Drinking With The Gnome

I’ve been curious… I think that a canned cocktail that scratches the itch has a really important place in my drinking experience, but too many of them just kind of, well… aren’t great. That’s why I wanted to sit down with the founders of PonyBoy Slings on the show. I like them. I think they taste GOOD. Mike and Janell Bass were gracious enough to take some time to sit down with me and tell us the story of PonyBoy, what inspired them to start the brand, and what you can expect from it when you stock your fridge or cooler with them. Make sure you pick up some PonyBoy Slings the next time you see them on the shelf of your favorite retailer, and in the meantime, follow them online at https://www.drinkponyboy.com or on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/drinkponyboy The theme music for ‘Drinking With The Gnome’ is a song called ‘Some Beers’ by Hunting Agnes out of Cincinnati Ohio. You can check them out by hitting up their website at https://huntingagnes.com https://youtu.be/xdZam8Gj5Ao

There are a lot of neighborhood bars around the city of Cincinnati. There are dives, there are sports bars, there are cocktail bars, more types of places than I think there are neighborhoods that house them. When you find “your spot” in one of those, you fall in love with it. With that, when you hear that someone new has bought that spot, it’s easy to be afraid of what it means. To continue along this… when that restaurant group turns your spot into the flagship location for a local chain of places… sometimes you’re terrifed. It’s not often that that restaurant group does what the folks at By Golly’s have done, and knocks it out of the park. They’ve taken By Golly’s and found a way to bring the spirit of it into every new location they open, while also preserving the soul of what each existing location was before they came along. That’s extremely difficult, and something I didn’t think they would be able to manage. I’ll happily admit when I’m wrong about something like this. For this episode of Drinking with the Gnome, we sat down with Lance Sizemore, owner of Epic Eeats, and Heather Frye, the Chief Operating Officer to see if we can understand how it all came to be, how they’ve managed what they have, and where it’s all going. We recorded the episode (of course) from the flagship By Golly’s location in Milford, Ohio (iiiiinnnn Milford – if you’re old enough to know…) and I can’t thank both the Lance and Heather for the hospitality, but the entire By Golly’s staff. Folks were so wonderful there that even after we finished recording, I had to stay for anohter beer I was having such a great time. That’s the sign of a great podcast if you ask me! Don’t forget, this show – like everything that I do – is brought to you by listeners just like you. It wouldn’t be possible without the support of the folks who are as obsessed as I am. If you want to become a ‘Gnomie’ – go to http://www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/Support if you want to help! If you want to visit By Gollys – hit them up at their website or give them a follow on Facebook or Instagram to stay in touch with everything they’re doing! https://youtu.be/kM4e3Msqeh0

My favorite. It’s not a term that I throw around very often… tastes change, feelings change, and the desire for different experiences is a real thing. Binskis is my favorite bar, though. I can say that without hesitation (with the caveat that if owner Kiel Erdelac screws up and starts changing things… I might change, too) because I love this place. Binskis is the perfect blend of a neighborhood bar, with just the right amount of “dive-iness”, community, good feelings, a proper sense of humor, and great drinks. It checks all the boxes. I sat down with Kiel as they were prepping for their first anniversary to hopefully get a good peek at not only what makes them who they are but to give you a good look into why I don’t think they’ll be changing any time soon. Guests On This Episode Kiel Erdelac – Owner/Bartender, Binskis Bar What We Were Drinking Malort… out of an ashtray. Heileman’s – Old Style Malort… out of an ashtray, again. Malort… still out of an ashtray. Malort… ashtray Ashtray… out of a Malort Maloreastray. Drinking With The Gnome wouldn’t be possible without folks like you supporting it!  If you want to become a “Gnomie” please go to http://www.TheGnarlyGnome.com/support – or help out by sharing this episode with someone that you think would enjoy it! The theme music for this show is a song called ‘Some Beers’ from Hunting Agnes – for more information on them find them on social media, or hit up http://www.HuntingAgnes.com Huge thanks to this week’s guest, Kiel from Binskis Bar. https://www.instagram.com/binskisbar https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093588120539

I love finding new places to grab a drink in Cincinnati. I love it even more when those places have unique, fun personalities and definitely that focus on community. It’s no surprise though that Victory Pints, up in Maineville, is this episode’s focus. I sat down with owner and founder Riley Mullins to explore what they are all about! To start off, Victory Pint is not just a bar. They have food, but they aren’t just a restaurant. During the day, there’s a vibe inside the place that sort of feels like a coffee shop, quiet, calm… but for the love of God… they’re not a coffee shop, either. You’ll hear a lot of folks talk about board games, because all along the surface, they’re a place for board gaming – to play or to buy. Victory Pints isn’t any one of those things. At their core, they’re about community. I’m blown away by how well they made it all come together, and am thrilled to share it with all of you. Guests This Episode Riley Mullins – Owner/Founder of Victory Pints What’d We Drink? HighGrain – PawPawsome, Paw Paw Gose Show Links Victory Pints – Website Victory Pints – Facebook

Oh boy… we had a fun one with this episode. With bad weather on the way, I broke with the plans for the month. Instead of recording live down at the Cincinnati Christkindlmarkt, I headed up to ‘The Garage Bar’ (don’t start googling, it’s Chris from Shift Beers’ garage. We cracked open three bottles of peppermint schnapps to figure out what this tasty winter drink is all about. It was fun – my wife got mad at me – and I think we learned, well… I don’t know that we learned anything. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did! Huge thanks to Chris for hosting one of my favorite episodes to date! A big shoutout also needs to go out to Hunting Agnes for providing the theme music for Drinking With The Gnome. If you’d like to support the show, you can do it over here! Guests This Episode Chris Paquette – Shift Beers What We Drank Voltage Peppermint Schnapps Rumpelmintz Peppermint Schnapps Thunder 101 Peppermint Schnapps

This is definitely solidly in my wheelhouse. I’m a big beer nerd. I was joined by my buddy Marco, from Truth, Beer, Podsequences to take a peek into winter beer. The big question is “what makes a winter beer, anyways?” We explore that over a couple of pints, of course! This is the second in a series of five episodes that are being recorded (and broadcast) live from the Cincinnati Cristkindlmarkt down at the Moerlein Lager House. Make sure you tune in every Thursday evening this month. Guests This Episode Marco Penilla – Truth, Beer, Podsequences What We Drank Christian Moerlein – Christkindl Christian Moerlein – Cherry Cordial Barbarossa

I could spend a lot of time writing about Zane Lamprey… but you’re better off just diving into some of the work he’s done over the years to get a better picture of why he’s important to who I am today. To say that he’s inspired what The Gnome has become is a bit of an understatement. Zane has been critical in shaping how I have created content over the years, and just as much into the directions that I plan on going in the future too. For those reasons, among many others, I was thrilled when he agreed to sit down with me for an episode of Drinking With The Gnome recently while he was in town. We talked about a LOT, including what makes a good beer city, the differences between Bourbon and Craft Beer, and even the differences between light beers (or lack of) – it’s a really fun conversation, and I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did recording it! Guests This Episode Zane Lamprey Show Links Zane Lamprey’s Website Zane On CincyBrewcast Zane Lamprey’s ‘Lightly Toasted’ Podcast Three Sheets: South Korea Four Sheets

It’s been far, far too long since I got an episode of Drinking With The Gnome out there. This show seems to be the thing that gets pushed aside when things get a little busy, and that’s not fair to a show that I have big, big plans for. With that being said, I’ve got one for you this week! I LOVE absinthe but get a little frustrated at the misinformation that gets put out there about this herbal liquor, so I made an episode to hopefully dispel some of those myths. We talk about the history – the myths and then we dive into a cocktail to explore just a bit about what makes this spirit so freaking tasty! This Week’s Cocktail – The Corpse Reviver #2 3/4 oz Gin (I used the wet hopped gin from Five Stories) 3/4 oz Triple Sec (I use Cointreau) 3/4 oz Dry Vermouth (I use Cocchi Americano) 3/4 oz Lemon Juice Rinse of Absinthe Shake all your ingredients (except the absinthe) and strain neat into a chilled cocktail glass that is “washed” with the absinthe.

I had never been to Crown Republic before this episode – and was lured in by some friends from the beer industry… and I am glad that I was. This place is fantastic on a few different levels – on the drinking side, the bar is great, it’s down to earth and provides great drinks without any of the pretentiousness that you might find at other spots. It’s a relaxed place to grab a great cocktail. On a whole other level, though… the food is to die for. Upscale, but still keeping that relaxed atmosphere that I love. It’s like hanging out in someone’s kitchen and having some really killer food. If you’ve never been – let this episode be the thing that pushes you to try Crown Republic out! If you’re still curious – you can always read a little more here on the blog, or head over to their website for more information! Guests This Episode Aaron – Manager Alex – Manager Jason Roeper – Rivertown Lindsey Roeper – Rivertown

It’s not common to see a Baiju on shelves here in America. It’s especially not common to see an American distillery making a version of this spirit – let alone in a city like Cincinnati. This is beyond fascinating, but a huge part of what makes Karrikin so exciting to me. They are thinking outside of the box when it comes to making their products, and I needed to try to take peek behind that curtain a little bit. We talked about their American made Baiju, which they call Shifu, and dug into their Agave spirit, as well. It’s a whirlwind of a show, but a fun one! If you haven’t been out to Karrikin, or tried some of what they’ve been doing… it goes without saying – DO IT. Guests This Episode Andy Foltz – Co-Hosting Eric Baumann – Karrikin Jeff Hunt – Karrikin What’d We Drink? Karrikin – Shifu Karrikin – Blaze

I have been really curious about cider for a while now, and until recently have kept putting off taking the deep dive into the world of fermented apple juice. Even now, I’ll be the first to admit I know very little to none about cider… but I’m on my way. If you don’t know as much about it as you’d like to, there are few places that are as good of a stop to learn more than March First. The brewery/cidery/distillery might be ground zero for the world of Cincinnati cider. Leading up to their first ever ‘Ciderpalooza’ festival this spring, Andy Foltz and I sat down with brewer’s Shae Pridemore and Bryan Fisher along with good friend and their social media guy, Josh Engel (The Raging Hop) for those of you who have been paying attention. The question I posed was pretty simple… what’s cider? The conversation went from there deep down the rabbit hole of distilling and fermenting – but I think we got a great first peek into what makes cider work! Guests This Episode Andy Foltz Shae Pridemore – March First Bryan Fisher – March First Josh Engel – March First

Asheville, North Carolina isn’t about beer alone – it’s about a community that provides a platform for one of the widest and most fun drinking cultures that I have ever experienced. With that being said… the best way to take a peek behind the curtain of that drinking culture is to sit down and have a chat at one of the breweries that helps give the city the nickname Beer City USA. Hi-Wire Brewing’s Chris McLain sat down over a pint with me earlier this year to help showcase not just what makes the brewery who they are, but what makes Asheville as a city who it is overall. There’s more to come about ‘Beer City’ – and how it all relates to our hometown here in Cincinnati… stay tuned. Guests This Episode • Chris McLain – Hi-Wire Brewing