In the beer community, to share is to heir.

You know what I love most about craft beer? Aside from the actual contents of the bottle/can/growler/crowler, I’m constantly taken aback by the sheer generosity of everyone I meet while seeking out that gorgeous, bubbling, golden nectar.

We just got back from a President’s Day weekend podcast extravaganza in Vermont, and we were gifted so much beer that we had a bit of a hold up at the Canadian border trying to get it all back (we succeeded – be honest and have your receipts, folks).

To us beer nerds in Canada, the brews our neighbours to the south drink on the daily are essentially whales, something we can only dream about accessing. And to the Vermonters, beers like Heady Topper, Crusher, Second Fiddle, Sip Of Sunshine, Sumner, Double Galaxy and even gems from breweries of the moment like Treehouse, Trillium, Night Shift and Bissell Bros, are a regular occurrence; something they come across in every other encounter.

It’s potentially because of this consistent availability that folks don’t have a problem gifting or trading some of the most sought after beers on the planet; or even better, it’s part of the culture of craft beer. It’s no fun if you’re the only one tasting something. Everyone tends to be more than happy to share even the most prized gems in their cellar, and it’s this inherent need to give to others that makes me proud to be a member of the global craft community.

Before this last trip, I felt that nothing I have access to up here had any value to most folks in the U.S., but I still managed to do a great trade (Canadian beer for American beer) and discover that the manager of one of the biggest liquor purchasers in the North East is obsessed with Quebec beer. Who would’ve thunk it?

So in that spirit, here are our last few videos: a fantastic podcast with two great Montreal-based professional homebrewers The Wild Shack (who were incredibly generous with their stash); a #Versus video of our recent homebrew; and a new segment where we go through cellars to find the gems (we kicked it off with mine). Cheers!