Learn brewing secrets from Firestone Walker's Matt Brynildson and homebrew expert Fritz Fernow on this week's Fuhmentaboudit! Chris Cuzme and Mary Izett begin the show by sharing an interview they recently conducted with Matt Brynildson at the Craft Brewer's Conference. Listen in to hear Matt talk about the evolution of Firestone Walker, and how the company became a favorite of beer nerds. Hear why Firestone Walker began aging, and how certain ingredients really accentuate the bitterness or malt qualities of beer! Fritz joins Chris and Mary in the studio to talk about brewing IPAs. Learn how Fritz blends different hops in order to create unique IPA flavors, and why such flavors are so hard to replicate. How does Fritz incorporate rye into his brews? Learn how to use hops during different states of the brewing process on this week's Fuhmentaboudit! This program has been sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery.

"It's hard not to fall in love with German pilsner brewing... The pilsner is a light beer that showcases hops; it's not that different than an IPA." [12:45] -- Matt Brynildson on Fuhmentaboudit!

"I always tell people to be fearless (with hops)... at the dry hopping stage of the game, you can pretty much go crazy and use as much as you can handle." [23:00] -- Fritz Fernow on Fuhmentaboudit!

On this week's Beer Sessions Radio, host Jimmy Carbone is talking about hops and alternative bittering agents in brewing. Ben Grainger of Bierkraft and Peter Kennedy of SimplyBeer.com are in the studio, talking about the hops that they grow at home, and how they incorporate them into their brewing processes. Joe and Dennis Fisher are also on the show discussing their book, The Homebrewer's Garden. Tune in to hear about bittering herbs that you can grow right in your yard. Are you interested in brewing botanicals? Then this is the show for you! This show was sponsored by GreatBrewers.com.

"[Gruits and grodziskies] are brewed without hops; they're brewed with other bittering spices. Classic gruit is horehound, mugwort, heather- there can be sorts of stuff inside of it." -- Ben Grainger on Beer Sessions Radio

"When hops came over, they were not universally embraced immediately. The was kind of a culture war, and the ones who favored hops ultimately won." -- Joe and Dennis Fisher on Beer Sessions Radio

This week on Cooking Issues Dave and Nastassia call-in from London's Heathrow Airport for a special lay-over edition of Cooking Issues. They take calls regarding quinine: the phosphorescent, mildly dangerous, highly versatile bittering agent; sous-vide BBQ, and whether or not it will taste "smokey"; and making bitters, and what the best alcohol to use is. Finally Dave recounts a blood-soaked incident in a high-end London eatery involving birds, bullets, and brains. This episode was sponsored by Whole Foods Market.

Photo: London Heathrow Airport - Where Dave and Nastassia likely were during the recording of this episode.