Bentspoke’s Richard Watkins and Balter’s Scott Hargrave join Matt for a special edition of the Radio Brews News podcast in which we discuss style and substance in beer.

There are a wide range of topics that we love to discuss with brewers on Radio Brews News. One of those is the point at which classic styles and innovation and novelty clash.

Regular listeners would have heard Matt’s recent conversation with Bentspoke Brewing’s Richard Watkins when he released his Flanders Red Ale, Flemm. There was a time – and not that long ago – when this style of beer was the epitome of sour beers.

With the recent trend of kettle souring and the flavour innovations that have occurred around it – and the many consumers that have discovered tart or sour flavours in beer as a result – it was interesting to see the widely varied comments on social media by drinkers who seemed surprised by this most classic of styles.

The response was a great example of the tension that I suspect we’ll always see as classic and established styles crash up against craft brewing’s love for adventure.

But we wanted to see what brewers thought, how they navigated consumer awareness and expectations and also the demands that are placed on them in a world of ever evolving styles and consumer tastes.

Thanks to Bintani, we caught up with two brewers who, while both embracing creativity and new beer styles, are also highly awarded in classic beer styles, to hear their thoughts about the ever shifting sands of beer style.

Enjoy the discussion with Bentspoke’s Richard Watkins and Balter’s Scott Hargrave.

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