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FULL POUR

Meet the Rhody Beer Enthusiasts Behind 3 Dudes’ Brews

Buddy Thayer, Costas Tsangarouli and Ed Patnaude are the three friends behind 3 Dudes’ Brews. (Photo by Lauren Clem taken at Uncommon Pair Brewing)

What do you get when you take three friends and add craft beer?

A podcast, of course.

3 Dudes’ Brews is a podcast from three northern Rhode Island residents showcasing the best of southern New England’s craft beer scene. The podcast releases new episodes every month or so, featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes looks at breweries across Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Buddy Thayer, a Smithfield resident and one of three hosts behind the podcast, says they try to offer “something more than your typical bubbles on the screen.”

“We’ve always been fans of the craft beer scene and the craft beer community in general,” adds Costas Tsangarouli, a North Providence resident. Ed Patnaude, the third host behind the podcast, also lives in North Providence.

Every episode is recorded onsite at a local tasting room and features interviews with brewers and brewery owners, often while the hosts imbibe a selection of their beers. In addition to breweries, the three friends occasionally venture outside the industry to highlight other craft beverage producers, including Nickle Creek Vineyard in Foster, Tapped Apple Cidery and Winery in Westerly and Arcane Mead & Winery in Providence.

The podcast originated in 2024, while the group was out touring breweries for the annual Big LeBREWski event put on by RI Food Fights. Tsangarouli and Patnaude had been drinking buddies for awhile (their children are high school sweethearts), and Thayer and Tsangarouli knew each other through their wives. Thayer already had some podcast experience, and the three friends discussed the idea during a visit to Whalers Brewing Company. Before the night was up, they had a name.

“Granted, we had already had several drinks by this time in the night,” Patnaude says.

The first episode, released two months later, featured Nichole Lourenco of Crooked Current Brewery in Pawtucket. Since then, the group has steadily drank its way through Rhode Island’s craft beer scene, highlighting such giants as Long Live Beerworks, Buttonwoods Brewery and The Guild alongside newcomers like Trágmar Ale Works and Crook Point Brewing Co. They also venture over the border, with recent episodes featuring North Attleborough’s Angle Tree Brewery and Groton’s Outer Light Brewing Company.

The conversations aren’t scripted, and the only rule brewery owners receive is “No politics, no religion.” A more casual side series, titled “Last Call,” feature the three hosts in their homes trying out different beers with various guests. The three friends say their goal is to lift local beverage producers up in an oftentimes challenging industry.

“We don’t talk bad about a place, ever,” Patnaude says. “Our mothers taught us if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.”

That’s not to say they don’t dig into some of the juicy topics of the craft beer scene. They recently met with representatives of the new Proclamation Brewing and hope to release an episode on the brewery in December. Some of their favorite episodes, they say, feature breweries that are no longer around and serve as a record of what they left behind. One episode with Efren Hidalgo of the now-closed Providence Brewing Company, included a story about how his father immigrated to the United States from Cuba.

“He had a beer that was dedicated to his dad. To have him share that story with us, it was moving,” Tsangarouli says.

Each host has a distinct taste in beer, contributing to their wide net of featured breweries. Patnaude prefers lagers and pilsners, while Tsangarouli usually goes for fruited sours or unusual flavors. Thayer is the group’s resident IPA fan.

The podcast’s demographic skews older, and its reach has been steadily growing, with 1.3K followers on Facebook at the latest count. The three friends say they make no money from it and do it for the love of beer and the local scene. (A note on their website invites supporters to “donate if you like…we need beer money!”)

They’ve also raised funds for charity since their founding, including an online bingo game that raised close to $800 for the Ronald McDonald House. Thayer says they hope to continue to expand the podcast’s reach in the coming months, ideally with road trips to Portland and other locales to highlight some of New England’s iconic breweries.

“I have a bucket list,” he says.

In the meantime, the three friends say they’re glad to promote local businesses and document the craft beer scene.

“We know how hard it is. We’ve seen so many people come and go. We just wanted to promote everyone and lift everyone,” Patnaude says.

3 Dudes’ Brews is available to stream online at YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and iHeartPodcasts.

Float House, a Connecticut-based THC-infused beverage company that distributes in Rhode Island, is one of dozens of beverage producers set to be impacted by the federal ban on certain hemp-derived products scheduled to take effect Dec. 11. (Photo courtesy of Float House)

SMALL SIPS

• If you haven’t been following the opening of Proclamation Brewing at the former home of Proclamation Ale Company, it’s, well, complicated. Gail Ciampa of The Providence Journal has a good primer on the situation here.

• In other local craft beverage news, THC beverage producers are counting down the days until a federal ban on hemp products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC goes into effect on Dec. 11. That means, yes, your favorite THC beverages could be coming off shelves and menus very soon. Christopher Shea has the latest for the Rhode Island Current.

• It seems so many of our food and beverage folks have been hit by illness and financial hardship lately. The latest is Kristi Dukoff, owner of Kristi’s Kraftails — a local favorite for N/A cocktails and drink mixers. She needs emergency surgery after a large mass was discovered in her stomach. You can read more about Kristi and help her out with her medical bills here.

EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS

• Grey Sail Brewing is celebrating for 15 Days for 15 Years in honor of its anniversary. Festivities kick off this Saturday, Oct. 24, from noon to 8 p.m. with a family reunion party featuring music from the Michel Family Band. Check out the Grey Sail website for a full list of events.

• Trágmar Ale Works and Roger Williams University’s Center for Economic and Environmental Development have teamed up to create the Ferrycliffe Oyster Stout. The stout features oysters harvested from Rhode Island waters at RWU’s Ferrycliffe Shellfish Farm. Get a taste (and some freshly shucked oysters) during the release party this Saturday, Oct. 24, from 1 to 4 p.m.

• White Dog Distilling and Crooked Current Brewery are throwing a Howl-A-Ween Hootenanny on Sunday, Oct. 25, from 1 to 5 p.m. Bring along your pup (every pet in costume gets a raffle ticket) for live music, dog merch, a new beer release and hot wieners from Hot QWienie food truck.

• Head to Tilted Barn Brewery on Tuesday, Oct. 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. for a discussion about oyster farming in Rhode Island hosted by ecoRI News, Eat Drink RI and Eating with the Ecosystem. Hear from oyster farmers about sustainable aquaculture and sample local oysters. A $20 ticket (plus fees) includes one drink from the bar and oysters.

• The local chapter of Friends of Dorothy will host an LGBTQ+ meetup at Working Man Distillers on Friday, Oct. 30, from 6 to 9 p.m. The Brian James Quartet will also be onsite that night playing live music.

• Stop by Lops Brewing on Friday, Oct. 30, for a Halloween party, featuring Arrow Tarot from 6 to 9 p.m., W’s Wood Fired Pizza from 5 to 9 p.m., and a costume contest.

• Haus of Pro Entertainment is bringing the drag to Halloween weekend at Long Live Beerworks with “The Sauvi Show: Halloweentown after Dark” on Friday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. Catch performances by Sauvignon Blanc, Adriana and Dro Lopez and enter the costume contest for a chance to win a grand prize.

• Newport Craft is hosting a Halloween Karaoke Party on Friday, Oct. 30, from 6 to 9 p.m. Come in costume and get a free drink.

• Join the West Broadway Neighborhood Association for a Halloween Extravaganza at Dexter Park on Saturday, Oct. 31, from noon to 6 p.m. The family-friendly event will feature food trucks, an art marketplace, costume contest and beer garden by Moniker Brewery.

• The Beer Friends Meet-Up is returning to Providence. The next Beer Friends Meet-Up will take place on Saturday, Nov. 14, at noon at Narragansett Beer. Tag along to meet fellow craft beer enthusiasts and make some new friends.

• The People’s Cheese Club will host the People’s Cheesegiving — i.e. a cheese-themed potluck — at The Guild in Pawtucket on Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 7 to 9 p.m. RSVPs are full, but you can sign up for the wait list here. (Brewery owners, take note: This event appears to be almost as popular as the annual mac and cheese festival that took place at Linesider and Crafted Hope. I’m sensing a theme.)

• The Industrious Spirit Company has teamed up with Autocrat to release an Autocrat Coffee Syrup Bourbon. Read more about it here, or pick up a bottle at the ISCO tasting room.

• You can now get Seven Stars Bakery coffee and pastries at The Guild PVD beer garden in Providence starting at 7:30 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. on weekends. Full food and drink service opens at noon.

• There’s a new dessert menu at O’Brien and Brough distillery in Bristol. The menu features cheesecakes from Chill’s Cheesecakes and gluten-free cookies from Grain Reaper Baking Co. Pair with a specialty nightcap and try them out during the Halloween Alley event on Friday, Oct. 30 starting at 6 p.m.

• It’s not too early to buy your tickets for Rhode Island Brew Fest, taking place at the WaterFire Arts Center on Saturday, Jan. 30. Tickets are $60 each plus fees and include samples from fifty-plus breweries, with a portion of sales benefitting the Rhode Island Brewers Guild.

LABEL OF THE MONTH

(Courtesy of Discipline Brewing Co)

Land & Sea by Discipline Brewing Co

Label design by Courtney Deary

From Discipline Brewing Co: “A bold oyster black IPA that encapsulates the best place in Li’l Rhody: Hog Island.… Packed with Target, Polaris and Chinook hops, and a subtle oyster finish, the complexity of this truly unique brew will have your head spinning faster than a good ol’ fashioned Hog Island rager.” disciplinebrewingco.com

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