Beer Geeks

Host and master brewer Michael Ferguson visits brewing legend Tomme Arthur at Port Brewing Company and The Lost Abbey in San Marcos, California, where they caramelize a beer over rocks heated to a thousand degrees. Also, mixing barrel aged beers, making beer infused sous vide beef cheek tacos, and food and beer pairings.

At Hair of the Dog Brewery and Tasting Room in Portland, Oregon, host and master brewer Michael Ferguson brews and cooks with iconoclastic brewer Alan Sprints, whose unique beers, named for his friends, are prized for their complexity and flavor.

Brewing beer with trees at the Denver Beer Co! Come along for the ride with Host and Master Brewer Michael Ferguson and owner/brewers Charlie Berger and Patrick Crawford when they head into the Colorado mountains to pick juniper boughs, then brew the whole boughs along with the berries into a Finnish inspired juniper beer. You can taste the trees in the beer and in the beer infused pork belly po boy. It’s great fun all the way through the pairings table.

In this episode, Michael meets up with his old friend and craft beer legend Jim Koch, founder of Samuel Adams in Boston. Jim makes sure Michael experiences everything – from brewing New World tripel, to tasting Utopias barrel-blended beer, the strongest naturally fermented beverage in the world, to checking out the amazing new beer can Jim invented to make beer from a can taste as good as beer from a glass. Michael also visits a Boston beer lover’s landmark restaurant, cooks up beer-centric fajitas, and joins Jim and friends for a first-rate pairings dinner.

Host and Master Brewer Michael Ferguson visits an outside-the-glass, midwestern brewery, where unique beers include Lupulin Maximus Imperial IPA, Kartoffel Maibock, and Hopdinger Pale Ale. With Oso's owner/brewer Marc Buttera, Michael stuffs fresh hops into IPA bottles, then helps brew up a mashed potato beer. Then it's cooking – pork chops with beer infused apple compote – and a fabulous pairings dinner.

Host and Master Brewer Michael Ferguson gets free run behind the scenes of the legendary Stone Brewing Company with equally legendary co-founder Greg Koch and food and beer pairing icon "Dr. Bill" Sysak. The visit includes brewing the 2013 Stone ESPRESSO Imperial Russian Stout, attending the 12 Brewers, 12 Casks and 12 Mallets tasting event, cooking duck tacos with Stone Levitation Ale, and enjoying an amazing "Dr. Bill" orchestrated pairings dinner.

Host and master brewer Michael Ferguson visits Mystic Brewery in Chelsea, Massachusetts, where owner/brewer Bryan Greenhagen is growing his own yeast from fresh fruit, and brewing at one site - then trucking the wort 60 miles to ferment. Also, making beer braised pork cheeks, and food and beer pairings.

Host and master brewer Michael Ferguson and Titletown brewer David Oldenburg make wild rice beer at Titletown Brewing Company in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Then Michael tours the legendary Briess Malthouse. Also, making wort glazed bison meat loaf footballs, and food and beer pairings.

At New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado, one of the first American breweries to produce Belgian style beer, host and master brewer Michael Ferguson helps master blender Lauren Salazar create a new beer from a dozen different 20-foot tall barrels. Also, brewing 1554 black ale, making shrimp and grits with beer sauce, and food and beer pairings.

Host and master brewer Michael Ferguson takes part in a collaboration between two breweries, Indeed Brewing Company and Northbound Smokehouse and Brewpub in Minneapolis, to make Hot Box, an Imperial Smoked Pepper Porter. Michael helps smoke the peppers and grain, and brew the beer. Also, brewing honey ginger beer, making beer-smoked pork, and food and beer pairings.

At the Odell Brewing Co. in Fort Collins, Colorado, host and master brewer Michael Ferguson gets an inside look around from owner Doug Odell, and helps head brewer Bill Beymer brew Odell IPA with multiple hops, including whole leaf. Then Michael helps bake beer cupcakes, and there’s a beer and cupcake pairing too.

At Bootlegger's Brewery in Fullerton, California, host and master brewer Michael Ferguson helps brew Black Phoenix, a chipotle coffee stout, with brewer Aaron Barkenhagen, after helping roast the coffee at Kean Coffee. Also, tater tots with beer infused chili. And food and beer pairings.

Host and master brewer Michael Ferguson stops in to see what his old friend, Avery Brewing Company owner Adam Avery is up to. They brew Avery's famous Maharaja Imperial India Pale Ale and check out the lab, where Avery is doing amazing things to insure beer quality. Also, beer braising short ribs, and food and beer pairings.

At Rogue Ales and Spirits in Newport, Oregon, host and master brewer Michael Ferguson brews a pale ale using 100% Oregon ingredients with brewing legend John Maier, the brewer who famously made a beer with yeast from his own beard. Then, Michael visits the farm where Rogue grows its own hops and other beer ingredients – and checks out the beehives for their Honey Kolsch beer. Also, making beer marinated chicken with pasta, and food and beer pairings.

Michael visits Noble Ale Works in Anaheim, California, to brew tea-infused gose with brewer Evan Price, who’s also throwing a cask party with pomelo-infused IPA. Also, making mussels sautéed in beer, and food and beer pairings.

Michael Ferguson travels to Washington state's Yakima Valley, where 75% of America's hops are produced, to get an up-close look at how that key ingredient in Beer gets from farm to brewery. Hop merchant Doug MacKinnon, owner of the 47Hops company, takes Michael on a tour inside it all, including a 60 year old family-owned processing plant that looks like something from Wille Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Michael brews with Doug's Hops at Sound Brewery in Poulsbo, Washington, cooks with some of Sound's beer, and shares a fabulous pairing dinner.

Host and master brewer Michael Ferguson helps owner/brewers Anello Mollica and Paul Grahammake bourbon barrel cherry stout. Then he samples some of their 800 aging barrels. Also, making British style bangers with beer mixed in, and food and beer pairings.

In Portland, Oregon, host and master brewer Michael Ferguson helps Alameda Brewing Co. brewer Marshall Kunz brew and press mangos for the Yellow Wolf Imperial IPA, and Michael attends the Portland Fruit Beer Festival. Also, baking beer infused turkey pot-pie, and food and beer pairings.

Host and Master Brewer Michael Ferguson heads to Austin, Texas, to make a Prickly Pear Saison at North by Northwest Restaurant and Brewery. He ventures into the Texas Hill Country to harvest prickly pear, the bright pink cactus fruit indigenous to the area. Michael helps prep the prickly pear for brewing and then helps brew the Prickly Pear Saison. Also, cooking up beer brined pork chops and food and beer pairings.

Host and master brewer Michael Ferguson visits Jack’s Abby Brewing in Framingham, Massachusetts, where, unlike most breweries, all they make are lagers. Michael helps brew a Double India Pale Lager, then visits the brewer’s family farm to help build a hop trellis. Also, making beer beef stew, and food and beer pairings.