Pops on Hops

Barry Hummel and Abigail Hummel
  • 4.8 (17)
  • MUSIC COMMENTARY
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

A podcast where we listen to some pops, drink a little hops, and Abigail Hummel gets to hang out with her pop, Barry Hummel!

  1. Bonus: Barry Answers Six Questions with Matty C

    12H AGO · BONUS

    Bonus: Barry Answers Six Questions with Matty C

    Barry had the pleasure of joining our friend and frequent guest Matt Carlson on the podcast portion of his project, ⁠What Am I Making⁠, back on May 25, 2025. Now 13-timer Matt is the undisputed king of the Pops on Hops multiple guest club. He is a talented musician and songwriter from East Lansing, Michigan, whom Barry met as part of an online community created by Pete Dominick, the host of the ⁠Stand Up With Pete Dominick⁠ podcast. During one of their weekly hangouts, Matt shared the name of his latest band, ⁠Harborcoat⁠. Barry caught the R.E.M. connection, which led to a ⁠Pops on Hops episode⁠ to discuss the album ⁠Joy is Elusive⁠. The outtakes alone from that conversation also led to a POH bonus episode⁠ to discuss Matt's top five R.E.M. albums. Matt has contributed songs to our Christmas bonus episodes in both ⁠2021⁠ and ⁠2022⁠, and he served as the beertender for our first live episode. Most recently, Matt and longtime collaborator Jeff Gower appeared on POH to talk about their 2018 album Ways to Hang On. So, obviously, when Matt asked Barry to be the debut guest for his brand-new format, Six Questions with Matty C, he jumped at the chance! You’ll get to hear Abigail’s answers to Matty’s six music questions in two weeks! Enjoy! Learn about Matty’s plans for 2026! Up next… Touch by Eurythmics Jingles are by our friend Pete Coe. Visit Anosmia Awareness for more information on Barry’s condition. Follow Barry or Abigail on Untappd to see what we’re drinking when we’re not on mic! Leave us a rating or a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | Substack | Website | Email us | Virtual Jukebox | Beer Media Group

    45 min
  2. Season 6 Update

    JAN 23 · BONUS

    Season 6 Update

    Dear listeners, we come to you today with a short admin update. Abigail has officially been accepted to law school and will have a busy year, to say the least. We plan to release six episodes in Season 6 - Touch by Eurythmics, 2014 Forest Hills Drive by J. Cole (submitted to our Virtual Jukebox by Alinor Mezinord), and four Phone-a-Friend episodes. We may throw in some ad hoc bonus content or experiment with some different formats along the way. Long story short, our release schedule will be erratic. We will continue to re-share our backcatalog of episodes weekly on Substack, and Barry may share some essay-format brewery reviews there as well. In the meantime, we now have an extensive backcatalog of 109 episodes and numerous bonus episodes. We hope you will revisit some of your old favorites, listen to an episode you haven’t heard before, or share us with a friend! We are excited for what 2026 will bring, and we hope you will come along on the ride with us. Happy New Year, and we’ll see you… sometime! Up next… Touch by Eurythmics Jingles are by our friend Pete Coe. Visit Anosmia Awareness for more information on Barry’s condition. Follow Barry or Abigail on Untappd to see what we’re drinking when we’re not on mic! Leave us a rating or a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | Substack | Website | Email us | Virtual Jukebox | Beer Media Group

    6 min
  3. This Sneaky Penguin (Brushfire Records and Sneaky Penguin Brewing Company)

    12/25/2025

    This Sneaky Penguin (Brushfire Records and Sneaky Penguin Brewing Company)

    Barry and Abigail discuss This Warm December and sample März of the Penguins, No Country For Old Penguins, and Midnight Waddle from Sneaky Penguin Brewing Company in Raleigh, North Carolina. We briefly discussed Eggnogorant by friends of the pod Terry Anderson & The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team. You can listen to Eggnogorant in our first-ever Christmas bonus episode, Bonus: Greet the Hummels... and Friends! (Original Holiday Songs by Friends of the Podcast). We acquired this beer while we were in Raleigh in October, when we had the opportunity to see Brandy Clark and Mary Chapin Carpenter in concert, featuring both friend of the pod Jon Carroll and the legendary Don Dixon in Carpenter’s band. See the setlist of the show we saw! We played a sample of Stevie Wonder’s original Someday at Christmas, covered by Jack Johnson on this album. Barry mentioned that Wonder’s version should have made his personal Christmas music compilation - and he would probably remove Xmas at K-Mart by Root Boy Slim. Bruce Springsteen’s live version of Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town is the definitive version in Barry’s eyes. Barry plugged the recent Beer in Front episode 276 Fresh Wet Hopped Episode, where he learned about wet hopping, which uses freshly picked hops in the brew and is not the opposite of dry hopping - learn more here. The most famous and mass-produced wet-hopped beer is Celebration from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Dave interviewed Bruz Beers and FlyteCo Brewing, both in Denver, Colorado, who collaborate annually on a wet-hopped beer called Hop Is My Co-Pilot. The brewing of this beer involves an airplane trip across the Rockies to collect freshly picked hops from Billy Goat Hop Farm in Montrose, Colorado. Read more about the incredible journey here! Abigail and Barry both declared that Zee Avi’s No Christmas for Me is a modern Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses (and that both of those songs are modern O. Henry stories). Abigail mentioned that Stuck at the Airport by Money Mark is thematically similar to I’ll Be Home for Christmas by Bing Crosby. This is one of the songs Abigail will frequently be compelled to listen to when her life circumstances match the lyrics of the song - the other one is It’s Only Wednesday by Crash Kings. The Man in the Santa Suit by Neil Halstead reminded Abigail of Father Christmas by The Kinks. We played a little sample of Matt Nathanson’s cover of Father Christmas, which appears on our 2022 Christmas playlist! Abigail did not recognize that Rogue Wave’s Christmas was a cover of the Who song from Tommy. She compared the lyrics to Do They Know It’s Christmas? by Band Aid. Barry compared Jack Johnson’s variant lyrics in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to many of the songs on the Straight No Chaser album we reviewed in last year’s Christmas episode, Christmas Beers (Straight No Chaser and Gifted Beers). Abigail, per usual, got Silent Night confused with O Holy Night. Listen to our 2025 Christmas playlist! Up next… Touch by Eurythmics Jingles are by our friend Pete Coe. Visit Anosmia Awareness for more information on Barry’s condition. Follow Barry or Abigail on Untappd to see what we’re drinking when we’re not on mic! Leave us a rating or a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | Substack | Website | Email us | Virtual Jukebox | Beer Media Group

    1h 39m
  4. Carlo 8.0 (Garbage and Canadian Porters)

    12/12/2025

    Carlo 8.0 (Garbage and Canadian Porters)

    Barry, Abigail, and special guest Carlo “from Canada” Sgro discuss Carlo’s Phone-a-Friend selection, Version 2.0 by Garbage, and sample Carlo’s choice of three Canadian porters: Stranger Than Fiction from Collective Arts Brewing in Hamilton, Ontario; Clifford Porter from Clifford Brewing Co. in Hamilton, Ontario; and Vanilla Porter from Side Launch Brewing Company in Collingwood, Ontario. Abigail always gets Collective Arts confused with Untitled Art in Waunakee, Wisconsin. Barry always gets it confused with Counterpart Brewing in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Carlo told the story of Shirley Manson calling Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders to ask permission to use the lyrics “We were the talk of the town” in Special, since Manson had pulled those lyrics from The Pretenders’ Talk of the Town. Hynde agreed, and did not ask for any credit or royalties, before even having heard Special, and rumor had it she was flattered by the ask. Hammering in My Head reminded Barry of Leave by R.E.M. Barry heard elements of both The Munsters theme and The Beach Boys’ Don't Worry Baby in Push It. Unfortunately, he cannot claim credit at the AHSOSSAM for this find, as Garbage credited The Beach Boys for those lyrics and melody. Listen to our exploration of The Munsters Theme’s many different iterations in last year’s Halloween episode, New Belgium Halloween (New Wave Halloween & New Belgium Brewing)! Listen to Carlo’s cleaning playlist! The Trick Is To Keep Breathing reminded Barry of Try Not to Breathe by R.E.M. Listen to the fabulous Song Exploder episode on Try Not to Breathe! Carlo was the only one to complete the resequencing homework assignment! Listen to Carlo's resequencing of Version 2.0! Up next… This Warm December Jingles are by our friend Pete Coe. Visit Anosmia Awareness for more information on Barry’s condition. Follow Barry or Abigail on Untappd to see what we’re drinking when we’re not on mic! Leave us a rating or a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | Substack | Website | Email us | Virtual Jukebox | Beer Media Group

    2h 2m
  5. Presents in Cans (Dire Straits and Leftover Gifts)

    11/28/2025

    Presents in Cans (Dire Straits and Leftover Gifts)

    Barry and Abigail discuss Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits and sample Wild Dog – Pale Ale and Wild Dog – Shempa Ale from Tiemann Beer in Lusaka, Zambia; Strawberry Rhubarb from New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin; Coconut Key Lime Pie Drips and Mischievous Grin from Barn Town Brewing in West Des Moines, Iowa; and Gallo / Famosa from Cervecería Centro Americana in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Read about how the Money for Nothing music video came to be, or watch the video. We first sampled New Glarus on our season 4 Christmas episode, Christmas Beers (Straight No Chaser and Gifted Beers). Barry pointed out that Walk of Life references other songs, and Abigail compared it to American Pie by Don McLean. Abigail formally retracted a fun “fact” she had previously shared on the podcast regarding artificial banana flavoring being based on the Gros Michel banana instead of the Cavendish banana, which is the most common banana cultivar eaten today. The 2013 SciShow video where she first learned this false fact has since been edited to remove any reference to this hypothesis but points to this article that explains the hypothesis. This Hank Green video first brought the debunking of this hypothesis to Abigail’s attention. We first sampled Barn Town on our season 4 episode Barntown (Phish and Barn Town Brewery). Abigail called Why Worry an “adult lullaby,” similar to Calm Down by Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons. She then entered Why Worry into the Abigail Hummel School of Speaking Smartly About Music with a comparison to Little April Shower from Bambi (1942). She also brought up Baby Genius by Eels as having instrumental similarities. Barry mentioned Rain by Hans Zimmer from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002). The “vibes” in the personnel list likely refers to the vibraphone, which could very well have produced the rain sounds in Why Worry. Abigail asked if Mischievous Grin would count as a “cream tangerine” (we have officially gone zero episodes without mentioning the White Album!). Barry had heard that the three war songs on this album were inspired by the Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom that lasted for a little over two months in 1982. Abigail had always pictured the Vietnam War, partly because of the imagery in Ride Across the River, and partly because Abigail’s consumption of war media was heavily influenced by The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, a novel about the Vietnam War. While discussing The Man’s Too Strong, Abigail referenced an in-character speech by comedian and professional Dungeon Master Brennan Lee Mulligan. Up next… Version 2.0 by Garbage, Abigail’s annual Phone-a-Friend submission, this time with Carlo “from Canada” Sgro, the namesake of Carlo’s Corner! Jingles are by our friend Pete Coe. Visit Anosmia Awareness for more information on Barry’s condition. Follow Barry or Abigail on Untappd to see what we’re drinking when we’re not on mic! Leave us a rating or a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | Substack | Website | Email us | Virtual Jukebox | Beer Media Group

    2 hr
  6. Bonus: Leftover Experiment (brewLAB)

    11/14/2025 · BONUS

    Bonus: Leftover Experiment (brewLAB)

    Barry and Abigail try something a little different with newly minted Three-Timer Jeff “Jafo” Shettler, who previously appeared on Jukebox: Wish There Were Beer (Pink Floyd and brewLAB) and Bonus: Pink Floyd Leftovers (Pink Floyd and brewLAB Leftovers). Jafo brings us on location to brewLAB in Carpinteria, California, to open a bottle of The False Prophet he had been saving for over eight years. Watch this video version of this episode! Suggested pairings of brewLAB beers and albums we heard included: Green Tea IPA and Mad Villainy by MF DOOM, Coco Johnny and Time Out of Mind by Bob Dylan, Green Tea IPA and Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young, Beatbox and License to Ill by Beastie Boys, and Sorciere Noir and Dub Side of the Moon by Easy Star All-Stars. Abigail was intrigued by Mangose and Botanicale Deux. Barry called out Rice Rice Baby. Jafo suggested pairing The False Prophet with Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones, Bitches Brew by Miles Davis, or Ripple by Grateful Dead. Other suggested song pairings we heard included California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & The Papas, Caravan by Van Morrison, Cinnamon Girl by Neil Young, Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson, and Worst Comes to Worst by Dilated Peoples. Barry suggested pairing Jafo’s homebrewed Maple Bacon Bourbon Porter with Darkness on the Edge of Town by Bruce Springsteen. By the way, you can hear our discussion of this album in our episode Dark Beer on the Edge of Town from 2021. Abigail wasn’t drinking, but she plugged I Don’t Want to Know by Fleetwood Mac. Dave, one of the brewers and the beertender the night we “stopped by,” suggested pairing The False Prophet with (Got) Everything to Shine by Saudade Experiment. Up next… Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits Jingles are by our friend Pete Coe. Visit Anosmia Awareness for more information on Barry’s condition. Follow Barry or Abigail on Untappd to see what we’re drinking when we’re not on mic! Leave us a rating or a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | Substack | Website | Email us | Virtual Jukebox | Beer Media Group

    49 min
  7. Hoppin’ From the Grave (Rockin’ From the Grave and Seasonal Beers)

    10/31/2025

    Hoppin’ From the Grave (Rockin’ From the Grave and Seasonal Beers)

    Barry and Abigail discuss Rockin’ From the Grave and sample Pumpkin Shandy from Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (in collaboration with Soergel Orchards in Wexford, Pennsylvania), Jack from Urban Artifact in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Mind Over Matter from Magnify Brewing Company in Fairfield, New Jersey. We have gone zero episodes without mentioning the White Album or Abigail’s personal White Album, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Both Black Magic Woman and a cover of The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Steve Ouimette appear on GHIII: LoR, but Abigail was mistaken about (Don’t Fear) The Reaper’s inclusion; in fact, Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll is the Blue Öyster Cult representation on GHIII: LoR, and (Don’t Fear) The Reaper is actually on Rock Band, which Abigail has played, but the Hummels have never owned. Listen to our exploration of The Munsters Theme’s many different iterations in last year’s Halloween episode, New Belgium Halloween (New Wave Halloween & New Belgium Brewing)! Today, we also listened to the version with lyrics and briefly discussed Far Out Munsters, the episode where the Munsters rent their home to a Beatles-inspired rock group. Edgar Winter’s justification of naming his song Frankenstein because of its “monster-like, lumbering beat” reminded Abigail of Flight of the Cosmic Hippo by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Watch the music video for Addams Groove by MC Hammer. Barry educated Abigail about the famous “More Cowbell” sketch from SNL, which centers around the studio recording of (Don’t Fear) The Reaper! In looking deeper into the fun fact from Carlo’s Corner about salt killing yeast, we stumbled upon this article on the history and science of Goses written by the brewmaster of Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Boonville, California, a brewery known for their Goses. Per the article, some Goses from the early 20th century had between 130 and 280 ppm of salt. Anderson Valley typically adds about 800 ppm of salt - but only after fermentation. It is thought that as little as 100-150 ppm of salt can cause osmotic stress to the yeast and therefore decrease fermentation rates, but the salt concentration required to completely inhibit fermentation or cause death for the yeast are much higher than humans would tolerate as palatable in a beverage. Santana’s Black Magic Woman is a mash-up cover of Black Magic Woman by Fleetwood Mac and Gypsy Queen by Gábor Szabó. Abigail would much rather listen to Smooth (feat. Rob Thomas). While Abigail believes Johnny clearly won the fiddle battle in The Devil Went Down to Georgia, John Oliver strongly disagrees. Watch the boss battle against the devil from GHIII: LoR. We previously discussed the word “pompatous” (found in Clap For the Wolfman by The Guess Who) during our discussion of Steve Miller Band’s The Joker in our episode Cans (k.d.lang and Cigar City Brewing). Read more about Paracelsus and the absolutely nauseatingly eye-rollingly annoying reason he took the name Paracelsus. Barry made Abigail play a little bit of Grandmaster Dee’s Haunted Scratch, the original B-side to Freaks Come Out at Night by Whodini. Twilight Zone by Golden Earring was inspired by The Bourne Identity novel, and you may be able to tell this from the music video. The other song from two-hit wonder Golden Earring you may have heard of would be Radar Love. (Ghost) Riders in the Sky is a cover originally written and performed by Stan Jones. Prior to The Outlaws’ version, Johnny Cash’s version was the most well-known. Up next… Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits Jingles are by our friend Pete Coe. Visit Anosmia Awareness for more information on Barry’s condition. Follow Barry or Abigail on Untappd to see what we’re drinking when we’re not on mic! Leave us a rating or a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | Substack | Website | Email us | Virtual Jukebox | Beer Media Group

    1h 51m
  8. Stout n’ Sour (Sabrina Carpenter and Spanish Marie Brewery)

    10/17/2025

    Stout n’ Sour (Sabrina Carpenter and Spanish Marie Brewery)

    Barry and Abigail discuss Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter and sample PB&J Mixtape: Grape from Xul Beer Company in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Knaus Berry Cinnamon Roll from Spanish Marie Brewery in Miami, Florida. Abigail first learned of Sabrina Carpenter from seeing her Nonsense outros that she customized for each of her concert locations. Watch the music video for Feather, and read about how it was tangentially involved in former mayor Eric Adams’ indictment. Watch the music videos for Taste, Please Please Please, and Espresso. Abigail presented Circle the Drain by Katy Perry as a counter-example to the more playful breakup vibes of Taste. That led us into a conversation about our respective “Let’s Dance moments”: See Let's Drink (David Bowie and Cultured Collective Brewing), Mind Your Grammer (Andy Grammer and Deadwords Brewing), and, most recently, Adult Beverages (Katy Perry and Urban South Brewery). Abigail was a little worried that Barry was going to call Bed Chem the Peacock of this album. Abigail likened the character in Dumb & Poetic to one of her favorite Instagram accounts, @beam_me_up_softboi. Abigail repeatedly plugged Sabrina Carpenter’s newest album, Man’s Best Friend. Watch the music videos for Manchild and Tears. Up next… Rockin’ From the Grave Jingles are by our friend Pete Coe. Visit Anosmia Awareness for more information on Barry’s condition. Follow Barry or Abigail on Untappd to see what we’re drinking when we’re not on mic! Leave us a rating or a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | Substack | Website | Email us | Virtual Jukebox | Beer Media Group

    1h 58m
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4.8
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About

A podcast where we listen to some pops, drink a little hops, and Abigail Hummel gets to hang out with her pop, Barry Hummel!

Information

  • Creator
    Barry Hummel and Abigail Hummel
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    144
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Barry Hummel and Abigail Hummel
  • Show Website
    Pops on Hops