#68: Matthew Bateman | Kennebec River Brewing

Explicit content warning

10/05/20 • 82 min

The beer industry and the state of Maine are both such special places to exist, due in large part to the people you meet within them. Both deserve equal credit for bringing this week's IN-STUDIO guest to us - Matthew Bateman. Matt works at Northern Outdoors, an operation in The Forks, ME that includes within it rafting, guiding, camping, and lodging services. Since 1996, the company has also included a brewery - Kennebec River Brewing, located within the Northern Outdoors lodge.
The BBB crew recently spent a couple nights on premise for a team getaway, camping a few nights, rafting the Kennebec (water) and thoroughly enjoying drinking Kennebec (beer) on-site. We met Matt as one of our boats' guides, only to find out he has also been cutting his teeth in the brewery since spring. We get into the many things that makes Northern Outdoors such a truly unique (and HIGHLY recommended), and Matt's life as both a whitewater rafting guide and new brewer. He gives us the ins and outs of rafting, talks about some of the craziest water he's ever been on, and defines the new-to-us term, "hydrology".
On the beer side, Matt talks about what makes Kennebec River Brewing so unique, touching on how it's bucked the usual brewpub pitfalls, avoided Ringwood in a pre-Y2K Maine, and had been run by ONE GUY (shoutout Mike!) from inception until Matt was brought on six months ago. We also get into his experience going from beer fan to actual brewer, discuss the distinct satisfactions he's taking from it, and mutually lament the punishing heat a brewery comes with.
This was an extremely fun one and felt particularly special in its full-circle nature. As you'll hear, we can't recommend the many things Northern Outdoors has to offer enough. Special thanks to Matthew for making the trip to Milo to join the shortlist of in-studio guests, and to all of Northern Outdoors for making our staff trip so special a few weeks ago!

Previous Episode

#67: Matt Robinson | Bissell Brothers

We decided it was time to do things quite a bit differently this week. Noah tries to clarify a misperception about himself and the guys talk unseen baggage, which slides into what is far and away the most personal episode of Graining In to date.
Matty's positive, boisterous, almost Golden Retriever-like personality suits his profession just about as much as possible. But the path he took to get to where he is today is nothing short of astounding. He gets extremely candid with Noah about losing his father to cancer during high school, forming an addiction to opioids that grew to be nothing short of extreme, his multiple suicide attempts, and a year-long sentence in jail. The account of the hole he found himself in and the lengths he took to pick himself up is occasionally shocking and often painful, but is above all else a deeply and profoundly inspiring experience. Regardless of how self-hatred, addiction, and death have factored into your life, there are undeniable threads of universality in his story that can't help but boost your drive to be a more compassionate and grateful person.
Rest assured though - despite its heaviness, the conversation is still chocked full of the (healthy) self-deprecation and lack of pretension of a normal episode, just with a tear or two on the side.
Do yourself a favor and listen in... Your heart will thank you.
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Music: "Mountain Climb" by Jake Hill
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Next Episode

#69: Dan Kleban | Maine Beer Company

They say to never meet your heroes, but this week proves that's poor advice. Dan Kleban, co-founder of Maine Beer Company, sits down with Noah and Matty. After some initial gushing about how generous Dan and his brother Dave were to get Noah and Pete into MBC's first space, the conversation shifts to the Dan's early experiences with beer (Sierra Nevada strikes again) and what laid the groundwork for what continues to be MBC's philosophy on the beer-making side of the business. Dan and Noah also get into their mutual roots as homebrewers and (early) brewing podcast listeners, as both Substance and Zoe begun their existence as thinly-veiled clone recipes. After discussing collaboration beers and the similar reasons both MBC and BBB do them less than most, things shift to Dan and his brewery's commitment to the environment. He talks about his inspiration for being a part of 1% For the Planet from the very start of his business, why customers are smarter than they are often given credit for, and the inertia that comes when you "Do What's Right". This fun, informative, and inspiring conversation with one of Noah and Matty's Dream Team brewers was simply a joy, and if anyone out there is looking for a role model, head to Route 1 in Freeport............ ........................ .................. ......................... .................. ........................ ....................... ........Music: "Mountain Climb" by Jake Hill