Episode 473: Source Material with Firestone Walker: Deep Roots and Twisting Bines

Episode 473: Source Material with Firestone Walker: Deep Roots and Twisting Bines

From Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast by Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine

April 22, 2026 · 40 min · Episode 473

About this episode

This episode explores the long-term relationships and processes behind sourcing high-quality hops for brewing, featuring insights from Firestone Walker's Head Brewer and a hops broker.

When you look at the top restaurants around the world, no matter what cuisine they may focus on, there’s one commonality they all share, and that’s deep relationships with those who grow and raise the very best ingredients. It’s the same in beer—you can’t be the best at what you do without the meaningful, personal, financial, and long-standing relationships that ensure the brewery has access to the very best quality ingredients. These relationships don’t materialize overnight, but for Firestone Walker, they’re the product of 30 years of work. In this series, we highlight a number of these crucial growers, brokers, and processors who have played a role in the world-class beer that Firestone Walker makes. * Episode 2: Deep Roots & Twisting Bines * One of the keys to maintaining a consistent supply of the very best hops is long term relationships and deep commitment paired with the very best analytical science and process improvement, and the purpose of this series is to explore just what that means with some of the key players in this story of ingredient quality. In this episode, Firestone Walker Head Brewer Dustin Kral and Bud Hollingbery of hops broker Hollingbery and Son…

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