Jun 3, 2016
Today’s guest is one of those chance encounters in the beer world where an online voice becomes a smile and and a handshake in person. Andrew Nations of Great Raft Brewing in Shreveport, Louisiana is a guy on Twitter to some. One of those lone rational voices in a literal wilderness of craft beer zealously run amok. And not long ago, he ventured to Chicago, and subsequently to the GBH Studio for a live podcast taping. That’s when he and his wife stepped out of the virtual and into the physical realm for me. And we had a great time. A few months later, and a dozen or so DMs, we realized we’d both be hanging out at the Craft Brewers Conference this year. I was keen to hear a lot more detail on Andrew’s backstory, the beers he was making, and certainly about his market, which I know almost nothing about. The south is a weird place for craft beer in terms of sales, legal issues, and styles. And this was a great opportunity to dig in to the details with a guy who seems to have his head wrapped around it all. He also brought a case of Prima Pils for no reason other than Pennsylvania won’t let you buy beer in more convenient ways.