottle displays a goblin-like dog figure aggressively bitting the tire of a bicycle, so hard that there is blood splatter sprayed all over the label. If you are thinking of bringing beer to a party or social event but want to look more sophisticated then bringing the usual Bud Light or Coors Light, this would be a perfect substitute and would definitely make you look like you know your beers. Keep an eye out for this one!

Tire Bite Golden Ale is brewed by Flying Dog Brewery out of Maryland.

ABV: 5.1%
IBU: 16.5

While most people think that building a “beer cap table” is so easy and “SO COLLEGE” there is a lot of thinking into how a person goes about doing so. Do you make the caps into a pattern? Do you try to spell something with a specific cap or do you make a random pattern? For me and my brother, our biggest decision has been how the individual caps look. We started out simply using our own bottle openers and we realized that they may need a little reshaping to make them worthy of “THE TABLE.” Mine is a bottle opener that is attached to my keys. I took it off of a lanyard I got in Canada. Yeah, that’s right, a bottle opener off a lanyard, BOOYAH! My brother’s bottle opener is actually the coolest beer opener I’ve ever seen (except for this one). Craftsman makes tools for everything and last thing that I thought they would make was a bottle opener. This shit is actually given the lifetime warranty that is given to all tools made by Craftsman. Crazy, I know. We started to use this “tool” to open all of our beers based on the idea that we wouldn’t have to work on the caps to make them to table quality. It left a small dent in the cap and made it almost prestige looking. Although Craftsman has been the premier maker of hand tools… we found something better. I know what you are thinking. What can get better than Craftsman? They make so many tools that I use for almost everything. You may have once said “I have a Craftsman screwdriver and I can screw everything.” And we all know a “That’s what she said” joke followed that statement. Well, I was as shocked as most of you will be when I realized that the wine opener my brother owned and randomly opened a beer to try to find a distinct look to the cap to lay out our table only to find it pulled the cap off in pristine condition. Yes, I know what you are thinking, “you are making a beer cap table and you are using a WINE OPENER to open you beers.” Well, if you can find a better opener then you let me know. The real question now is if we still use the beer caps that have distinct bend in them or if we try to make it as clean as possible. Either way we are having a great time drinking the beer.

- Cliff Williams

P.S. I do my best writing when I’m drunk while being full of these random ass beers that I’ve been consuming (for the table’s sake). While in the early stages of “THE TABLE” I am very open to different caps that I may have not seen. If you would like to suggest a beer cap feel free to email me at cwwilli2@gmail.com. I am open to making “THE TABLE” best it can be.

Guest Blog from Cliff Williams

I’ve told Ben that I would do a couple posts for him when it came to the table, my brother and I, are making out of beer caps. This table will require many hours of drinking and the sophistication of designing what “cap” the cap this is worthy enough to put ont this table in order to make it at its maximum potentiel. We have thrown different designs around to determine what would look like, but we are constantly changing our minds. The table won’t be made just of beer caps. The legs and base are going to be made of wood and the top will highlight the caps. I am unsure of the rest of the tables cosmetic features, but I am sure I will not disappoint those who would like to see the finished product.

The hardest thing so far has been trying to find a beer that tastes good and has a quality cap along with it. For the past 6 months we have been determining what we drink based on the bottle’s cap and trying not be be consurned with the taste. My brother tends to lean toward “Wild Blue” based on the taste, which after me tasting, I felt like it was a hard attempt to make a fruity beer only a few people would enjoy, but it turns out it is very well liked in my area (according to the man who runs the beer drive thru near my apatment), but when you have a dog farting a blueberry on your bottle who doesn’t want to drink it. As for mystelf, I have grown fond of many of Brooklyn Brands Brewing Co. and I have yet to find a beer from them I didn’t like. The Lager is good and the Booklyn Ale is amazing. The cap shows an unmistakible cursive “b” that makes me want to highlight it as much as possible in the construction of the table. We have been looking for different styles of beer, but our main focus is on the beer cap itself. If we want to make the best table we can we need to find the best caps. Taste will only be a selective decision on out selection.

I will make updates on the magnitude of drinking and cap selection in persuit of the best beer cap table my brother and I can put out minds too.

- Cliff Williams

Take an inside look into the Sierra Nevada Brewery out of Chico, CA. We are proud supporters of Sierra Nevada and are excited to give you a sneak peek into their production facilities. The brewery is always available for visits and tours.

We had the absolute pleasure to interview the founder and president of Sierra Nevada, Ken Grossman. You can read our interview with him here.

Here are some additional photos of Dave Bonighton and the Mountain Goat Brewing. You can read Dave’s interview here as well as check out a review of their Australian Pale Ale.