Hosting the podcast are Jay Brown (aka “Jay Weezie”), a beer nerd and local radio personality that you may have heard on The Fan WFNZ 610 AM; Cesar Leyva, director of marketing for the Carolina BrewMasters; and Ford Craven, a member of the Charlotte Beer Club, Carolina BrewMasters, and co-founder of the Cabarrus County Homebrewers Society.

In the inaugural episode, the guys discuss:

• What did we drink? A recap of what everyone drank over the past few weeks.
• The rise in homebrewing.
• The Beer Pouch (think a Capri-Sun for beer).
• Weekly Guest: Rob Adams, a member of the Carolina BrewMasters, talks about his experience becoming a nationally-recognized beer judge.
• The guys try Franziskaner hefeweizen and go through the beer judge score sheet (aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel and overall impression).
• Homebrewer Spotlight: Steve Nance.

The guys at Cheers Charlotte welcome feedback. After listening, let them know what you think at Twitter, Facebook, or over at their website.

Birdsong Brewing has brewed a new beer in honor of Duckworth’s, one of the brewery’s first accounts. The Session IPA is the first in the “Duckworthy Series,” and it will be on tap at the brewery and all four Duckworth’s locations beginning  June 18 when Duckworth’s opens its new Huntersville location. The Huntersville Duckworth’s will have 112 taps (the most of any location) and some self-serve taps. That new location will be at 16609 Statesville Road, just off exit 25 on I-77 (in the old O’Charley’s building).

Cascade and Columbus hops combine to bring this Session IPA to 43 IBUs (international bittering units). It will be 5.5 percent in ABV.

Dads love beer, right? Of course they do. The trouble is that every year when Father’s Day rolls around, the shopping malls and big box stores would have you think that what dad really needs is a pair of beer boxers. Or a Budweiser sign to hang in that man cave. A big novelty mug — or maybe even a beer tie, perhaps?

Of course, these are not gifts for dads who like beer. These are cheap, thoughtless gimmicks for people who just assume that since their dad loves beer, he’ll cherish anything to do with it.

You can do better.

Here are just a few local Charlotte beer gifts you might consider giving your dad this year.

Microbrews Cruise

The US National Whitewater Center has Microbrews Cruises with a variety of breweries going all the way through September. Send dad down the Catawba in a kayak, where he’ll eventually paddle to an island for a fireside beer tasting.

Brewery Tours

Two new brewery tour companies are now shuttling beer lovers from brewery to brewery. Not only do you not have to worry about driving, but the tour guides will also educate you on the breweries and beers. Visit the CLT Brew Tours and Charlotte Brews Cruise websites for more information.

Beer and a Movie

If your dad’s been drinking craft beer for a while, he might be familiar with Michael Jackson, the much-celebrated beer writer. And if he hasn’t, well that’s all the more reason to head to NoDa Brewing on June 23 to watch a private screening of “The Beer Hunter,”  a new film documenting his life. Admission is $20, which includes admission to the screening, one beer and a $10 donation to the National Parkinson’s Foundation (Jackson suffered from the disease). You can purchase tickets here.

More Beer

This one’s a no-brainer. Stop by the breweries to have a growler filled, or look for bottles from Charlotte breweries on the shelves. Off the top of my head, you’ll probably be able to find the following: Triple C Brewing’s Babymaker; NoDa Brewing’s Imperial Coco Loco and TriUmphant Tripel; and The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery’s Copper, Captain Jack, Rein Pale Ale and Dunkel.

Not sure what he likes? Most Charlotte beer stores sell gift certificates!

Update: Birdsong Brewing will release “Squirrels on Geese” on Father’s Day. Head over with dad to pick up a bottle, and have a few pints while you’re at it.

Brunch

The Liberty gastropub in SouthEnd has an amazing three-course menu lined up for their annual father’s day brunch, and of course they have no shortage of great beers to pair alongside it. Check the website for the full menu, and call to make reservations.

Charlotte Beer Book

Sorry for the shameless plug, but as a beer-loving dad myself I think most other beer-loving dads would enjoy this book — especially if they actually got to frequent some of the breweries that called Charlotte home in the ’90s. The book goes back much further than that, however, as it chronicles all of the Queen City’s brewing history from colonial times to present day. You can pick it up on Amazon, on this site (and I’ll even sign it if you wish), or at many beer stores and breweries around town.

Great first annual Charlotte Brewers Festival!

It’s safe to say that our local Charlotte beer scene is booming…

The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery will host a pig pickin’ and cornhole tournament at the brewery from 12-8 p.m. on June 8. The $20 entry fee will get you a plate of food (BBQ and two sides), a pint of beer and live music. For another $5, you can enter into the brewery’s cornhole tournament. For $10, you can enter a team.

How great would it be to take a six-pack of NoDa Brewing’s Monk’s Trunks cans to the beach? To enjoy cans of Birdsong’s Jalapeno Pale Ale at a  cookout? To sit around a campfire with a can of Triple C Brewing’s Smoked Amber?

Right now, this is a pipe dream — but I want to turn this fantasy into a can-to-see. And with your help, maybe we can.

Okay, enough of the obligatory can puns. The folks behind the fifth annual CANFEST — a celebration of canned beer — will fly one lucky blogger out to Reno, pick them up in a limo, and provide them entrance to the festival as well as food and a hotel room. With a quick click, you can cast a vote and send me to Reno! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KFSXPC8

They’ve asked bloggers to write about one or more of the following: why canned beer is awesome, why you deserve to come to CANFEST, and what you would do in Reno with canned beer. I know exactly what I would do. I would interview representatives and brewers from the breweries in attendance to ask them why they went the canning route, and to get any additional info (costs, equipment, pros and cons) that our own breweries might want to factor into their decision making. I won’t be able to help them with what is perhaps the largest consideration — money for a canning line — but if I can in my talks with other breweries help swing some to canning, it will be a minor victory.

As the stigma of canned beer wanes, more and more craft breweries across the country are turning to aluminum instead of glass, as it provides ample protection against light and oxygen, two of beer’s biggest enemies. Of course, canned beers are also advantageous in areas where glass is prohibited — i.e., the great outdoors.

I don’t really need to make the case for cans to most craft drinkers, as it’s already been made in so many articles and posts on the subject. What we do need to do is convince our breweries to start canning! CANFEST will be putting the entries into an online voting tool at some point, and when they do I’ll be selfishly asking for your vote!

To learn more about CANFEST, check out www.canfestbeer.com and www.facebook.com/CANFEST.

Chad is brewing a collaboration beer with Night Shift Brewing out of Everett, MA. The beer, according to NoDa Brewing’s Facebook page, will be a “sour ale aged for one year in Chardonnay oak barrels.” The beer, which will be brewed with sauvignon grape must (think unfermented wine) and fermented with Brettanomyces yeast, will be debuted at next year’s festival.

As part of its NoDable series, NoDa Brewing has tapped several Berliner Weisses, which it dubs “NorthCarolinerWeisse”. And Night Shift is no stranger to the world of sour beers. They are currently selling “sour futures” for their series of Berliner Weisse beers that will be released this year and next.

NoDa Brewing has been in a collaborative spirit this year. They recently brewed “Word to your Mother” with Mother Earth, Mother Shucker with Front Street Brewery, and Funkaversary with New Belgium.

The third episode of the Charlotte Beercast is now online here, and you can also pull it up on the iTunes store (you can rate the podcast there, too). Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with future episodes.

On the third episode, Josh, Ryan, Jeff and Mark discuss the following:

• Grand Rapids, MI was named “Beer City USA.” Could Charlotte ever claim that title? What would it take?
• Reviews of No-Li Silent Treatment Pale Ale and OMB’s barrel-aged Fat Boy Baltic Porter and Yule Bock.
• A discussion of Slate’s recent article, “Against Hoppy Beer,” which suggested hoppy beers are “alienating people who don’t like bitter brews.”
• What is our responsibility for educating others about craft beer?
• Mark shares a little too much and gives this episode its title.

What’s higher than the higher ground? Why, Squirrels on Geese, of course.

Squirrels on Geese, Birdsong’s first bottled beer, is the brewery’s Higher Ground IPA aged for six months in oak barrels that once held Chardonnay. It is the first of the “Take Flight” series, and only 600 bottles of it were produced. The brewery will sell the bottles for $9 exclusively at the taproom starting at 2 p.m. this Sunday, June 16, with a few cases making their way to local retailers the week after.

The label reads as follows:

The legend goes that once upon a time settler squirrels in the New World moved West. The land across the Mississippi held great promise of golden acorns and the tallest trees known to rodents.

Through the powers of persuasion, they coaxed some geese into flying them across the river. Squirrels of all kinds are no across the U.S. and geese are still a little scary. Great myths like this helped create our Take Flight series. Enjoy Squirrels on Geese and see where history takes you.

A nickname was born. Today the hornet handle is most commonly associated with the NBA team that played in the city from 1988-2002 before moving to New Orleans. After months of speculation that the Bobcats might change their name back to the Hornets, it has now been announced that they will “bring back the buzz.”

Over the years, brewers have also applied the Hornets name to their beers. Here’s a look at three popular Charlotte-brewed beers to feature the Hornets name.

Hornet Tail Ale – The Mill Bakery, Eatery and Brewery

In the ’90s, when the Hornets boasted such players as Muggsy Bogues, Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning,  The Mill Bakery, Eatery and Brewery brewed an altbier and named it Hornet Tail Ale. They even had t-shirts imploring patrons to “Catch a Buzz.” That beer won a silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival in 1990 (it won a medal again in 1995, though I couldn’t find a record of which medal it won).

Stingin’ Brits IPA – Rock Bottom Brewery

The Battle of Charlotte was fought at the intersection of Trade and Tryon, just a few blocks away from where now sits the Rock Bottom Brewery. The brewery opened in 1997, and though the beer lineup has changed over the last 15 years, its Stingin’ Brits IPA has always been a popular seller.

Hornet’s Nest Hefeweizen – The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery

The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery first released their Hornet’s Nest Hefeweizen last year, well before “Bring Back the Buzz” reached fever pitch. I imagine “Bobcat Bavarian Wheat” just didn’t have the same ring to it. This true-to-style German hefeweizen can currently be found in the brewery’s taproom.