Season 1

1: Hocus Pocus, it's all Bogus!

In our very first episode of the Beer Ladies Podcast, Thandi, Lisa, and Christina are going back in time! They will take you through why the stereotypical depiction of witches (imagine pointy hats, brooms, and black cats) is absolutely NOT based on Medieval (5th - 15th century) Alewives, despite what the History Channel says!

2: Locktoberfest

In Episode 2 of the Beer Ladies Podcast, Thandi, Carolyn, Sarah, and Bean are having a Lockdown Oktoberfest: A Locktoberfest! 🍂🍻🍁 Each host has chosen a beer that is seasonal and will talk about their choice in a little bit of depth. There's a bonus beer there, because, well ... its 2020, and there are no rules. Expect to hear about the beers as well as ASMR, Beer and food pairings, Who the best "UT" is, Oktoberfest stories, Pumpkin spice and the "basic bitch" stereotypes.

3: A Boozy Brunch

In this episode, Hilary leads Joanne, Carolyn, and Thandi through a casual chat with no agenda. Grab a beer or two, and join us for a boozy brunch. Expect to hear how Covid has changed our drinking habits, why we think Amber Ales rule, what we're looking forward to post-lockdown, and how each of us got into beer.

Keep an eye out for one of pouring beer really really badly!

4: Alewives, witches & Economics

It's Halloween and we can't get enough of witchy tales and spooky stories!

Following on from Episode 1, where Christina and Lisa busted the myth that Alewives are responsible for the modern stereotype of witches - this week they're talking about what the connection really might be.
Sarah hosts this one and learns about how Economics affected the way that women brewed beer, and whether alewives really were accused of being witches.

5: Kellie & Erica - women in beer

In this week's episode, Christina and Thandi chat with two prominent women in the Irish Beer scene: Kellie Dawson and Erica Burke. Kellie has just come off her presidency of the National Homebrew Club of Ireland (the first woman to be in that position) and Erica is studying Brewing and Distilling and is doing some interesting beery work in the food science field.

Both women came into beer from different angles and share some of their stories with us.

We talk about what it's like to be a woman in the beer industry, tackle some sexist behaviour and chat about the different ways women can get involved in beer.

6: Chicha brewing

Ever heard of Chicha? Neither had today's host Carolyn. She and Katie (who's making her BL debut!) learn all about Chicha, and the women who brewed it from our resident history buffs: Christina and Lisa.

Expect to learn a bit about the history of Chicha, it's standing within Incan society, and how it's linked to sacrifice. Christina even has a homemade non-alcoholic variety (Chicha Morada) for tasting tonight.

7: Beer & gods

This week Katie takes the reins and is talking about the various Gods that have ruled the beer world since the dawn of time. She is joined by Joanne and resident beer history buffs Christina and Lisa. Listen out for stories about St Brigid, Ninkasi, Hatho, Nomkhubulwane as well as others. Goddesses of Beer, we salute you. As you've come to expect there are a few tangents along the way including:

  • Marrying - and divorcing - ghost pirates. So many questions

  • Breweries we're loving at the moment

  • The heroes we didn't know we needed this year

  • The best on-trend beer since the US elections

8: thanksgiving beers

It's Turkey week and this week Joanne is learning all about Thanksgiving and the traditions associated with it from Lisa, Sarah, and Bean. They talk through the differences (and similarities) between American and Canadian Thanksgiving, various ways to cook turkey as well as a mysterious green salad that has marshmallows... Which one of our co-hosts hates turkey? Who doesn't love pumpkin pie? Listen up to find out.

9: christmas casual

Straight from Thanksgiving, we're into the Christmas season. This week on the podcast, Thandi plays host and we are hanging out with no real agenda. But we quickly get onto the topic of Christmas and traditions as Christina brings a few items out for show and tell while Bean and Sarah share their experiences. We recount what Christmas is like for us ordinarily and what we're expecting for Christmas 2020.

10: lynsey from whiplash - women in beer

This week we’re continuing our Women in Beer series with Lynsey, who is the Lead Cellar Brewer at Whiplash Beer here in Dublin. Lisa hosts alongside Hilary and Sarah and the four get straight down to beer business.

Expect to hear:

  • What a cellar brewer does even

  • Lynsey’s career in beer so far

  • The weirdest ingredient she’s ever brewed with

  • UK v. Ireland beer scene

  • The most Scottish beer ever

  • Something to look forward to in 2021!

11: history of christmas beers

Would you want the Norse God Odin spitting in your beer? What if it were in Coppers at 3 AM after a pub crawl?

Host Joanne, together with Christina, Katie, and Lisa, bring you mythical stories of Viking violence and the unseemly eating of children, inspiration for making warm spiced gluh-beer (perhaps garnished with the blood of enemies), exasperation for multi-level marketing and for education around creation-evolution, religion, and human sexuality in the last few generations, as well as memories of too many pints in nightclub hotspots and the utterly heartwarming Late Late Toy Show. All this and more on one of the last nights before Solstice.

12: Budget beers & hangover cures

Lisa is at the virtual wheel with Joanne and Bean and this episode is all about getting bang for your buck with beer this January. 🍺

They reminisce over their old student days and dreams of going to Rascal’s and Franciscan Well for pizza in the After Times, but whilst in January lockdowns, they try to stretch the budget to maximise beer enjoyment and keep electrolyte tablets on hand for afterward! Remember to alternate with water and replenish! 💧

13: dry january

It’s official: The Beer Ladies love wort. Fermented, hopped, de-alcoholised, and otherwise… As long as it tastes lovely, Thandi, Christina, Katie, and Carolyn are here for it. Tag along as they try a self-curated selection of bottles and cans, and talk about the various ways non-alcoholic beers are made, now and in our dreams. We put ourselves out there to help you imagine the future of home-brew and the flavours that could be. So, do you want to try your brew heated, filtered, or a beverage brewed with slow-burn yeast? Or no yeast at all!

14: st brigid

In celebration of St Brigid’s day on 1 Feb, and we’re chatting about this badass Irish saint and how she’s related to beer. Oh, you didn’t know? Yep - she was a Brewster! Thandi is host today along with Christina, Lisa and Katie. Expect to hear all about:

  • Ale Feasts

  • St Brigid’s miracles (and other amazing feats)

  • Drinking horns

  • The definition of Heaven

  • How the definition of ale changed over time

  • Medieval Bittering plants

  • And of course, listen/watch along to see Katie weaving a St Brigid’s cross

15: malt tonics - part 1

Delve into beer history with us at your peril! It’s part one of malt tonics and medicinal beers!

Christina talks to Lisa and Bean about malt tonics and the old-timey (or is it new-timey?) ways they were marketed to women, doctors, women doctors, the healthy, the sick, and everyone from tots to wrinklies. What went into a malt tonic, besides arsenic and old lace? Christina recounts a recipe she recreated from an old patent. Bean tries not to squirm too much at the retelling.

16: straight to the dirty bits

Lipstick is red, Carolyn’s beer is blue (okay it’s kinda green silly dilly), Stouts are sweet, and so are you!

Join in this "Galentine’s" session with Hilary, Katie, Thandi, and Carolyn. Thandi shares how one first Valentine’s gift started a lifetime of brewing. Carolyn recalls "Singles BINGO" and dating with no money in college. The women chat Valentine's Day - from wonderful first grisettes and other beer styles, your friends and [would-be?] lovers might enjoy…. to the horrors of virtual hook-ups and how to treat other humans. Spoiler alert: “Ghosting” is shite, and honesty and respect is "The Way”.

17: malt tonics - part 2

Swing by the ol’ sanatorium with Christina, Lisa, and Bean, as they follow the fashions of advertising beer as a healthy choice. From malt tonics to tonic stouts, to Prohibition-era medicinal’ and ‘sacramental …. erm… booze… fermented/malted grain beverages have been prescribed for everything through the ages. Through quarantines… through plagues… through pandemics…

18: malt 101 - ingredients series

It’s back to brewing basics with Thandi, Katie, Lisa, and Bean. Things are getting malty in the first episode of the Ingredient Series. What does malt mean anyway? In fact, what’s malting? What are malts? Where do you get them and what do they taste like? And how long has this been going on? Hop aboard the brand new combine harvester and we’ll malt some fields of barley.

19: claire from dungarvan - women in beer

“Have you tried Dungarvan?” Christina, Lisa, and Joanne chat to Claire from Dungarvan, ahead of International Women's [Brew] Day and Women's History Month.

Claire Dalton is one of the four founders of Dungarvan Brewing Company, together with her husband Tom, her brother the Head Brewer Cormac, and Cormac’s wife Jen. Back in the crash of 2008, they were punters themselves watching the craft beer scene lap up to the Copper Coast, and they decided to take the plunge and make the beer themselves. The local community has proudly embraced and supported them ever since. Claire runs the tastings, tours, and the business side of the brewery.

20: shnakey pints

Katie, Carolyn, Joanne, and Sarah are having the craic in the virtual snug, because who needs the big St Paddy’s Day parade in town!

Tune in for an episode that is not as family-friendly as the regional/village/county Patrick’s Day parades we love. (And don’t you be calling it “Patty’s Day” with the “tt”s when reporting live from the Pot ‘o’ Gold. Go ‘way outta that!)

Pints and potted primary school history of St Patrick give way to remembering Fungie the Dolphin, who frankly, we all remember better, and paying tribute to Roddy Doyle’s books, Father Ted, Once, Dublin Old School, 1990s soccer, and classic Dublin-ese. Because really, who can remember anything once the pints of stout start freely flowing with their fancy widgets? It all devolves swiftly until we’re stood in a field somewhere in Kerry, recalling confusing Irish phrases and the memories of moving countries where cursing with abandon was… feckin’ grand.

21: grainne from metalman - women in beer

Hilary and Lisa talk to Grainne from Metalman. Grainne Walsh is one of two founders at Metalman together with her partner Tim. She is also the Head Brewer. She is not primarily in marketing, except for today on this show. We get right into the early days of home-brewing and making the transition from tech work to beer as a career, sexism, changing palettes, recipe formulation, and then on to Brexit, pandemic experiences, health, hops, and Turkish Delight. Many thanks to Metalman and Grainne for coming on the show, and for some great amber ales. And if you like spice, the refreshing Razzbeer is likely to last as long as a movie character played by Sean Bean.

22: branding & sexism

Thandi, Christina, and Katie outline some problems with sexism in contemporary branding and advertising, along with a few basic ways to steer clear of the problem.

Trigger warning here: about fifteen minutes in, we’re going to talk about how the objectification of women is linked to violence toward women. So, please be in the space for this! If you aren’t, please enjoy one of the other episodes and come back when you are. Life is short!

23: prohibition

“It’s super awful, but people should know about this.“ It’s time once again for stories and outrage! Also, swears. Lisa, Christina, Carolyn, and Sarah talk temperance, from the movement’s moderate beginnings to hardcore terrible nonsense. All the racism and bad stuff you could ask for, right out of the gate! But did you know that the temperance movement and women’s suffrage were strongly linked to each other? Or, that homing donkeys were used for smuggling booze over the border into Texas? Grab your teacup from under the sink and listen in.

24: Sours - style series

A must-listen for interested beer drinkers dipping their toes into the sour styles. Carolyn, Sarah, Thandi, and Lisa help you sort your Goses from your Gueuzes, your Brettanomyces from your Saccharomyces, your primary fermentation from your secondary fermentation. Low in hops, high in pucker, we talk flavour from barnyard hay to cherry syrup. And perhaps most important of all… How do you brew a sour beer? And why are sours so good? At least to some folks!

25: aine from connemara - women in beer

A modern beer from an ancient land.’ Christina, Thandi, and Katie talk with Aine who leads Connemara Brewing, one of the very newest wonders of the Wild Atlantic Way in the West of Ireland.

How did Aine O’Hora become a technical brewer of broad range and ability, and a maven of swabbing and quality control? With a biotechnology degree in DCU here, and a year’s work experience in Harp there. A bit of work in the pharmaceutical industry. A Masters at Herriot Watt in Scotland. Off to Australia’s Matilda Bay, working in wellies and learning her trade. From there to VB, processing 1100 hectolitre batches of ‘Victoria Bitter’ lager every 2.6 hours. Back to Ireland again, helping to set up craft brewers Wicklow Wolf. Finally arriving home again, and now making lager and ale by hand in an old-fashioned, open fermentation, ten hectolitre brewhouse. That’s how!

26: yeast 101 - ingredients series

Yeast strains old, yeast strains new, yeast strains captured, yeast strains brewed. Bean, Thandi, and Lisa talk about yeast. Its flavours, temperatures, properties, and wonders.

27: beer & food pairing

Bean, Carolyn, and Katie talk flavour pairings in an episode of pure escapism.

While we want to be guided by some kind of method or science, at the end of the day, we just want to have tasty beers and food from porridge in the morning till dessert at night.

You know how it is. We all want pizza now…

28: eurovision 2021

Spectacle, songs, sparkles… It’s the Eurovision 2021 with Katie, Lisa, and Thandi! We’ve got our beer poured and we’re so excited for the entries.

Bet you haven’t heard of half the groups that got their start in the Eurovision. Or maybe you know them intimately. There’s politics, there’s gay culture, there’s ‘rules’, there’s human stories and campy fun. There’s even a Eurovision movie. Listen for a Beer Ladies Podcast exclusive - Katie’s scoresheet. Kick back and relax with this low pressure culture episode.

29: wheat beers - style series

Discover some miraculous German beer engineering with Lisa, Thandi, and Katie. Is it the wheat? Is it the yeast? Is it the finely tuned temperatures or the exact time for which they are held? Come appreciate a finely crafted wheat style or two with us. You may never look at a glass of beer with an orange wedge the same way again.

30: IPA - style series

Share and compare memories of the IPA craze with Thandi, Lisa, and Christina. What a proliferation of beer “IPA” describes today! East coast, west coast, double, triple, red, rye, session, micro, brut, Belgian, hazy, fresh-hopped, dry-hopped… and more hopped. Dip into some 1700s and 1800s IPA history. Though it was recommended to British brewers to add extra hops to their ocean-going India Pale Ales, did they all do it? Do you suppose the British officers were as snobby about their IPAs then as we are now? Because we're pretty sure this episode has more IBUs than you can handle.

31: spring casual

Do you drink seasonally? Do you prefer darker beers in winter and lighter in summer? As we ease into summer 2021 Thandi, Carolyn, Katie, and Bean are hoping to see family and friends and fresh-hopped ales. Let yourself in and come chill in our back garden where we’ll be growing adjuncts in window boxes and awaiting vaccination. Thank you for listening and may Springtime be beery pleasant wherever you may be.

32: beer & vikings

It’s the Beer Ladies Podcast Season One Finale! Katie, Christina, Thandi, and Lisa bring you the long-awaited Beer & Vikings episode. Many thanks and major gratitude for all the archaeological work that has made this episode possible, and let’s support our schools of Archaeology into the future. Please enjoy one for the road as we chat about Viking rituals, and prepare for a few disturbing details. ‘Cause Viking Sagas are the stuff of soap operas.

Keep those archives dusted and sorted until we’re back from summer!