64 - Jarod Griesbach

For this and the next few episodes Troubled Monk’s Bud Kelly joins the podcast as an (un?)official co-host during a Central Alberta road trip, and our first stop was to see Jarod Griesbach of Red Hart Brewing for a chat about brewing craft beer that isn’t just for “big city types."

The inspiration for Red Hart brewing started on a canoeing trip with a group of friends. He and his future business partners were having a discussion about creating a business you could be proud of, and with the help of at least a few beers they had a fantastic idea to start a brewery. When it still seemed like a pretty good idea the next morning they knew they were onto something.

While living in Edinburgh for a year Jarod fell in love with their pub culture. He discovered that folks there weren’t hanging out in their houses, they were hanging out in the community living room — the local pub. Jarod has been thrilled to see the same “community living room” culture happen in the taproom at Red Hart, but is quick to point out that this culture isn’t something you can create, it just happens organically.

We also discuss Central Alberta’s unique beer culture which Jarod mostly jokingly says is way better than the beer culture in Calgary or Edmonton, which he at least partially attributes to the closer connection that they have to their farms. This connection to their farms plays a big part in how supportive the community is of their brewery, and Jarod is thrilled about how excited people get when they find out that all the ingredients in their beer are local, the hops, the malt, everything. When they brewed their 2019 Wet Hop Pale Ale every single ingredient was sourced within 7km of the brewery, and they were lined up for 3 straight days with folks wanting a pint of their own.

“I did not expect people to be that passionate about supporting local"
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Let’s Meet For A Beer: website | facebook

Alberta Beer Festivals: website | twitter | instagram

Jarod Griesbach - Red Hart Brewing: website | twitter | instagram | facebook

Bud Kelly - Troubled Monk: website | twitter | instagram | facebook