We’re smack dab in the middle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee for a special collaboration episode with our friends The Foamy Heads!

For Episode 144 of The Brewery Underground Podcast, we sit down with the team behind Smackdab Brewing for a behind-the-scenes look at a brewery that’s getting closer to opening its doors. We recorded inside their future taproom while the work was still underway, giving us a chance to hear the story before the first official pint is poured.

The Smackdab crew shares how a group of homebrewers spent years working toward opening their own brewery, why they chose to put down roots near downtown Murfreesboro, and the work that has gone into transforming an older family-owned building into their future home.

We also talk about their plans for the beer. Expect everything from traditional lagers, Czech pilsners and dark beers to hazy and West Coast IPAs, fruited sours and more experimental releases. Smackdab even has a cool concept planned for its beer menus: “Analog” for traditional styles and “Digital” for the more modern and experimental side of craft beer.

And because this is a Foamy Underground collaboration, with our good friends Rich and Mitch, you know there are plenty of laughs, beer conversations and detours along the way.

Join The Brewery Underground Podcast and The Foamy Heads as we get an early look at Smackdab Brewing and the next chapter of craft beer in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

This is a Foamy Underground Production.

Cheers!

Steve & Scott recently hit the road and took a trip to Cincinnati! This annual adventure is one we look forward to every year. We covered a lot of ground during the entire week.

Our goal was to visit many of the local breweries we been before. We also checked off other new ones. Including a taproom at a Marathon Gas Station!

Making our list of breweries on this trip:

• Brink Brewing
• Braxton Factory 52
• Wooden Cask
• Hofbrauhaus
• Darkness Brewing
• Northern Row
• Little Miami Brewing Company
• Big Ash Brewing
• Streetside Brewery
• Dead Low
• Esoteric Brewing
• West Side Brewing
• HighGrain
• Rhinegeist
• Madtree
• Mt. Carmel
• Wandering Monsters
• Paradise Brewing

Hofbrauhaus in Newport, Kentucky invited us in for a tour, and taste of the great beer they have to offer. This was a memorable highlight.

Another memorable highlight was attending the 50th Anniversary of Oktoberfest Zinzinnati! It was at this event, we got to meet Jim Koch, co-founder of Sam Adams. The gathering for all the festivities also included meeting up with many friends in the beer community.

Wandering Monsters had been on our list for a while of getting to. We attended a ticketed beer event that turned out to be pretty spectacular.

Prost!

It’s Oktoberfest season, and we’re celebrating by bringing Episodes 108 & 109 (Parts 1 and 2) of our conversation with Hofbräuhaus America together into one complete episode!

Steve and Scott are joined by Steve Ksycki and Jerry Bishop from Hofbräuhaus America to dive into the beer, history, culture, and traditions behind one of the most recognizable names in German beer.

We explore what makes an authentic Munich Oktoberfest beer different from many of the Oktoberfest beers Americans are familiar with, why Hofbräuhaus chose to bring the same style served in Munich to the United States, and how centuries of Bavarian brewing tradition continue to shape the brand today.

We also talk about the legendary Hofbräuhaus München, the history and pride surrounding Bavarian beer culture, the Reinheitsgebot, traditional German beer styles, proper glassware, Hofbräuhaus locations in the United States, and what it takes to bring authentic Hofbräuhaus beer from Munich to American beer drinkers.

And, of course, we get into Oktoberfest itself—including the six Munich breweries, the beer served at the festival, and why Hofbräu's connection to Oktoberfest is about much more than simply releasing a seasonal beer.

Whether you're planning an Oktoberfest celebration, love German beer, have visited Munich, or simply want to understand the history behind the beer in your stein, this episode is a deep dive into the traditions that have made Hofbräuhaus part of Bavarian beer culture for centuries.

Originally released as Episodes 108 & 109 of The Brewery Underground Podcast, now combined and re-released as one complete episode for Oktoberfest season.

Prost!