What's In a Name

John Graham runs a microbrewery and is launching a brand new craft beer. It has all the right ingredients except one: a name. John looks to the past for inspiration, tapping into the history of beer names to land just the right one for his frothy new brew. He gets some help from beer connoisseurs like actor George Wendt (Norm from the TV show Cheers) and the ever-so-sophisticated Trailer Park Boys. This episode takes a romp through the history of beer by focusing on their names – from the successful (Labatt’s Blue) to the quirky (Hoptical Illusion) to the well, not so appetizing (The Smiling Dickhead?) If you like beer – and even if you don’t – you can’t resist this rollicking story behind the naming of beer: what worked, what didn’t, and why it matters.