Host Ben Rice travels to Sacramento, CA, to pay yet another visit to New Helvetia Brewing. This time, he sits down with current owner Dave Gull to discuss New Helvetia's newly-announced move to a public co-operative model and their recent 11th anniversary (and Ben's secret lineup pop-up show at said anniversary party). While we do get into specifics about what the co-op model means for him, the company, its employees, the city of Sacramento, and potential members, first, we take our sweet-ass time getting there by wishing Dave a happy 50th birthday (because he was kind enough to sit down with me on his birthday), discussing a variety of topics, such as reincarnation, Carl Sagan's Cosmos, Ben's past career in music journalism, Sacramento's odd behavior toward the arts and passion projects, Sacramento history lost to time, capitalism's war on positive change, and that old bugaboo Nationalized Healthcare. Plus! Again, so much detail about what this co-operative is, how it will work, what you can expect and how you can plan for the unexpected if you wish to join the membership, its efforts at equity, hyper-focusing on improving Sacramento while getting it drunk at the same time, and its $300 lifetime membership!
Find out more about this co-op effort and how to get involved (and answers to questions we maybe didn't answer on the episode) or just to see what they've got on tap and available to devour (I WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR HERE: AFTER THIS EPISODE WAS RECORDED, I HAD THE BIRRIA BURGER FROM CHEF NATE SOTO AND IT IS THE BEST BURGER I HAVE EVER HAD AND IS IN THE TOP 10 THINGS I HAVE EATEN OF ANY KIND - TRULY, IF YOU SEE THIS ON SPECIAL, ORDER IT. ORDER IT FOR FRIENDS. BRING SOME HOME FOR LATER. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. BIRRIA BURGER. GET IT. GOOD GOODNESS.)
You can also learn more about host Ben Rice's other goings on and the podcast and what beers he's drinking by following him on social media @barleyandmepod or checking out the fairly-current new website, barleyandmepod.com
Email questions/comments/concerns/guest ideas/brewery ideas to barleyandmepodcast@gmail.com or barleyandmepod@gmail.com
Ben is also posting #Chugs4Charity videos semi-regularly on Instagram (@barleyandmepod), to help raise funds for various local and national charities with goals of making our world a better place. You can Venmo Ben ($comedianbenrice) or hit his PayPal (@barleyandmepod) and all money will go to support the NAACP, ACLU, Black Lives Matter, and other civil rights helpers. Charities will change with the times and as emergencies arise. But the point is: all donations will go to help those who need it.
It's now been over a year since Brienne Allen's revelations about the beer industry's treatment of women and minorities. If you have stories about change (or lack thereof), please submit them (anonymously if you wish) and your story may be featured on a future episode. Simply go to https://forms.gle/2QNebCn7NHHjsEbg6
Intro Music: “Functional Alcoholism” by Be Brave Bold Robot (@bebraveboldrobot)
Interstitial Music: "JamRoc" by Breez (@breeztheartist)
Logo by Jessica DiMesio (@alchemistqueen)