On the ten-year anniversary of the founding of the Mare Island Brewing Co. in Vallejo, CA, Founders Kent Fortner and Ryan Gibbons take to the mic with Brewing Network host Justin Crossley to reflect on a wild ride that includes two winemakers brewing beer in the backyard, getting unexpectedly mobbed upon opening the doors, building a brewery in a 130 year old Coal Shed, a chaotic pandemic pivot, and trying to do right by an Island with 142 years of incredible (and colorful) Navy shipbuilding history.
Bonus Episode: Mare Island, American Nightmare, and a Tale of Survival
In this bonus episode of Battleships to Beer, host Ryan Gibbons and Justin Crossley welcome to the Brewing Network studio two very special guests and former residents of Mare Island, Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn. Denise and Aaron were thrust into the public eye in 2015 when Denise and Aaron were held hostage in their home. Denise and Aaron were thrust into the public eye in 2015 when Denise and Aaron were held hostage in their home. Denise was then abducted, released, found, and subsequently blamed by the Vallejo Police Department for setting the entire thing up as a hoax. Dubbed a real life ‘Gone Girl’, Aaron and Denise’s story of redemption has been told in their book, Victim F: From Crime Victims to Suspects to Survivors, and the wildly popular Netflix docuseries, American Nightmare. As it turns out, Denise and Aaron loved (and still do) the Mare Island Brewing Company and their time in Vallejo. This episode opens a window into their time on Mare Island, at the brewery, and their contentious relationship with the City of Vallejo. From friendship and love, to unspeakable tragedy, and on to surviving, healing and a life given back to service, Denise and Aaron are an inspiration to listen to. Tune in and find out how Mare Island Brewing Co. is intertwined with one of the most sensational true crime stories in Vallejo history, and how two survivors found light, love and purpose through tragedy.
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5 Nov 2024
Battleships to Beer | Ep 10, “30 Year Brand”: The Next Ten/Twenty Years
Kent and Ryan crack a Shop 11—a “workshop" brew that may, or may not, make it into the long-term line up—and discuss where they—and the Brewing Co.—hope to go from here.
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22 Oct 2024
Battleships to Beer | Ep 9 “Parked Facing the Wrong Way”: Vallejo
General Vallejo is both the town’s namesake, and the Mexican Lager that Kent and Ryan enjoy as they talk about the challenges and opportunities of being based in Vallejo.
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8 Oct 2024
Battleships to Beer | Ep 8 “47 to…7”: The Pandemic
Kent and Ryan drink aptly-named Survivors Tale Pale Ale and recount their story of surviving the Coronavirus pandemic, and how they might need a couple pints each to get through that story.
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1 Oct 2024
Bonus Episode: The Wolf
Ryan sits down with Christopher Collins, aka “The Wolf” on the waterfront at our Coal Shed Brewery. Over the course of a couple of beers, we learn about the Wolf’s journey from growing up in Napa to being selected as an apprentice on Mare Island to becoming the most reliable refrigeration technician every brewery needs. We even named a tank after him.
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24 Sept 2024
Battleships to Beer | Ep 7 “It’s NOT Kent and Ryan’s Excellent Brewing Adventure”: Branding
Join Kent and Ryan for a bottle of General Order No. 99, and a rambling discussion of the tight box they put around branding, but how easy it is to stay within that box when you are focused on the history of Mare Island.
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17 Sept 2024
Bonus: Chef David & His Dad, Gary Starr
Kent sits with our own Chef David Starr and his Vietnam-vet father Gary Starr to talk about the multi-generational Mare Island experience, including the best fishing pier, seeing the “Mud Puppy” submarine rest on the bottom of the Strait, and “stealing back” a fifty-year-old pane of glass.
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10 Sept 2024
Battleships to Beer | Ep 6 “How about Hungry Human Hippos”: The Yardbird Club
War Bond California Common is the libation of choice for a discussion of the Yardbird Beer Club, Yardbird Parties, the Yardbird Games, Brew Cruises and Brewer’s Bootcamp. The coveted trophy is on the line.
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3 Sept 2024
Bonus Episode: Steve Taugner
Ryan coaxes Steve Taugner, electrician to the Island, over to the Admiral’s Mansion and teases out of him first-hand stories of the top-secret Ivy Bells mission. Is all this material formally unclassified?…well, we think so...
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27 Aug 2024
Battleships to Beer | Ep 5 “This is no drill”: Mare Island History Part Two
A cold Ivy Bells Pilsner leads Kent and Ryan into the Cold War, as well as WW2, and the base closure. It is the most incredible Bay area history that nobody knows about.
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20 Aug 2024
Bonus Episode: Jake Sloan
Kent interviews Jake Sloan, a member of the Original 21ers, who played a key role in advocating for civil rights at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in the 1960s. Jake shares his experiences and discusses how their efforts led to significant changes in labor rights at Mare Island and beyond.
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13 Aug 2024
Battleships to Beer | EP 4, “Small hands, smell like cabbage”: The Cast of Characters
A pint of The 21ers Black Lager launches Kent and Ryan into a remembrance of the colorful cast of characters that has helped, or sometimes hindered, but always entertained, along the journey of building the Brewing Co.
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8 Aug 2024
Bonus Episode: Jim Reikowsky
Co-founder Ryan Gibbons sits down with Jim Reikowsky, a long-time patron, Yardbird member, and former Film Commissioner for Solano County. They discuss how Jim earned the nickname "25 Steps Jim," the future and history of Mare Island, and a few of the interesting film projects Jim helped bring to Vallejo and Mare Island during his time with the Convention & Visitors Bureau.
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30 Jul 2024
Battleships to Beer | EP 3, “Sorry, no rebar…”: The Coal Shed Brewery
Crack a Coal Shed Stout and join Kent and Ryan as they reminisce—and wince—about building out new brewery in a 1901 Coal Shed that once fueled Teddy Roosevelt’s great white fleet. The renovation and restoration project from hell.
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23 Jul 2024
Battleships to Beer | EP 2, "That's my pet pig Murphy"
Enjoying a Farragut's Farmhouse Barrel Aged Saison, Kent and Ryan walk through the incredible early history of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, including a nine-year old bad-ass midshipman, homing pigeons, and the world’s first aircraft carrier landing.
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23 Jul 2024
Battleships to Beer | EP 1 "We got bum rushed...": The Early Years
Kent and Ryan crack a Saginaw Golden Ale and tell the story of their ambitious dream of a borrowed tank, selling four beers on tap, and a lone hot dog machine.
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12 Jul 2024
Battleships to Beer: 10 Years of Mare Island Brewing Co.
On the ten-year anniversary of the founding of the Mare Island Brewing Co. in Vallejo, CA, Founders Kent Fortner and Ryan Gibbons take to the mic with Brewing Network host Justin Crossley to reflect on a wild ride that includes two winemakers brewing beer in the backyard, getting unexpectedly mobbed upon opening the doors, building a brewery in a 130 year old Coal Shed, a chaotic pandemic pivot, and trying to do right by an Island with 142 years of incredible (and colorful) Navy shipbuilding history.
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Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
8 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 18 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
23
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
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