The Fire and Beer podcast, hosted by Marcel Gomez, returns after a long break with exciting news and new co-hosts, Dan Holway and Zach Ross from Marlowe Artisanal Ales. The episode takes place at Alternate Ending and features special guests Scott Novick and Danny McGill, discussing the unique concept behind Lita, a restaurant rooted in Iberian cuisine. The conversation highlights the inspiration behind Lita, particularly a research trip to Spain that influenced its dishes and service model. Lita’s approach blends kitchen and front-of-house roles, fostering equity among staff while enhancing the dining experience. The discussion also covers La Otra, a cocktail bar attached to Lita, featuring imaginative drinks and a more casual yet equally intentional atmosphere. Guests rave about signature dishes like the Iberico pork and clam dish and the innovative cocktails at La Otra. The team shares insights into hospitality, teamwork, and their vision for creating a world-class dining destination in Aberdeen, New Jersey. They emphasize the importance of passion, collaboration, and surrounding themselves with the right people to bring their vision to life. The episode concludes with excitement about Lita’s recent James Beard Award nomination and the team’s unwavering focus on delivering a memorable dining experience.

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In this episode of Fire and Beer, Marcel Gomez is joined by a multitude of people at Alternate Ending in Aberdeen, New Jersey. On the show today we have Assistant Brewer Steve, Head Brewer Brendon, Owner Scott, Head Brewer from District 96 Sung, Scott from Lorenzo the Beer Cat, and Perri from District 96.

Alternate Ending is based in an old movie theater and all of its labels are movie-based. They even have the trademark on “What If?” and could try to take on Marvel if they wanted to (they don’t). Growing up, the Alternate Ending guys were movie-obsessed, and that played into the creation of the place. People in the industry tend to end up with alternate endings and it just seemed to fit.

Now collaborating with District 96, both camps are having a blast creating brews. The talk turns to the specific gravity of brews and sugar content. The higher the gravity at the finish, the more sugar is left over. Both Alternate Ending and District 96 have creative branding. District 96 has a lot of stuff on tap and has a steady rotation. For Alternate Ending, as a brewery and pub, there’s no limit to what they can put out. There’s a chance for an eclectic menu.

In recent years, craft beer and light beers have helped to penetrate the market more. Lighter lagers are an easy drink and historically a blue-collar thing. It’s about the culture and brewers brewing what they want to brew.

We hear about how the perception of hype can cause more problems than solve. Hype for hype’s sake doesn’t mean good beer. The breweries that didn’t survive the pandemic probably had bad brews. Trends come and go but, in the end, it comes down to what you love.

Fire And Beer
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This time we’ve got Jason Stein from Timber Ales. Jason’s love of craft beer began at the University of Michigan when he tried Bell’s Hop Slam for the first time. After graduating, Jason became active in the craft beer scene, writing with various publications and starting his own blog. The inevitable next step was to start up his own home brewery and Timber Ales was born, focusing on barrel aged, dark liquids.

Fire And Beer
e: marcel@fireandbeer.com
w: www.FireandBeer.com
IG: @FireandBeer

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In today’s episode Marcel Gomez is joined by Sean Towers from The Seed: A Living Beer Project, recently named USA Today’s best new brewery. Located in Atlantic City, The Seed has 10 taps and a 7-barrel system. The Seed is a passion project of Sean and Amanda Cardinali and grows and changes with every new beer they introduce.

Fire And Beer
e: marcel@fireandbeer.com
w: www.FireandBeer.com
IG: @FireandBeer

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This is a series within the Fire & Beer podcast, where Kamal and I talk shit about whatever is on our mind.

In this episode we discuss:

• Line shares are back?!
• Shaun Hills view on the current beer scene.
• Kamal makes some dope announcements
• No episode in March what gives Marcel?
• Guests on the Kicking it series?!?

This is not a podcast to listen to on the way to work, in this series we highly encourage you to crack open a beer and have a laugh with us!

You can follow Kamal on Instagram @Marleymarlbeerz

Cheers and I hope you enjoy this episode!

Feedback is super important to us please let us know what you think!

Fire And Beer
e: marcel@fireandbeer.com
www.FireandBeer.com
IG: @FireandBeer

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In today’s episode Marcel Gomez is joined by Robert Austin Cho, chef/owner of award-winning restaurant Kimchi Smoke in Westwood, New Jersey. Robert started off with backyard BBQ before progressing to competitions, building a following and, eventually, creating Kimchi Smoke. Roberts’ food is American BBQ with a Korean influence, but don’t call it fusion!

When he started out, Robert had a 9-5 job in real estate. It all began when he saw an episode of Pitmasters on the Food Network and was fascinated by what he saw. Growing up in New Jersey, he hadn’t had a chance to experience real BBQ food, or have a real BBQ experience and the smoke drew him in. Robert began by spending most of his free time experimenting with smoking. He lived in an apartment, so he had to settle for a small, portable grill to start. It barely fit a rack of ribs if you cut it in half, but it was a start.

Find out more about Robert and Kimchi Smoke here:

https://www.kimchismoke.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kimchismoke/
https://www.instagram.com/robertaustincho/

Fire And Beer
e: marcel@fireandbeer.com
w: www.FireandBeer.com
IG: @FireandBeer

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In today’s episode we are welcoming Tom Peters, owner of Monk’s Café in Philadelphia. Monk’s is regarded as one of the best beer bars in the world and one of the top 5 places to go before you die. With a cult-like following, largely in part to his passion for Belgian Beer and ability to pass that passion on to his employees and patrons, Monk’s has been serving in Philadelphia since 1997.

Known as the Godfather of Beer in the US, Tom has a 35-year background in craft beer. His first beer was a Dortmunder Union, and he was spoiled right away. In 1984, Tom and his girlfriend stopped over in Brussels on their way to Paris, and his love of beer truly began. After seeing some sights, they stopped in a bar, ordered a Heineken, and were sad to find out that despite being in Europe, it still sucked. The bartender overheard and offered him a real beer, a Dubbel.

Soon, the bartender was introducing Tom to a host of different beers and Tom started making notes on beer mats. This experience changed his life forever. The sheer diversity of what was actually available blew him away. It was here that he began regular pilgrimages to Cantillon and started a long-lasting relationship with the brewery.

Fire And Beer
e: marcel@fireandbeer.com
w: www.FireandBeer.com
IG: @FireandBeer

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