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Craft Beer Travel & Adventure

Craft Beer Travel & Adventure

Written by: Living a Stout Life
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Beer has been creating community, laughter, inspiration, and just plain awesome stories for centuries. Join us as we talk with fellow craft beer lovers and adventurers about being entrepreneurs, avid hikers, crazy-ass mountain bikers, parents, home-brewers, volunteers, and anyone who is living their Stout Life. So grab your favorite craft beer, embrace your favorite person, and get ready to be inspired to live your Stout Life.

We are Ken and April Pishna, and we created The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast with Living a Stout Life to drink good beer, yes, but to also share the stories that inevitably arise from the craft beer community. Living and working in our RV while traveling the world in search of craft beer, adventures, and good humans, we bring creative thinkers and inspirational go-getters together around craft beer.

All rights reserved. Social Sciences Travel Writing & Commentary
Episodes
  • Dok Brewing: Daring to Bridge the Gap Between Tradition and Craft

    Dok Brewing: Daring to Bridge the Gap Between Tradition and Craft
    Jan 11 2025
    Welcome to Ghent, Belgium, home to Dok Brewing Company, an independent Belgian craft brewery that dares to push boundaries, doing what they want to do on their terms.Belgian beers are known across the globe not only for their sweet flavor profiles but also for their higher alcohol levels. These characteristics define a well-loved style of beer that many brewers attempt to replicate, aiming to transport their consumers to Belgium through the liquid in their glass.We've experienced many fantastic breweries in several countries outside of Belgium that have done just that. We've also experienced Belgian beers in Belgium. Let me tell you, as a beer lover, there's not much better than enjoying a Westvleteren 12 at the source (or as close to it as one can get when one can't access the Abbey itself).Welcome to Dok Brewing in Ghent, BelgiumOr is there? How about finding a Belgian brewery defining Belgian beer on their terms, from a craft beer perspective? Welcome to Dok Brewing, one of Ghent's few independent breweries seeking to introduce more styles to Belgian beer consumers. Not to annihilate its well-earned status on the hierarchy of exquisite beers, but to help bring that history into the future.With a team of four partners, each with unique skill sets, Dok Brewing is changing the game when it comes to brewing beer in Belgium. Of course, you'll find traditional Belgian beers, such as the beloved tripel, but you'll also find historical styles, such as the uitzet, IPAs, stouts, wheats, sours, and so much more. Using ingredients from all over the world, Dok aims to educate its consumers, opening a pathway that goes well beyond the traditional Belgian beers.Meet Janos De Baets, Co-Founder and Head BrewerJoin us as we chat with one of the four partners and Head Brewer at Dok Brewing, Janos De Baets. Janos discovered his love of brewing at a young age when he came across a job posting for a brewer's assistant. He's never looked back.This is his story, Dok's story, and Belgium's story of how craft beer can find its way into a traditional market, becoming not just a player, but a leader.We sat down with Janos on Dok's expansive patio, located in the impressive Hal 16 industrial space in the old Ghent docklands, beer in hand. Not only did we get to experience many of Dok's brews, but also Janos' views on how Belgians see beer and how he and his partners at Dok are working to change that while still respecting the traditional Belgian styles.For all the show notes, including images and more, click here.Connect with Dok Brewing CoDok Brewing Company Dok-Noord 4B, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumInstagramFacebookCheck out Camp Carpe DiemCheck out https://campcarpediem.com for all the community and fun. Stop adulting and find your playful side! Use code CCDBEERME for $20 off!Check out Hammock UniverseHead on over to https://hammockuniverseusa.com for the best hammocks on the planet!Connect with Us:The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:Camp Carpe DiemNewsletterYouTubeFacebookInstagramBuy Us a Beer:Like our podcast? Help keep it going with a donation for a beer. We'll even zoom ya for a happy hour, if you'd like. Or meet up in person if we can. Click here to buy us a beer.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Brouwerij St. Bernardus: Embracing History, Crafting the Future

    Brouwerij St. Bernardus: Embracing History, Crafting the Future
    Nov 6 2024

    To fully appreciate the story of St. Bernardus today, one must first understand the story of its past and how its future is embracing that past while simultaneously laying it to rest. This is the story of Brouwerij St. Bernardus in Watou, Belgium; its history forever intertwined with one of the most famous Trappist beers, Westvleteren XII, brewed at the nearby Saint-Sixtus Abbey brewery.

    Meet Pieter Verdonck, Story-Teller & Marketing Consultant

    Pieter Verdonck's official title may be Marketing Consultant for Brouwerij St. Bernardus, but in reality, he is the storyteller and historian of this remarkable Belgian brewery. Pieter speaks eloquently, almost with reverence, about how Westvleteren and the Saint-Sixtus Abbey brewery shifted its roots, holding on to its Trappist origins and giving birth to another brewery that is gaining its foothold within the sometimes confining world of Belgian beers.

    St. Bernardus' roots may have begun with French cheese-making monks, but its future lies within its beer and the people who believe in it. Pieter's storytelling skills will take you on a journey from France to Belgium, from cheese to beer. Our conversation with Pieter delves into the complex relationship with Brouwerij St. Bernardus and the brewery of the Saint-Sixtus Abbey, known for Westvleteren 12, one of the rarest beers in the world.

    Westvleteren 12 may be looked upon as the Holy Grail for Belgian beers (maybe even all beers), and St. Bernardus recognizes this; however, they also recognize that from history comes great lessons. The brewers at St. Bernardus are not re-creating a great beer; they are forging a path for the next great beer. Embracing history while crafting their own path as they head into the future.

    Join us as we chat about this and more, including St. Bernardus, its beer (including its iconic Abt 12), its destination status with its gorgeous guesthouse, the joy of Belgian beer, travel, and so much more. (For more destination breweries, but in the States, be sure to check out our story on destination breweries in Texas.)

    For all the show notes, including images and more links, click here.

    Connect with Brouwerij St. Bernardus

    Brouwerij St. Bernardus

    Trappistenweg 23

    8978 Watou

    Watou, Belgium

    Instagram

    Facebook

    YouTube

    Check out Camp Carpe Diem

    Check out https://campcarpediem.com for all the community and fun. Stop adulting and find your playful side!

    Connect with Us:

    The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.

    We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"

    Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:

    • Camp Carpe Diem
    • Newsletter
    • YouTube
    • Facebook
    • Instagram

    Buy Us a Beer:

    Like our podcast? Help keep it going with a donation for a beer. We'll even zoom ya for a happy hour, if you'd like. Or meet up in person if we can. Click here to buy us a beer.



    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations
    Show More Show Less
    59 mins
  • A Confluence of Community and Craft Beer in Belgium

    A Confluence of Community and Craft Beer in Belgium
    Oct 2 2024

    Stroom Brouwers, what we would call a craft brewery, is a Belgian independent brewery. Not associated with any abbey or Trappist beers, and not attempting to be either, they are still a Belgian brewery. They just happen to brew a few more options than one would typically expect from a Belgian brewery.

    Yes, you can still find the beloved Belgian-style beers here, but you’ll also find a Norwegian farmhouse ale with a kick of Sichuan peppercorns, a coffee IPA, a Vienna lager, a raspberry sour, and more.

    Once you step past the industrial entrance, located along the Scheldt River, you’ll also find an inviting atmosphere. It’s as though you’ve stepped onto your friend's backyard deck. A deck that just happens to have friendly staff (more than likely a member of one of the owner’s families or one of the owners themselves) ready to welcome you in with a selection of craft beers.

    This craft brewery just happens to be in the medieval city of Gent, Belgium. Because that just happened to be the city that Farrell, co-owner of Stroom, fell in love with.

    Meet Farrell Styers, Co-founder at Stroom Brouwers

    Farrell Styers, Co-founder and Head Brewer at Stroom, never had plans to be a brewer. He never had plans to move to Belgium, either. But we’re thankful that this is where his path took him.

    Playing in punk bands when younger in Denver, he had what he calls a quarter-life crisis. So he moved to Egypt. Then to DC. Then to Kyrgyzstan.

    So, how did a brewery in Gent come into play? Farrell blames that one on his friend and now business partner. Belgian Carl Uytterhaeghe and American Farrell Styers met in Kyrgyzstan. Years later, Carl asked Farrell the golden question. "What would it look like if we started a brewery?"

    This is the story behind Stroom. A confluence of beer, family, community, and culture. Join us as we talk about independent breweries in Belgium finding their place amidst historical breweries that have been intertwined in its culture for centuries. We also chat about travel, art, music, sustainability, the story behind the name, and always, the beer that brings us all together.

    Click here for the full show notes.

    Connect with Stroom

    Stroom Brouwers

    Forelstraat 27

    Gent, Belgium

    Instagram

    Facebook


    Check out Camp Carpe Diem

    Check out https://campcarpediem.com for all the community and fun. Stop adulting and find your playful side!

    Connect with Us:

    The Craft Beer Travel & Adventure Podcast is hosted by Living a Stout Life, where we share stories, community, and resources for all your craft beer travel and adventure lifestyle needs.

    We would absolutely love it if you subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. As my nephew once said, "We say please and thank you!"

    Subscribe to Living a Stout Life:

    • Camp Carpe Diem
    • Newsletter
    • YouTube
    • Facebook
    • Instagram

    Buy Us a Beer:

    Like our podcast? Help keep it going with a donation for a beer. We'll even zoom ya for a happy hour, if you'd like. Or meet up in person if we can. Click here to buy us a beer.



    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/craft-beer-travel-and-adventure/donations
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 15 mins
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