Better on Draft | Craft Beer Podcast · Better On Draft Podcast

Michigan Beer Series 057 | Kuhnhenn Brewing Solstice Festival

·1 hr 5 min·4 clips

Solstice features 13 beers, 140 smoked pork shanks, and hourly wassail toasts.

The episode is Michigan Beer Series number 57, and Rob and Wendy are talking with a couple folks from Kunin Brewing. They start with a winter Solstice check in. The brewery's holiday release list has ballooned to 13 beers, and nobody seems to remember exactly how it got that big. Divinator comes up fast. Wendy is drinking it, and the group talks about the barrel aged version on the way, which leads naturally into Blueberry Ice Vodka and a barley wine that stands out because it is not the kind of beer they reach for every day. The tone stays loose. They keep circling back to the simple problem of a brewery putting out that much at once, which feels part planning, part enthusiasm, and part well, here we are. The conversation has the usual Better on Draft rhythm. People check details, throw in side remarks, and let the topic breathe instead of forcing it into a neat package. After the Solstice setup, the talk moves outward. One of the hosts tells a travel story that starts in Boston, with brewery stops and even an airport taproom. Another stretch lands on a cruise. Beer hunting there turns into a losing battle because every island seems to shut down the chance to get local beer. Puerto Rico is the next stop. A planned brewery tour to three West Coast breweries gets cancelled, which lands hard enough to draw real disappointment. The search does not stop there. They still find breweries on their own and talk through Recon Brewery and Ocean Lab as the memorable catches. The Puerto Rico thread also brings in the beach setting, the higher prices, and the small can format that makes sense in a hot place. The show lingers on those details because that is where beer travel usually gets interesting. When the conversation comes back around, the hosts talk about future group brewery episodes and the idea of bringing a few friends together online again. The episode closes the way the show usually does, with thanks, easy handshakes, and the reminder that whatever you think of your beer, it is better on draft.

As heard by us

A warm brewery hangout that balances release chaos with travel stories and straightforward talk about what gets poured.

Better on Draft spends this stop at the point where a winter Solstice release turns into a practical puzzle. Rob and Wendy start with what is in the glass, then work through Kunin Brewing's crowded holiday lineup, including Divinator, the barrel-aged version coming soon,…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play for a Kunin Brewing chat that circles around the Solstice release, a 13-beer lineup, and the beer in Rob and Wendy's glasses.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Better on Draft | Craft Beer Podcast