FROM THE COVER

New podcast on tap

Baldwin Park resident David Dell’Olio launched his latest podcast, The Brü Experience, for fellow craft beer enthusiasts.

DANIELLE HENDRIX ASSOCIATE EDITOR

For many, the mark of a good craft beer isn’t just the taste of the drink itself — it’s also the experience that comes with it.

That’s why Baldwin Park resident David Dell’Olio launched his new podcast, The Brü Experience, a few months ago. The podcast caters to craft beer enthusiasts, and the goal is to highlight the full experience of local craft beer artisans.

It’s not his rst rodeo with podcasts, either. Dell’Olio also was the co-founder and co-host for The One Four, a Baldwin Park-centric podcast he collaborated on with friend and fellow resident Sam Rodriguez.

BREWING AN IDEA

As someone who enjoys craft beer and visiting new breweries, Dell’Olio cites the overall experience of doing so as one of the driving factors behind the podcast.

“If I go to a new city, I always like to try to check out one craft brewer to see what they’re doing,” he says. “There are a lot of people like me who will Google a brewery or see if there’s one close to them. I think nowadays, it’s staring to catch on that they’re not just have to a beer: A lot of them have food, and you can go to for lunch.

“We’re trying to talk about the entire experience fo going to a brewery,” he says. “Think about a favorite beer you might have had. Why was it your favorite beer? It was the whole experience of having that beer. It wasn’t just the beer itself, although the beer was probably good. … It could be the music, or the people you were with, where you were or what place or time in life you were. That all adds to the experience of having nice craft beer. Beer has always been one of those things that you sit down and meet with friends or talk with friends about.”

One of the key aspects of The Brü Experience is getting to know the local craft brewers, how they got started and what goes into making a great beer.

“Local craft brewers — they are an amazing bunch of people,” Dell’Olio says. “When you think about it, they are half-chemist and half-creative person. … Chris from Tactical (Brewing Co.) — he’s a genius. They make some really great beers. They made this one beer called Black Spot. They used oyster shells they’d gotten from Seito, I believe, but he had to gure out how to cold-pasteurize the thing. Not only is it the chemistry, but there is the food and beverage health aspect of it, and then there’s the creative aspect.”

It’s also important to Dell’Olio that the podcast highlights what each brewery o ers so people think of them not only as a place to enjoy a good beer but also what else they bring to the table. Some o er lunch

“The more brewers I meet, I’m amazed at what they know and how willing they are to share and sit down and talk about it.”

— DAVID DELL’OLIO

Courtesy photos

David Dell’Olio started The Brü Experience to highlight local breweries and brewers.

and dinner. Some are family-friendly and pet-friendly. A few, such as Tactical Brewing, even have running clubs.

“They’re not just a business in the community — they actually add a lot to the community with the run clubs, or with kid-friendly places (and places to) bring your dog,” he says. “They’re not jut a storefront. They really do give back to the communities that they’re in. We wanted to highlight the ones in Central Florida to start and then hopefully branch out.”

PERFECTING THE PODCAST

When he was in the research phase for his podcast, Dell’Olio said he a few di erent types of podcasts for beer enthusiasts.

“I found basically four guys on a mic getting drunk doing that, and the other one I found was three head brewers talking so far over people’s heads that I was lost within the rst ve minutes,” he says. “What we want to do with The Brü Experience is give a little education. We talk about what ‘hop forward’ means or what ‘malt forward’ means. … The more you get into it, the more you nd these little things out. … I think I’m a very average person when it comes to beer, so if I’m questioning it, I really don’t know about it.”

Each episode is divided into three parts. The rst entails talking with head brewers about how they got started, the history of their brewery and anything unique about their brewing process. That could include challenges, funny stories and lighthearted conversation.

Next is describing the experience of visiting the taproom and what it o ers — outdoor space, how many beers are o ered, if a brewery is known for a certain beer, what’s on tap, amenities and more.

“The last part of that is we sample three of their beers,” Dell’Olio says. “On air, you won’t hear us guzzling beer, but we talk about their beer. We go over what they tell us we should be tasting, and it’s actually helped my palate. What I’ll do after that is there is an app called Untap-

Currently, Dell’Olio is focused on highlighting breweries in the Central Florida area, such as Hourglass Brewing.

THE BRÜ EXPERIENCE

WEBSITE: thebruexperience.com EMAIL: info@thebruexperience.com FACEBOOK: facebook.com/thebruexperience INSTAGRAM: @thebruexperience DETAILS: The Brü Experience’s goal is to not only highlight local breweries but also talented individuals who are in the know. If you know someone who would like to be a guest host, contact Dell’Olio via TBE’s email. pd. It’s there that people can keep track of the beers they’ve had, and you rate it. I’ve gotten on Untappd under The Brü Experience, and I’ve started to rate the beers I’ve had at these breweries: Is it smooth? Does it have a nice nish?

“What we try to do is not just give the name of the beer once and then you never hear it again,” he says. “We try to really talk about the beer and what it is.”

One of his favorite parts of running The Brü Experience is making connections with the brewers themselves and seeing how they have their own sort of brewing brotherhood.

“They really have each other’s backs, and they all put out for the most part really quality products,” he says. “You see some of these brewers, like Kent down at Castle Church Brewing. The guy cut his teeth out in Colorado, and now he’s the head brewer at Castle Church. He is putting out some great liquid. … It’s funny, because you sit down with these guys and … they’re just so knowledgeable and really interesting guys to meet. … There’s a lot of camaraderie.”

But podcasts such as this one take a lot of time and resources, so Dell’Olio is hoping to secure some sponsors to keep The Brü Experience going strong. He also hopes the breweries he has featured so far are seeing the bene t from the exposure on their end, too.

“The more brewers I meet, I’m amazed at what they know and how willing they are to share and sit down and talk about it,” Dell’Olio says. “Anything I can do to help them out, I will, because they really are a brotherhood. Promote your local craft brewer, drink local and, to borrow part of the tagline from Persimmon Hollow (Brewing Co.), ‘Get weird.’”