#95: Ben Hulse | Northern Monk

Graining In has finally gone (virtually) international with the
guys catching up with Ben Hulse, production manager at Northern
Monk Brew Co. in Leeds, ENGLAND!
Noah first met Ben when the Northern Monk crew played the role of
boundlessly patient tour guide for BBB on their first trip to the
UK. A year-and-a-half later, when Bissell Brothers had the true
privilege of hosting Ben (as well as putting him to work) for
three weeks via NMBCo's brewery "exchange" program. We get into
the goals behind that concept and why BBB still needs to uphold
their end of the deal; How the COVID-19 experience has been for
breweries in the UK and why a proposed "Pandemic Vacation" had to
be scrapped; The dualistic nature that currently defines the
country's beer culture as the staunch tradition of Real Ale and
the new wave of heavily American-influenced beer figure out their
respective roles; Northern Monk's aggressively measured
expansions, fancy new BrauKon, and presence in grocery chains,
PLUS a helluva lot more. 
OH! - and Liverpool FC (both Ben and Noah's favorite
soccer/football team) FINALLY makes its far overdue debut on the
podcast. 
Bissell Brothers felt an immense kinship with Northern Monk since
first contact, and that relationship has only grown since. People
like Ben are exactly why their brewery is so adored by BBB and is
a great reminder (for Noah, anyway) that sometimes this industry
ain't so bad after all ;-) ........
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............................................ ........... Music:
"Mountain Climb" by Jake Hill