Live from Pedals & Pints: Monica Potter and the "These Guavas Are Making Me Thirsty" Guava Gose

Batch 339 of Craft Beer Republic was recorded live at Pedals & Pints Brewing in Thousand Oaks, California, to celebrate the release of These Guavas Are Making Me Thirsty, a guava gose brewed by Craft Beer Republic and Pedals & Pints head brewer Monica Potter. In front of a live crowd, Greg talks with Monica about the collab, her path from chemistry research to running a brewhouse, and how she makes a sour beer without bacteria.

These Guavas Are Making Me Thirsty

The collab is a gose-style beer with guava: light, crisp and a little tart, with guava on the nose and a hint of salt at the end that makes you want another sip. Monica had never made a gose before, so she bought a book on brewing the style the traditional German way, and kept the salt on the soft side so the beer stays refreshing.

The final name is a nod to Seinfeld. On the live show, Greg also read the best listener name submissions, including his favorite, Guava Rush, a Legion of Doom reference. Making the beer also taught Monica something she plans to use in other sour recipes: a little salt helps balance out the tartness.

Monica Potter's Path to Head Brewer

Monica studied chemistry at UC Davis, where she did research synthesizing RNA strands for cancer research, before deciding lab work wasn't her passion. She fell for craft beer working as a server at BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse in 2014, where Piranha Pale Ale was her first favorite, then worked at Lazy Dog, whose house beers were brewed by Golden Road and later Melvin Brewing.

She started homebrewing in 2015 with her husband, James, and quickly became obsessed with writing her own recipes. James was one of the first assistant brewers at Pedals & Pints before moving to Enegren Brewing, and Monica took his place as a part-time brewer and bar supervisor. When the brewery's original brewer, David, left to open his own brewery, David and Brad gave Monica the chance to take over, and she became head brewer in March 2022.

Twelve Taps, No Repeat Styles

Monica's goal at Pedals & Pints is variety over 40 versions of the same IPA. When the live show was recorded, the 12 taps included an American light lager, a blonde, a pub ale, a dark mild lager, the gose, a Vienna lager, an amber, an Irish red, a pale ale, an IPA, a smoked porter and a stout, all from six fermenters. Her plans for the year were to dial in recipes, enter competitions, start distributing and return to canning.

How to Make a Sour Beer Without Bacteria

A listener asked how Monica brews sour beers without contaminating her clean beers. Instead of lactobacillus, she uses a modified West Coast ale yeast from Scott Laboratories that produces lactic acid, so it can't infect her equipment. That lets Pedals & Pints make a gose and a light lager side by side.

Rapid Fire with Monica Potter

Monica's first beer was Stone IPA, the first beer she brewed was a Citra IPA, and her favorite style to brew is lagers. Her favorite beer from another brewery is Supply Chain Deficit from Naughty Pine Brewing, the hop she was crushing on was Lotus, and her guilty pleasure beer is Montucky Cold Snacks. Her advice to aspiring brewers: homebrew, keep learning, don't get discouraged, and join your local Pink Boots Society chapter or Daughters of Ninkasi.

Beers We're Drinking

These Guavas Are Making Me Thirsty

The Craft Beer Republic and Pedals & Pints collab, a guava gose that's light, tart and finished with just a hint of salt.

Pedals & Pints Hummingbird Vienna Lager

A 4.7% Vienna lager with a big malt backbone and a little sweetness, golden amber and super crushable.

Pedals & Pints Born to Be Mild

A 4% English-style dark mild that Monica brewed with David and fermented with lager yeast, so it drinks clean and crisp with chocolatey, roasty malt.

Pedals & Pints Pale Rider Pale Ale

A flagship pale ale hopped with Citra and Amarillo, dank when cold and bright with citrus as it warms.

Listen to Craft Beer Republic: Live from Pedals & Pints: These Guavas Are Making Me Thirsty!

Batch 339 of Craft Beer Republic was recorded live at Pedals & Pints Brewing with head brewer Monica Potter, featuring the These Guavas Are Making Me Thirsty guava gose collab, Hummingbird Vienna Lager, Born to Be Mild and Pale Rider Pale Ale. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app!