Beer Freaks

Wyndee Forrest is Afraid of Clowns & We Drink CraftHaus Beer at the Brewery!

• Stu Haack / Wyndee Forrest (Co-Owner of CraftHaus Brewery) • Season 1 • Episode 11

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Super excited for this one! I am lucky enough to host Wyndee Forrest, co-owner of CraftHaus Brewery, on this episode of Beer Freaks while she hosts me at her brewery. We sip some of their best beers (Dry Heat New England IPA is incredible, by the way), talk about how hazy IPAs use dry hopping to reduce bitterness, and discuss her intense fear of clowns which began with the movie Poltergeist. So much fun! No clownin'.

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Stu Haack:

All right. And we are live. Hey, folks, today, I'm here with an awesome guest. Who knows way more about beer than me. And that that's because she happens to be the co owner of Crafthouse a local brewery here in Las Vegas that, in my opinion, makes the best beer in Las Vegas. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, windy forest Hi, my name is Stu Haack. And this is my podcast about all the weird, crazy, spooky things that scare me and my guests. And the one thing that helps us forget all about them. Ladies and gentlemen, beer freaks. Don't Don't Don't thanks for yeah, thanks for, for being on the show. We're actually on location. today. We are at the brewery. So very small office in an office, but I can see, you know, the kegs of beer out there. Which is exciting. And I feel like it just really helps with the passion for the show. Okay, it's good. It's, it's very authentic. And it gets me out of my garage, which is my podcasting booth.

Wyndee Forest:

So yeah, so thanks again for having me.

Stu Haack:

We'll get into the the fear part. Because I think your fears a really good one. I think people are almost universally afraid of what you're afraid

Wyndee Forest:

of. Yeah, well, I'm pretty scared of everything across the board and anything that has to do with Halloween, or horror movies, or even like intense suspense, but my biggest fear and ever since childhood has been clowns.

Stu Haack:

Oh my god. Clowns are terrible. Clowns. Clowns are the worst.

Wyndee Forest:

Remember, we used to have the clown museum right up the street from the brewery.

Stu Haack:

I'm very thankful that I was not around for I think we probably moved here like shortly after it closed.

Wyndee Forest:

I never went. But I heard a shocker. Yeah,

Stu Haack:

I trust me. I would not. But you know what? Because Because I work for SLM. And you are also down sort of in the same district. Apparently, there used to be like a factory tour that would go from like Flm. Yep. To like the Ocean Spray factory. That was the cloud and then to the cloud one, which I hear it burned down at some point or something like that. Which seems awfully suspicious. Yeah. For for a clown factory. Like one of those clowns definitely came to life. Oh, for sure. And torched the place.

Wyndee Forest:

Most they all did. Yeah, that's just one.

Stu Haack:

So it's probably on the loose out there. Yeah, hopefully not in Vegas anymore. No, maybe it made its way to the coast. I don't know. It

Wyndee Forest:

wouldn't be good. I certainly are far away from the brewery.

Stu Haack:

It's terrified. Like, why? Why in God's name? Would anyone want to have a clown factory? I don't know. That just seems like a bad idea.

Wyndee Forest:

That's the name of the next horror film clown factory

Stu Haack:

clown factory. Yep. You know what I just realized, by the way, I told you to put your phones on airplane mode and I'm getting a call. So I need to put mine on airplane mode because otherwise we're gonna get like spikes of audio and it's gonna sound awful. So here's some fun dead air while I turn my Here we go. Airplane Mode. One down. Now that works on.

Wyndee Forest:

Well, it was poltergeist that took me over the edge with my clown fear. What is the fear of clowns called? There is a certain phobia.

Stu Haack:

There's there's a phobia, I think for everything, but I don't know. We're gonna have to look that one out. Yeah. Yeah, that's a that's a good question, though. Because there's, have you ever heard of the fear of holes?

Wyndee Forest:

No, that was like falling in like a giant hole?

Stu Haack:

No, it's this really creepy thing. And oh, God, I can't I can't remember the name of it now. But it's like, when holes are like grouped really close together. There's trypophobia that's what it is. tryptophane that was like the fear of 2018. Everyone had this trip to phobia fear, which was like, really closely grouped holes. Like, which seems so odd. But then when you look at these things, and there's pictures online, if you look up trypophobia online, like you can see, it just looks bizarre. It looks like something where like spider eggs would be sitting in there or so I think that that's where it comes from. It's like what could be living in those?

Wyndee Forest:

Yeah, it's, it's when you think about sticking your hand in it and something grabbing you.

Stu Haack:

Yeah, like maybe a clown is sitting in one of those. So you're combining phobias now, which is awful.

Wyndee Forest:

My brother was scuba diving and he put his hand in a rock hole and a more e open his finger.

Stu Haack:

Oh my god. Like, I grew up in San Diego, so I love the ocean. But like, I would never do that. I would like I don't mess around with things that are in the ocean. I stay on the surfboard. And like I tried it as much as possible not

Wyndee Forest:

to go below the SATs when you get eaten when you're on the surfboard. Well, that's

Stu Haack:

true. Because you look like a seal. That's, that's what they say. They think you look like a seal. And you just paddle the paddle really fast and try to get away from

Wyndee Forest:

You can't out paddle a shark.

Stu Haack:

No, that's probably true. I paddle pretty fast, but I don't know. Yeah, not that fast. No. Okay, so we're going to talk today about your fear of clowns. Okay, maybe we can resolve your your issue. Or maybe your homework will be to go watch it. No, have you seen it?

Wyndee Forest:

Of course not.

Stu Haack:

Oh my god. So there's the old one, which I think is actually kind of comedic. Nowadays. When you look like back, it's like, I think it was in the 80s. Okay, and it just looks kind of funny. Because, you know, technology has progressed and video quality, but like, the new it. It scared me. That's pretty good. I think I think you may need to watch it.

Wyndee Forest:

I can't do it. And then when everybody started to just show up at parks Remember last year, and they would just sit there in a clown costume and creep everybody out. Yeah, but they weren't like breaking the law. It was like a prank. Yeah, there's nothing you can do about that's a good way to get shot. I think that

Stu Haack:

probably one of them had to have gotten shot at some point. Like, because if you see something like that, you've just got to be like, What am I did I just enter a Stephen King film? Yeah. Am I living one right now?

Wyndee Forest:

Yeah. And you're like, if I run, they're gonna chase me.

Stu Haack:

That would be like the worst part is if it started, I think if they started chasing you, you should be fully within your legal right to shoot them at that point. Yes, that seems fair.

Wyndee Forest:

I think you should be in your legal right to shoot them if they're just in costume looking creepy. Just that might be a test with a paintball gun.

Stu Haack:

Okay. Yeah. I think that's fair, because then you're just sort of adding to their makeup. Yes. You could claim that you're trying to help. Yes. Yeah, I think that's fair. Okay, so before we continue in and talk a little bit more about the movie it and stuff. We got a couple of beers here. Fresh, fresh from the brewery. Yes. So can you tell me the one that you poured for me?

Wyndee Forest:

Yes. So let's do said he likes anything IPA. So we are on the tail end, and enjoying a good run of our New England IPA called dry heat. Because in Las Vegas when it's 149 degrees. It's not hot, because it's a dry heat.

Stu Haack:

All my Chicago friends like to say that all the time. Yeah.

Wyndee Forest:

Like, if you put your head in the oven, it's still hot. Yeah, whether it's dry or not to dry heat.

Stu Haack:

It's hot. You should be fine.

Wyndee Forest:

So it's super juicy. It's tropical and orange peel notes for the hops in there.

Stu Haack:

Got the great hazy look. Yeah, like it's very, like very thick. You can't it's not transparent. It just tells you this is a flavorful, awesome beer. Which I would concur. It's very good. It's very good. I just wanted to I know I told you this before the show. And I think I've actually told you this before, the auto toast that you guys launched this year, which apparently you just won an award for.

Wyndee Forest:

It's a major award.

Stu Haack:

It's that beer is so good. I kid you not. I think I've given you a shout out on the podcast to all three of my listeners. Probably like five times because I think that that is the best beer I've had in 2019. Thank you. Yeah, it's incredible.

Wyndee Forest:

So avo toast is kind of a recreation of like a deconstructed avocado toast. So what our brewers did is they got avocado blossom honey from Carlsbad. We used 55 pounds of it

Stu Haack:

with Carlsbad, San Diego. Yes. Oh, right on. Yep.

Wyndee Forest:

Because that's where the avocado groves are.

Stu Haack:

Okay, yeah, that makes sense.

Wyndee Forest:

So, we use the avocado blossom honey. And then the malt bill is made to mimic toasted bread. So it's nice and multi and dark red in color. And then we used tele cherry peppercorns, so it's like the pepper on top of your auto toast.

Stu Haack:

Okay

Wyndee Forest:

But it doesn't taste like avocados. Everybody's like, No, I don't pick up avocado. Right? You shut it. There's no kados in it.

Stu Haack:

I was guilty of that. When I first opened it. I was like, hmm, is this really gonna taste like avocado toast and quickly realized? Definitely not. But that doesn't change the fact that it is incredible.

Wyndee Forest:

Well, thank you. You don't want to put avocados in your beer because there's the lipids the fats it'll just kill all head retention.

Stu Haack:

So what would that do to it? Like if you would make it flat and oily? Oh, so you wouldn't get the like nice foamy, like effervescence now

Wyndee Forest:

No you would not get a good cap of foam on top of your beer. Okay, just be you would actually see lipids floating like oils probably would not be good. Not advertised and like I can eat avocados for the rest of my life. Like to sustain me. There is an avocado festival where there are some breweries that actually make it A beer with avocado. I've never tried it or tried it out. I feel I'd be interested to try it. Yeah. And then I was looking into well, what if we use avocado leaves? Well, that turns toxic to humans. So don't use avocado leaves in beer.

Stu Haack:

And we're back, because I am not an audio engineer, believe it or not. And I just wanted to make sure that there was a good sound quality, because I noticed that I had the wrong effect on so we're back. But the good news is, it gave us a moment to quickly check what the name of the fear of clowns is and I'm gonna let windy try to pronounce so

Wyndee Forest:

thanks.

Stu Haack:

Yeah, it's all you.

Wyndee Forest:

I think it's cool. Ro phobia. Yeah, see? oul Aro, and then phobia.

Stu Haack:

That sounds right.

Wyndee Forest:

Okay, I go with it. I'm gonna go with it. I was gonna correct me.

Stu Haack:

No one. Yeah, I don't read the comments on my on my podcast, so I don't care. I'm sure there are people out there right now. Like that's not how you pronounce. But yeah, cool. refurbished. So you have cool real phobia. That's the worst. That's the thing you're most afraid of. Like if you woke up in the middle of the night, and you were walking down the hallway and you saw a clown. That would be the worst thing you can see at the end of the hallway.

Wyndee Forest:

Yes. Yes.

Stu Haack:

I'm kind of with you. I mean, that's that would be up there for me. But I'm more like ghosts. I don't know. ghosts. Ghosts freak me out. Yeah.

Wyndee Forest:

If there are, you know, ghosts that don't torment you. Right? They just they're stuck in the in between? Yeah, between

Stu Haack:

maybe they're just looking for help in life. There's a lot of like, really bad TV shows about that kind of thing. Right? It's like, ghost. Yeah, well, there's yeah, there's ghosts. Yeah, I guess you know, and it was funny. I was doing I did a podcast about Halloween, and like the history of Halloween, and I learned a little bit because one of the interesting things is Halloween in terms of what we celebrate hasn't really changed over 4000 years. The name of it's changed. Like it was salan I think originally, it was a Celtic holiday back like in 2000 BC. And then it became like, you know, with the Roman Catholics taking it over, became like All Saints Day and All martyrs day and then eventually became Halloween. And then you look at things like Dia de los Muertos. Right. So you got Halloween on the one end and Dia de los Muertos, which I believe also comes from that original sort of trajectory. And the funny thing is, is yeah, you've got you've got people who look at ghosts in two different ways. Like Dia de los Muertos is a positive thing, right?

Wyndee Forest:

You're honoring and remember your ancestors.

Stu Haack:

Exactly. You've got the one night a year where they can cross over if they want and you can see you know, your your ancestors, Disney

Wyndee Forest:

even made a touchy feely,

Stu Haack:

man. Have you watched Coco

Wyndee Forest:

Yeah, it's cute.

Stu Haack:

It's really cute. Yeah, I cried at the end when the talk when he plays the guitar. Oh, it's so sad. But I've watched it now like 100 times because of my son so it's lost. Is that

Wyndee Forest:

Is that his fave?

Stu Haack:

Coco's up there. Actually, PJ Masks. Okay. So he was Catboy for all the way and I don't know if you're familiar with. Yeah.

Wyndee Forest:

We're into YouTubers now. Then. preteens and a 14 year old.

Stu Haack:

Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. It's that whole YouTube thing is just crazy to me.

Wyndee Forest:

And my son has a monetized YouTube channel.

Stu Haack:

Is he making money on YouTube? Yeah. Whoa, that's I mean, that's cool. What's what are his videos about?

Wyndee Forest:

He is into FNAF. So five nights at Freddy's is a super scary video game. It's like if you go into Chuckie Cheese that went out of business and has been closed for 10 years. And you go in and they all are the animatronics come to life and they are like trying to kill you.

Stu Haack:

Are there any clowns in there?

Wyndee Forest:

There's one that looks like the creepy baby doll.

Stu Haack:

Oh, yeah. Those Those are always terrified. Yeah.

Wyndee Forest:

So but he collects all of the figurines and everything. And all the stuffed animals, everything he needs to get one of every collection, okay, and then they do the blind boxes. So you never know what you have to get to get to buy a whole bunch of

Stu Haack:

you get all and we're talking about the physical thing like not like a digital, right. Okay, so you get this and he like, does the unboxing Yeah, that kind of thing.

Wyndee Forest:

And it's usually like one of the first ones on YouTube to show this collection.

Stu Haack:

Okay, you're good for him paving the way

Wyndee Forest:

and then we also he has a pug we got him a pug for his birthday last year. Because he's been obsessed with pugs. So sometimes the pug gets some get some screentime And then sometimes, most of the time it's fun now,

Stu Haack:

the pug is gonna be famous.

Wyndee Forest:

Well 30 is a really famous pug and that's why we have a book. No, it's dead. The pugs fault that we had to get a pug

Stu Haack:

Oh, okay,

Wyndee Forest:

you know Doug the pug. I don't talk a pug is the most famous Instagrammable pet out there.

Stu Haack:

So he is an Instagram star. Yes millions of followers.

Wyndee Forest:

Yes. Channel. Do you know yes merch is at Claire's boutique like the kid really? Accessory stuff? Yeah.

Stu Haack:

Wow. Dogs made it here, dog. Dogs made it and I'm sitting here with like three podcast listeners. That's good. It's good. We all have to have something to strive for. I have a friend who looks just like a pug. Shout out to Spencer. Absolutely, we've been calling him a pug since he was like in fourth grade. Oh, he's I've known him since second grade. But we always always look pitiful. He looks like his face is really squished together. And he started growing a goatee at a really early age. And so it was just perfect. Okay. But he's a good guy, you know, just, but maybe he can be a YouTube star or an Instagram star.

Wyndee Forest:

Because Doug can't talk. Yeah,

Stu Haack:

so he's already got that element. Yeah. Yeah, if he if he has the look, and he can actually form sentences, which I think mostly he can. Should be good to go. So So you also have a beer? I do that that you're drinking that's different than mine. What's What did you choose for your what is the brewer drink?

Wyndee Forest:

Well, okay, clarification, I'm not the brewer.

Stu Haack:

Okay, fair enough.

Wyndee Forest:

You don't want me to brew your trust. We have a you know, national brewers doing what they yes best. Yes. We just came out with a new West Coast IPA. And it's we named it sleeping forest. Actually, Cameron, our head brewer named it sleeping forest. But our last name is forest to ours. And he wanted to name it sleeping forest. So I did some research about hops and hops have been used for hundreds of years to induce sleep, and to improve the quality of sleep. So I thought it was very fitting, it was called Sleeping forest. So West Coast IPA is kind of the an anti hazy IPA, so it's very clear. And these hops, West Coast hops primarily feature notes of pine and grapefruit. So it's definitely pine forward and clear. You can see through it not like the hazy. Yeah. So it's one of our seasonal IPAs.

Stu Haack:

Very different look than than the beer that I have. Obviously. I think one of my my favorite West Coast style IPAs of all time is green flash. Have you had the green flash? West Coast IPA? Yes. Love that one. Yeah, I love that one. But I haven't tried this out. You can try it later. Okay. I'm gonna take

Wyndee Forest:

you up on that. Yeah. Go back to old school. You gotta keep it on the west coast because it's the best Coast

Stu Haack:

I I'm a West Coast guy through and through. I mean, this whole New England thing. Don't get me wrong. I do like a New England style. I don't like giving them all the credit. Right? Yeah, I don't like giving them all the credit. You

Wyndee Forest:

can just call it a he's not a New England IPA.

Stu Haack:

So is there a difference? By the way? You You may know this? Is there a difference between New England hazy juicy, or is it just all the same, like different ways of saying the same thing?

Wyndee Forest:

There is an so the Brewers Association, excuse me, they have certain guidelines that they recognize. So one way to taste and judge beer by categories is called the beer judge Certification Program, or BJCP. For short, so it has all of these nationally recognized beer styles. So the New England IPA, slash hazy IPA is one category that has now been recognized. And then there's also a separate category that is a juicy IPA category. And I think now they even have a juicy, pale and hazy, pale. Oh, interesting. So they do have differences. But because the style is still you know, relatively new and emerging, it is hard to differentiate between hazy and juicy and New England. A beer can be juicy without being hazy, right. So the way that you get the juiciness into IPAs is in dry hopping. So once the beer has been brewed, and it's in fermentation, and the tank is cold, then we add hops, and that's called dry hop. So the hops that you add in when fermentation is happening, and when the beer is cold, that's all for aroma. So it's what you're going to smell and it's not going to impart any of the IBUs any of the bitterness that your tasting.

Stu Haack:

Okay, so So the dry hopping is going to be potentially slightly less bitter. And a wet hop, presumably.

Wyndee Forest:

Yeah. Well, and there's not as much so hops that go into the boil of when we're in the first part of brewing. When your wort is boiling, that's when you add bittering hops. So that's what you're going to taste for the bitterness. So there's very, very minimal bittering hops for a New England IPA or a hazy IPA. And all of the hopping is heavily dosed, at the very end of fermentation right before the beer is finished. And then to make it hazy, it's also I'm not a brewer, and I'm not a scientist by any means, but it's how the the oils from the hops, the resins bind with protein particulates, and they stay in suspension. Oh,

Stu Haack:

okay. Well, I know you're not a brewer. But that sounded perfectly, like reasonable to me.

Wyndee Forest:

I have Cameron might correct me. That's the way that I understand it. And not being a biologist or a professional.

Stu Haack:

Well, it sounds it sounded perfect to me. It was well better explained than anything that I would have been able to do.

Wyndee Forest:

And a lot of people who claim Oh, I don't like IPAs, they're to better. That's because probably what they've tried is maybe a stone IPA, which is aggressive and primarily a West Coast IPA. A lot of people who are turned off with hops. Don't like the pine notes. Yeah, hops. Yeah. Where if you take something like New England IPA, or hazy IPA, all of those hops primarily have fruit forward notes. So tropical notes, like you'll get pineapple and mango and papaya. And then you'll get juicy Hops, which are notes of citrus, so orange and lemon, and grapefruit. So if you have those fruit forward, Hops that are added in. At the end of fermentation, you're just gonna get those beautiful fruit and juice and citrus aromas, and not the bitterness from say, like the pine and West Coast hops, like Centennial and cascade and Chinook. Yeah, those definitely have pine notes.

Stu Haack:

Yep. And there is a big difference. I'll tell you, we, my former manager, he went to a different company, but he is not an IPA drinker. His favorite beer is MC Ultra. I'm just gonna say that, because you told me you saw him at a beer tasting a couple of weeks ago. And that surprises me because I don't know. Like what he's going to be what? He's going to find it at a beer. I've thrown him under the bus a little bit right now.

Wyndee Forest:

Well, he may not have had any beer. This was last year. I was

Stu Haack:

like, okay, yeah, gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. And I like to make fun of them. Because I'd make fun of him to his face, too, because he used to talk about how good my culture was.

Wyndee Forest:

People who are drinking that aren't drinking it for flavor. They're drinking it because it's low calorie. Right.

Stu Haack:

Right. Yeah. That's to his credit. He does. Enjoy Sierra Nevada. That's like the happiest he gets parallel. Yes, yeah. Yeah. But so we used to go out for like, a happy hour. And and I think the first time we ever went out to the happy hour, I had, I think, a Lagunitas or something like that, which you know, is very hoppy. Yeah. And, and he tried it. Because he hadn't really had a whole lot of IPAs, and the the look on his face. I mean, you know, that look, when it's just super bitter. So he likes swore off of IPAs. But then it was a couple of years ago, he had a hazy IPA for the first time. And he's like, Oh, my God, I gotta tell you about this, like new kind of beer. And I hadn't I actually hadn't heard of New England style IPAs before. And so I tried it. I was like, Oh, this is this is kind of good. You know, because if you're gonna have a few IPAs, it can mess with your palate a little bit. Yeah. Like if you're gonna have

Wyndee Forest:

palate exhaustion. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. So like,

Stu Haack:

you know, if you're gonna if you know, you're gonna have a few beers that night, you know, throwing a hazy IPA right in there. Kind of held it up. Yeah, for sure. For sure. So that was that was sort of my introduction to hazy IPAs, but but I do really like this. This dry heat. Yes, I think I think I did have it before but you said that maybe it was your first batch.

Wyndee Forest:

Yes. Yeah. And this is the new and new and improved version 2.0. Cameron did a lot of research our head brewer of how to get you know, a great haze. And that goes back to talking about the the hot oils and then emulsifying with proteins. So he really he nailed it with this new england IPA. It's really good. It's gonna be another one coming out, but it won't. It won't be the exact same one. It's gonna be a different one. I think fluorescent Flamingo is fluoresce. Oh mango. implosion countdown is next. implosion counting. Yeah. Because that's what we do in Las Vegas. Yeah. Yeah. It's very Vegas. Oh, and you wait to watch the implosion of our casinos?

Stu Haack:

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. So is the is the dry heat? Is that a seasonal?

Wyndee Forest:

Yes. So we now have a line of New England IPAs, and so there's four year. So that's one a quarter. Okay. Yeah.

Stu Haack:

Very nice. Now, of all the, of all your beers seasonal and the standard stock? I'm sure you get this question all the time. But like, what is your favorite craft house beer?

Wyndee Forest:

It always has to be what is my favorite at that moment? Sure. It's usually whatever we released that is new. I've really, Cameron came to us as our new head brewer a little over a year and a half ago. And we had never had loggers in our portfolio. So he started introducing loggers. So and he's done some really interesting loggers, some really cleaning Chris loggers, but I really it was a whole new world that was opened to us. Yeah. And so now I've been on check. pilsners and he may, he made a beer. We drank it all. And we're currently out of stock of it. Oh, it was a unfiltered check Pilsner. And we named it check. Please check please. Yeah, it's really good. Because it's, it has a haze to it. But it has a nice, crisp, hot bite. And it's not overpowering. Okay. And then with it using a lager yeast. The lager uses yeast finishes. More mineral more clean. To kind of just wash your palate clean. So you don't get a heavy malt. Yeah, laying down on your palate.

Stu Haack:

Yeah, that makes sense. Probably a great beer for summertime. Yes, yeah. Yep. What about what about winter when it's cold out? Does it does it won't keep you warm? Like, like a nice, stout or IPA would? No, no, no, it doesn't give you the jacket. It doesn't give you the beer jacket. Well, comrade

Wyndee Forest:

always has a special place in our heart for us. And last will technically this year's comrade comrade is our Russian Imperial Stout that we make in collaboration with the Las Vegas distillery. And then we oak aged on whiskey from the Las Vegas distillery. But unfortunately, George passed away about a year ago now. But two and a half weeks before he passed away, he brought us a barrel and we had never traditionally barrel aged it before. So we were fortunate to have George bring us over a barrel. So

Stu Haack:

that was two weeks before Yeah, yeah. George was an awesome dude. Yeah.

Wyndee Forest:

No big. Good areas. Yes. Teddy Bear.

Stu Haack:

The nicest guy. Yeah, I still remember. I mean, I don't think this will get him in trouble or anything like that. But I he gave us a tour of his of his distillery. Yeah. And, you know, we work in the world of chocolate, you know, my team. And so we have really, really strict quality standards. When you go into the factory, right? I mean, anything that's out of place, I mean, you touch it, if there if there's any, like a gloves off, you have to throw out the whole batch. Like, it's crazy. But you know, consumer protections, and it's it's a chocolate. So when George gave us the tour, he he was walking us through his room, and there was this big vat of vodka that was sitting out. And he's just like, oh, this is a new vodka we're trying out and I think it had some sort of flavor to it. And he just sticks his finger in the vodka. Yeah. And he like puts it in his mouth. He tastes and he tells us hey, go ahead. You know, give it a try. Yeah, and obviously, okay, we're thinking this is vodka, right? So it's not like there's any germs that are gonna live in this, right? But it's like, this is weird. Like, this is just

Wyndee Forest:

I know, I remember seeing him doing that and thinking, Hmm, but then it's gonna kill anything that's in there or on your finger.

Stu Haack:

Right? I mean, there's no issue like it's yeah, there's nothing that's gonna survive that but, but he was just he was such a nice guy. His Transylvania accent was

Wyndee Forest:

amazing. He would call it his sexy Texan accent.

Stu Haack:

This is an awesome dude. Yeah, I was so sad to hear of his passing now. But yeah, he made a big impact on this community. Oh, for sure. Yeah.

Wyndee Forest:

So when they were filling the barrel with Comrade, he goes, you know? Whiskey is good and you know, beer is okay. And then he goes, but this this is sexy. So, the after George pass, the guys are always remembered. When he said that and when it came time to kind of come up with The beer name and the label. They the guys told us that story and we're like, it has to be this sexy. So I said sexy was the first officially barrel aged whiskey barrel aged version of Comrade Irish Imperial Stout. That is awesome. So we did an online bottles sale of it. And we sold out in six minutes. Oh, really? Yeah. Holy cow. And it tasted amazing.

Stu Haack:

That is awesome. Yeah, yeah, that's, that's really cool. That's, that's a good story. I love like a good product that has a story behind it. You know? I mean, obviously, you guys make great beer, you know, but anytime you have a good story to tell. It just I think improves the experience when you're trying to, you know, enjoy something for

Wyndee Forest:

sure. I think that's what attracts people to craft beer is the story and the people and the passion behind it. Because with big beer or macro beer, it's always let's just change the packaging, right? Packaging, change packaging, you don't know, what was the origin? What was the inspiration? You know, how did it come to fruition? You know, any of that?

Stu Haack:

Yeah. And you're right. And I feel like I've noticed that even more over the last couple of years. Like, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of innovation from the big beer brands. Right. And to be totally honest, I tried to avoid it as much as possible. The one that like I do succumb to sometimes is probably like, Lagunitas. Right. But it's only because I went to the brewery a couple of years ago before they got bought by Anheuser Busch and I fell in love with the brand. Oh, is it Heineken? You bought them? Oh, really? Oh, wow. Yeah. It's a bummer. Like, it's just you have

Wyndee Forest:

all of the large, you know, national still craft breweries. I was really surprised when they sold to Heineken. Yeah. Because the owner he was he was so vocal about never selling out. Yeah. Jim McGee, James McGee. I've, I've seen him speak a few times. And he's very brazen and very brash. And, you know, pro cannabis supporter, and, you know, doesn't censor himself. Yeah. And then to hear when, when he sold. He was owned 25% by Heineken, and then he sold the rest eventually. But I I'll never forget, we were sitting there listening to him talk and somebody asked him, you know, the would you sell out question? Yeah. And he said, I would rather die on payroll than sell out to the man.

Stu Haack:

And here we are. Yeah. What happened? Yeah. But I mean, most of it off

Wyndee Forest:

in the same token. I appreciate that. You know, maybe his business was underwater. Maybe he was dying on payroll. And he did that to save his team members and his his employees, you know, their families and their future and their livelihoods. Yeah.

Stu Haack:

Yeah. It's true. assume positive intent. Like, hey, I wasn't just trying to make a buck here. Yeah. But, but it's still it just it's unfortunate to see. I still remember. Back. I don't remember when it happened. But Killians Irish read a long time ago was like one of my favorite beers. It was probably the the beer that introduced me to beer with flavor. Like because, you know, college kid. Yeah, I was drinking Keystone light. Yeah, for the vast majority of my consumption. And then I think one day someone brought Killians, Irish Red, and I was like, Whoa, beer can have flavor, too. That's crazy. And I felt like it was really good. And then it got bought by I think Molson Coors, or Miller, Coors, whoever it was. And, and I don't know if they change the recipe, but it became like awful. Like, it just, I mean, I don't know what I haven't had it in years. But yeah, it was just,

Wyndee Forest:

I Oh, maybe your palate evolved, though,

Stu Haack:

is possible. Yeah. And I thought about that, too. Because I think after I had Killians then I started drinking other beer. So maybe, maybe it just changed. My palate changed. But I assume as the other guy. It's always their fault. It's always their fault. Yeah, that's the society that we live in now. So, okay, I think we need to circle back to clowns. Okay. I know you've been dreading this moment. Yes. Yeah. So I'm sorry. But that is the freaks part of the beer freaks. Show. Got it. So you said that it started with the poltergeist. Yes.

Wyndee Forest:

Well, I'm a child of the 80s. Right. So poltergeist made a big impression on me.

Stu Haack:

Great movie.

Wyndee Forest:

I didn't hate cloning, hated it. hated it. It was scared of everything as a child. I still am. So I think we were in the movie theater. And the scene where it's the storm, and he's, I think it's before he starts counting the between the Thunderbolt linings the 1001 with I was in 2003. And then so the room would light up, you know, with a lightning and he looked over at the class. It was a clown doll like a rag doll, but it was a clown. Yeah, I think it was sitting either on the end of his bed or on a rocking chair at the end of his bed. Yeah, totally up to us. It sounds right now. Yeah. So then, you know, the room would light up and he'd look over and it wouldn't move. And then the lightning wouldn't happen again. And then you think you would see it move? And then it go dark, and then you look again, and then it's like, all of a sudden, like on? Did it? I think it tried to choke him.

Stu Haack:

I think eventually it got to me. Yeah. I mean, it's been a while. Yeah, but I think at this point,

Wyndee Forest:

like my face was covered and it wasn't watching anymore.

Stu Haack:

Okay, yeah. I it was funny, because you said that you were afraid of clowns before the show. And then you mentioned poltergeist knows, like, when when poltergeist was a clown, but now that you say that I remember the scene. Vaguely. And that's, it's interesting how this like, there are not many things in American culture that have made as dramatic a shift in the minds of everybody as clowns,

Wyndee Forest:

right? Yeah. Well, I mean, they're meant to entertain, and they were meant to be right. Funny.

Stu Haack:

They're meant to be funny. Yeah, these these ludicrous creatures that like, you know, they're dressed up, you know, just insanely and you have, you know, they're just meant to, you know, have for kids enjoyment. So, why all of a sudden, where did the turn happen? That, like, all of a sudden was like, it had

Wyndee Forest:

to have been a movie. Do you think it was a movie early? Like clown? Well, I mean,

Stu Haack:

it, there's it wise, it was penny wise probably made a huge impact on how people viewed click

Wyndee Forest:

well, and then dolls, right? Dolls are supposed to be happy and give you joy and love. It's supposed to be a playmate and friend, and now dolls are all creepy.

Stu Haack:

That's very true. It's almost like all things that are meant to be sweet. So like, you ever notice, like almost every horror film in the trailer has, like, kids seeing like a nursery rhyme, right? Like, really creepily. You know? That's, that's like, every horror film trailer there is no. So it's like, I don't know, maybe it's just playing on these things that we're supposed to be disarmed by, like the word missing. Yeah, innocence, and something that you shouldn't have to worry about being I don't know, afraid of. And that's when they get you. Right. Like, it's like when you least expect it when you you know, you're at this child's birthday. And then all of a sudden, the clown just freaks out and has this meltdown. So I'm curious. And this is this is just totally off the cuff. So like, Chucky, right? He's not a clown. No, he's a doll. He's a doll. Yeah, right. But he kind of looks sort of clownish. Like he's got the, like, crazy red hair. Okay, but that wouldn't. That doesn't scare you as much as like a clown.

Wyndee Forest:

Not as much. But I am scared of everything. Yeah. And so I've never seen check. Even though you've seen Chuck now even though it looks like so bad that it's good. And it's comical.

Stu Haack:

It is. One of the best parts about Chucky is when you watch it, you'll realize it's so campy. Yeah, it's so like, but it's fun. Like, I put like horror films in sort of two different camps. Well, there's probably more than that. But like, there are the ones that are like, actually scary, right? Like I would put like the shining in there. Or like or poltergeist like I would put poltergeists potentially in that one. Or even like, the sixth sense i i put in there, and also hereditary but I've already talked ad nauseam about her the movie hereditary. I don't know if you've seen that. Oh, my god. I can't watch any of it. I don't watch hereditary that one. My wife was on a work trip. And so I was home alone with the baby when he was asleep. So I'm just like, I watched hereditary. I didn't sleep that night. Oh, no. That was my mistake. But but then you've got the other camp, which is like, horror movies that aren't bad. But they're fun. Right? So like, do you remember the scream movies back in the night? Did you ever watch those bits and pieces? Okay, because those were less like scary. Like, I wouldn't say they were scary, right? They were just more like, almost mocking the slasher genre, you know, and so and, and they were just interesting and fun. I don't think there were any moments in there, where I was like, oh my god, I'm terrified.

Wyndee Forest:

Like, I've never watched all the big ones like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Yeah. Jason or Friday. Like none of those ever. Couldn't do it.

Stu Haack:

I think you could probably watch the ones that were made in like the 70s and 80s and not be afraid. Because I'm to know there's they're campy there. They are scary. Like there are some parts that are like they're pretty. You look back. I watched the Amityville Horror, like the original one. Yeah. And like, I was like, Laughing like I was laughing almost the entire time because I'm like, This is so bad.

Wyndee Forest:

My son is into the escape rooms. Oh, and like the scary escape rooms. Oh, he's doing one this weekend. Another one last year for his birthday. He wanted to do one and that was like their first time. Okay, so they were all turning 13 Like, he and his friends. So we tried to find ones that weren't like super like I said, you're not going to saw I'm not gonna allow you to do

Stu Haack:

that. The one downtown are scary. We saw the saw one. I think so. Oh, boy.

Wyndee Forest:

So we found some that were scary enough. And I called ahead. I'm like, I have some preteens. Is this okay for them? Yeah, yeah. But middle brother went in with big brother. Okay. And then when it came to one of the rooms where there is like, bodies hanging from the ceiling with nooses around their necks. He's like, it's time for me to go. I gotta go. I'm out. I gotta go. Like let me out. Let me out. Yeah,

Stu Haack:

I know about that.

Wyndee Forest:

The Escape Room with Big Brother this year.

Stu Haack:

Understandable. Yeah, yeah, understandable. Those are? Honestly, I have not done it. Have you done one? No. Yeah,

Wyndee Forest:

I would do that.

Stu Haack:

So I'm with you.

Wyndee Forest:

I can do mine. Puzzle ones. Yeah, yeah, I'm not gonna do scary. No, or once.

Stu Haack:

No, I I'm with you.

Wyndee Forest:

Shut down. I'd be like, nevermind, I can't do it.

Stu Haack:

I think I turned on everybody in the room. I just like, freak out. Like, I'm getting out here. I'll take I'm not taking you with. Like, I would just, I think like some of that stuff is meant to be like team building. Like we've talked about doing it with our with our work team. Yep. And I'm like, I don't think you're gonna want to see me when I feel like I'm stuck in this room. Yeah, it's not gonna be good. Now, you guys may not want to work with me anymore after this,

Wyndee Forest:

because I'll be like a badger. And I will call your eyes out to get to the door.

Stu Haack:

That would be pretty awesome. Yeah, like, yeah, it's good. Boy, I just I don't think the escape permits for me. My wife wants to do one too. But I'm just like, I think I would freak out. I could do

Wyndee Forest:

like, you know, the, the mental challenging the clues and you have to figure it out. And you have to, you know, you know, search and find, but I can't do suspense. Horror. I can't do any of them. No.

Stu Haack:

I mean, what if that's not entertainment to

Wyndee Forest:

me? No, no, no, somebody should come up with a cloud of an escape room.

Stu Haack:

People would hate that, though. I think most people agree with you. I'd love it. I don't know. I think I

Wyndee Forest:

freakling brothers and all of those. Yeah, think people agree with

Stu Haack:

yeah, that's true. Like, people do, like, people like getting scared. But I think it's like, within reason. Like there's, there's the threshold that I think most people are willing to get to, then you've got the outliers, the people who just want to be like, beaten up, basically, right? Like, have you ever seen these like haunted houses? That's what I've seen

Wyndee Forest:

the freaking brothers did they feel like sign a waiver here? Tender? Just go. And then like, the actors come through, and they're like, verbally abusing them in line. And then they had to sign these waivers to say that this is a full content. Oh, my goodness, like, what did we get into? And I guess they give you a safe word. If you're like, I'm out and you. So she's like, sure there's Sr. And they're going through and she's like, I really I'm not comfortable with this situation. And then it gets like more intense and more physical, and then they just start yelling, the safe word. And then all the actors like, okay, out this way.

Stu Haack:

They just flipped it off. Like a light switch. Wow. Yeah. That's so weird, though. I mean, that would be fun. If you knew you had the safe word, but like, again, I'm with you. Like, I'm not doing one with full content now. Like, oh, well,

Wyndee Forest:

I'm not doing one period.

Stu Haack:

I would do it. I would do. I've done some haunted houses that are pretty freaky, but like, but as soon as it comes to like, contact, there's there's a haunted house in Tennessee. That's like, I think you win $20,000 If you can finish it, but no one's ever finished

Wyndee Forest:

it. That does not sound like entertainment,

Stu Haack:

but they actually like tie you up and they'll like throw you in the back of a van and like no rough you up. Like no, that's not worth it. It's not worth it. Not worth it for me.

Wyndee Forest:

You should go to the Haunted Museum. Zach Baggins,

Stu Haack:

I want to I swear every time we drive up to it, though, like, I don't know if it's closed or if it's just hard to get into. But like whenever is that the mystery Yak is there Is it meant to be

Wyndee Forest:

okay, you have to be 16 or older. Okay. Because my two oldest know, the two I'll probably wouldn't care. Yeah, it's more like they, you know, they're real artifacts, you know, from maybe murder scenes. You know, things that he's picked up on his travels. Oh, interesting. So everything has a story and it's more like your imagination runs with it is probably See The scariest thing you know, they take you room to room. And then they tell the stories of the objects in the room. Okay, so it's not like super intense. Of course this is all hearsay because I

Stu Haack:

haven't done that. But that doesn't sound that scary though. Like you could do that one's

Wyndee Forest:

they. They just posted like a night vision video of a lady entering a room and she was pushed from behind by like a spirit.

Stu Haack:

Oh, cheese. Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, so I told you I'm afraid of ghosts. Yeah, but I don't truly know if I believe that ghosts exist. However, if they do, yeah, I truly I believe that they would be like tied to the, like, objects where the emotion right created there. They're just like, whatever it is. Yeah. So like, if Zach Baggins has like these murder weapons and these crazy things like like they are from actual murders. That's like where they would be.

Wyndee Forest:

I think he tried to buy the Sharon Tate Dachis Murder House. But no, I think they leveled it. It was like this. It was a house next door. I don't know. It was close to the Manson murder paid and I think it had something to do with share date. Downloading.

Stu Haack:

Okay. That's that whole thing is wild, too. The other thing that like, I think is kind of interesting about the Charles Manson murders. Is that I guess I don't really understand totally why he got so much notoriety when he never actually killed anyone. I mean, yes, he created this sort of thing. And it but even the cult altogether only killed like a few people,

Wyndee Forest:

I think because they were so horrific. Yeah.

Stu Haack:

Yeah. Because one of the women was pregnant. Right. Like that was Sharon Tate. Yeah. Sharon Tate. And, like so. So yes, I think there was our horrific part of it. I think it was in Hollywood, right? Yeah. Kind of like yeah, so there was a lot of probably influencers who talked about the story a little more. And, and then there was also like, the fact that like, he had this big manifesto, he had this like, grand plan of like, what the world was going to become. And he was very racist to

Wyndee Forest:

think a man with a swastika on his forehead is racist, maybe a

Stu Haack:

little bit. Yeah. Like, but but his manifesto was insane. Like he had this whole plan for the end of the world, like the whole helter skelter like war between the like the race war that he wanted to start. I went

Wyndee Forest:

to Tom Morello last night, and he has this like, you know, art, immersive, interactive, you know, very socially and politically fueled show. And one of his shirts that they were selling at the end said, Nazi lives don't matter.

Stu Haack:

Yes, that is fair.

Wyndee Forest:

And then one of the one of the screens that he put up on the stage, during one of his songs said, the people who murdered and Frank know the people who protected and hid and Frank, were breaking the law and the people who murdered and Frank were following the law. Oh, jeez. Yeah. So made you think like, yeah, like, we need to rise up for social injustice. You know, just because it says that, you know, it's right to do this doesn't mean it's morally right. Right to do it.

Stu Haack:

Absolutely. Yeah, that's it. There's there's a dangerous line of what's happening. And anytime people are emboldened to be okay with hate groups, right? is absolutely insane to me. Yeah, we fought this war. A long time ago, the Nazis lost. We were never supposed to bring this back. No. And how in God's name and 2018 2019 Are we back to like, Are they bad? Are they like, no, they're bad. They are bad people. Yeah. You can't live your life with hate. No, unless you hate those people. You can hate the haters. But you can't be the original hate, right? I don't know. All right. Well. I mean, do you want to make any fool like closing statements about clowns?

Wyndee Forest:

And clowns are not good? Clowns are clowns are scary. Clowns are evil. Even clowns are haters to even the happy clowns? still scary. Any moment? Any moment?

Stu Haack:

Did you ever see killer clowns from outer space? No. That one's weird. That was not scary at all. It's so campy. Like they literally like it sounds like Coneheads it's worse. It's so bad. Like it's the worst. It's probably the worst slash funniest horror film I've ever seen in my life. Like they're they live really use circus objects as like their weapons, like they fire popcorn cannons that kill people. And like, I don't know, it's been a few years since I saw but it is so bad. You wouldn't be you wouldn't be afraid. You'd probably just be annoyed. Alright, so I'm not even gonna recommend it. But if you feel like dipping a toe in the horror, clown genre, I'd start there.

Wyndee Forest:

Maybe not, maybe not. And also mines are close second, pretty much climbs are basically

Stu Haack:

the same thing. Yeah, yeah, my mom's are and they're quiet too. So like, that's a whole other level approaching. They're very quiet. And, you know, they're very physically adept. You know, whereas clowns are loud. You'd know that they were coming. Mime could sneak up on you. Just because they're French. Damn. trust those guys can't trust the French cannot trust the French. Well, hey, thank you so much for being on the podcast. I hope you guys will be on again. I mean, anytime you want to talk about a new beer you guys got Feel free. Let me know for sure. You know, I work just up the road. Yes. So yeah, cheers, cheers. Cheers. And hopefully you watch the movie it and get over your fear clients not gonna happen.