Abv Chicago Craft Beer Podcast

The second half of Revolution’s most recent Deep Wood series is all about the barrels, with beers featuring ambitious blends and extended aging to close out the brewery’s tenth year on a high note. We sample five beers from the city’s best barrel program, and we celebrate the man who makes it all possible: David Lee Roth. Well, okay, he doesn’t actually make any of these beers happen, but he certainly serves as an inspiration and a muse, especially for this episode. Also, Ryan passes on some bad Mario Kart etiquette, Craig loves his Luxardos, and we happen upon yet another fudgebooth. Bring back the Randall.  Beers Reviewed Ryeway to Heaven (Bourbon and rye barrel-aged ryewine) V.S.O.D. (Imperial oatmeal stout aged 2 years in bourbon barrels) Boss Jacket (English barleywine aged in WhistlePig The Boss Hog ex-Calvados Rye Whiskey barrels) Cuvée De Grâce (Blend of oatmeal and rye stouts with barleywine and scotch ale, aged in seven different barrels) Ten Year Beer (English barleywine aged in bourbon and rye bar

Back in July, we were lucky enough to spend a little time with Kyle Vetter at his 1840 Brewing in Milwaukee (which you can hear on our Brew City episode), and since then we’ve been dreaming about getting five bottles to the bunker for review. Craig’s recent travels bring us a wide variety of styles from this two year-old brewery, and at least one of these beers will be written into the ABV Hall of Fame for eternity. The whole lineup offers an array of big flavors, and we are already planning our return to Milwaukee. Also, Craig ponders a sympathetic Godzilla, Ryan’s been working on some disturbing fanfiction, and we almost get the podcast taken away from us. Ponder your pastry. Beers Reviewed Kascade Kid (Unfiltered lager w/ Hull Melon hops)Rouge (Spelt and wheat saison dry-hopped with Barbe Rouge) Hype Moves (Sour vegan gluten-reduced milkshake IPA double dry-hopped w/ Sabro, super-fruited w/ mango & pineapple, and conditioned on vanilla beans and toasted coconut) Sea Foam (Fruited sour w/ pineapple, pas

Villa Park’s More made a big splash from the moment they opened their doors in 2017, due to their hiring of a rising star brewer and their embrace of big flavor beers. Much has changed in a few short years, with a different (yet equally talented) head brewer at the helm, a gigantic new facility opening in Huntley at the end of the month, and...those lagers. Thanks to Aaron Keefner, we were gifted an assortment of More beers, and we review five varied styles in our usual arbitrary way. Along with our realization that we’re becoming boring old boomers, listen for Ryan’s singing debut, Craig’s beer label nightmares, a crazy game of mocha, the upcoming sequel to Davidoff’s Cool Water, and a rogues gallery of lager characters.  Beers Reviewed More to Life (American Lager dry-hopped with Lemon Drop hops) DDH Double Space Boots (DDH DIPA w/ Citra and Galaxy) Peaches & Cream Marbles (Milkshake IPA w/ peaches, milk sugar, and vanilla) Henna: Cherry Truffle (Imperial stout w/ sweet & tart cherry, cocoa nibs, an

After taking a month to recover from our Barrel-Aged December, we hop right back in the wood with five big beers from Illinois breweries. It leaves us feeling pretty spoiled to have so many great Winter barrel-aged options that don’t rhyme with Bevolution and Bruce Guyland. Craig starts things off a bit morbid, but we soon invent “smoot” and Staygurt for adults. This episode also contains notes of emotional wort, whipped leather, root beer, chocolate IPA, and Cadbury mini-eggs.  Get yourself to Beermiscuous on Saturday, February 8th for our anniversary party. Beers Reviewed Sketchbook Brewing Co. - Barrel Aged Turbulence Vanilla Bean (Russian imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels with vanilla beans) Temperance Beer Company - 2019 Hot Cocoa Barrel-aged Might Meets Right (Imperial stout aged in Heaven Hill barrels w/ cacao and vanilla beans) Half Acre Beer Company - Orin (Bourbon barrel-aged strong ale) Brickstone Brewery - Dark Secret: Double Barrel 2019 (Imperial stout aged 10 mo. in Buffalo Trace barrels an

The complex story of Goose Island extends far beyond their innovations and acquisition, because throughout their history, they’ve cultivated a truly impressive brewing team. This appropriately-numbered episode is a tribute to all the brewers who developed under Goose’s tutelage and moved on to start or brew at other impactful breweries. (Somebody should write a book about this stuff.) It’s a Goose Island show with no Goose Island beer! Craig tries to get a gritty reboot going that results in an ongoing discussion of grizzled actors, Ryan discovers the secret SRM scale, and we scream out the subtext. Come to Beermiscuous on Saturday, February 8th because we told you to! Beers Reviewed Perennial Artisan Ales - Foeder Coupage Blend 1 (Foeder-aged saison and fresh blond ale blend) Firestone Walker Brewing Company - Old Man Hattan (Barrel-aged blended strong ale) Southern Tier Brewing Company - Nitro Hot Cocoa (Imperial milk stout) Penrose Brewing Company - Spontaneous 2019: Strawberry (Blended spontaneous ale age

The start of legalized marijuana in Illinois has been a real mixed bag with massive lines and product shortages dominating the headlines. So rather than feeling empty-handed, why not head to the beer aisle for a taste of the dank? We sample six IPAs that are united under the simple idea of “heh heh, weed” to see if we can get lifted in another totally legal way. And of course, we talk just a whole bunch about 311 through trivia, personal experiences, inspired lyric readings, and the most 90’s quote we could find. We also weigh in on some recently announced reboots, Ryan apologizes to a high school friend, and we make the lazy river even lazier.  Don’t miss our 6th anniversary party at Beermiscuous on February 8th! Beers Reviewed Burnt City Brewing - Kveik Minded III: The Dankening (New England IPA) SweetWater Brewing Co. - 420 Strain G13 IPA Oskar Blues Brewery - Can-O-Bliss Citrus IPA Lagunitas Brewing Co. - Hazy Memory (New England IPA) Odd Side Ales - Dank Frank Juice (Double IPA) Revolution Brewing Co. -

It’s flavorful yet restrained. It’s refreshing and sessionable. And it’s loosely bound by any real style designation. It’s the table beer! We explore five Chicago-area takes on this non-style that seems to borrow a little magic from Belgian farmhouses before going in a variety of flavorful directions, all while staying under 5% ABV. With this light-weight lineup, we do some heavy lifting by developing two new musical concepts; Ryan works on his verbal plating; Craig doesn’t want to tip the toilet sherpa; and we have our refreshnodes massaged.  Remember to mark Saturday, February 8th in your calendar for our 6th Anniversary party at Beermiscuous! Beers reviewed Off Color Brewing - House Lion Une Année Brewery - Table Is/Was Brewing - Bourgeois Daydream Casa Humilde - Mesita Keeping Together - The Art of Holding Space

We’re quite transparent about two things on this podcast: we genuinely enjoy supporting our sole long-time sponsor, and we love getting free beer to review. So when Beer on the Wall had their 3rd Anniversary party featuring a wide array of interesting collaborations with great local breweries, they saved us five to review. We also wrap up the year in music with our top albums, open some new flavor doors, pitch some cookie hefeweizens and cake bocks, and further demonstrate why no one really wants us to collaborate on a beer.  (Also, keep the night of Saturday, February 8th open to come celebrate our 6th Anniversary at Beermiscuous!) Beers reviewed (all collaborations with Beer on the Wall) Around the Bend Beer Company - Biscoff the Wall (Cream ale w/ cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice) Pipeworks Brewing Company - TreESB (Red IPA dry-hopped w/ cedar chips) Miskatonic Brewing Company - Second Breakfast (Coffee hazy IPA) Illuminated Brew Works - The Ballad of the Peanut Butter Pony (Stout w/ peanut butter an

Following the story of middle brow has been a privilege for us, as their generosity and selflessness has been pretty well-documented during years of limited production and no actual brewery to call home. But within the last year or so, middle brow has won a gold at FoBAB, bought a few foeders, and opened their cozy brewpub “bungalow,” which recently won the designation of best pizza in the city by Chicago Magazine. And their status as a brewer of elegant and inspired wild ales - like their signature bread - is on the rise. So handsome Pete from middle brow dropped us off a box of beer (and bread!) to catch up on what our old friends have been up to, and we are objectively impressed. Also, we talk about dumb Chicago food traditions, dream up a GueuZero, conduct a Challenge Butter Cultural Butter Challenge, plead for that Chocolate IPA, and envision vengeful beer ghosts.  beers reviewed. For You (Wild lager blend) Bloom (Co-fermented wine beer hybrid brewed w/ 40% frontenac gris grape juice) Solarium (Mixed-cu

Wherein we consume over a gallon of Bourbon County, this episode attempts to balance detailed reviews with what is basically stunt drinking. We enlist the help of Beer on the Wall’s Ryan Tracy to try all eight variations under Goose Island’s 2019 Bourbon County brand. We spend a lot of time dissecting the annually most-argued-over beer release while also planning our 311 heist, uncovering box-related conspiracies, checking to see if our wort is fully worted, and tearing away our pleather pants. Absolute. Fudgebomb. 2019 Bourbon County Beers Reviewed Bourbon County Brand Stout Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine Reserve Rye Bourbon County Brand Stout 2-Year Reserve Bourbon County Brand Stout Bourbon County Brand Mon Chéri Stout (w/ cherries, oats, granola, and brown sugar) Bourbon County Brand Café de Olla Stout (w/ Intelligentsia coffee, cassia bark, orange peel, and panela sugar) Proprietor’s Bourbon County Brand Stout (w/ toasted pecans, coconut, cocoa, and vanilla) Bourbon County Brand Double Barrel Stout

To continue Barrel-Aged December, we track down five beers that brought home medals from this year’s Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers. (We swear this isn’t a month-old FoBAB recap show.) We put on our judges’ hats and try to find the secret to what makes a beer medal-worthy at Chicago’s premier beer competition. Craig lazily tries to shoehorn Baby Yoda into the show, Ryan just wants to be recognized for his cake, and we act like a couple of drinking cockswains. Pour it on your ham! Beers Reviewed Church Street Brewing Company - Holy Moly (Barrel-aged milk stout) - Bronze in Classic Styles Hacienda Beer Co. - L’hiver (Foeder-aged Brett. saison w/ ginger, orange peel, and green cardamom) - Silver in Wild Beer/Brett Crystal Lake Brewing - Boathouse Reserve Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Stout - Silver in Strong Porter/Stout Pollyanna Brewing Company - Orenda Volume 02 (Belgian-style quadrupel aged in grape brandy barrels) - Silver in Other Strong Beer Cerebral Brewing - Vanilla Rye Here Be Monsters (Rye

At some point, these guys can’t stay “underrated” or “under the radar” with the ridiculous blends and adjunct-enhanced beers from barrels they release every year. Cruz Blanca’s Luchador series may still be young in the Chicago specialty release annual tradition, but the resulting beers are outpacing their seasoned competitors in quality and accessibility. In what is likely an ill-advised move, we sit down and drink through all six of these high-ABV barrel-aged beers to review and rank them. The episode is also an extended tribute to Challenge Butter, Your Intimidating Kitchen FriendⓇ. We also get on about noseburns, flowereaters, The Simpsons arcade game strategy, and Bourbon County sharkjumping. Listen to us wrestle with sobriety! Beers Reviewed Rey Gordo (Imperial stout aged in Basil Hayden bourbon barrels) Santa Cruz (Oatwine aged in rye whiskey & red wine barrels) Tarzan Boy (Imperial stout aged in rum barrels with banana, coffee, & vanilla) Señor Incognito (Imperial stout aged in rye whiskey barr

The best yearly barrel-aged release series has hit its halfway point, so we’re using that as an excuse to drink through the five newest releases in Revolution’s Deep Wood series. It takes some real nitpicking to find flaws in any of these beers, so we mostly just talk about why they are all awesome in their own way. Plus, Craig schemes to be the next Everyday Hero, Ryan reveals he’s a real PlumBum, and we order out for some CrunchWraps. We also plan out our social media wall-of-fame and wonder what it would take to convert Craig to drinking actual coffee. There’s plenty of room on our tongue futon. Beers Reviewed Deth’s Tar (Barrel-aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout) Deth By Plums (Barrel-aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout w/ plums) Café Deth (Barrel-aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout w/ coffee) Straight Jacket (Barrel-aged Barleywine) V.S.O.R. (Rye ale aged in Rye barrels) Special thanks to Revolution Brewing for providing the beers for this show!

When a beer festival with national interest comes through Chicago, beer consumers are met with a whole new array of options at their favorite bottle shops, even if only for a short time. For this episode, we take advantage of some FoBAB-influenced “hot drops” of out-of-distribution breweries ending up on local beer store shelves. Is it better for the local beer drinker than it is worse for the local beer producer? The five beers on this show certainly make our response to that complicated. Also, Ryan tries to start the new hot coffee mug phrase, Craig just wants to listen to “Fields of Gold” by Sting, and we struggle through maybe the drunkest rankings ever. Beers Reviewed Pure Project Brewing - Fingers of Gold (Murky IPA) Listermann Brewing Company - Barrel-Aged Chickow! (Hazelnut Double Brown Ale aged in Heaven Hill barrels) Beachwood Blendery - Funk Yeah (Gueuze-inspired Sour Ale) Other Half Brewing Co. - Triple Nelson Daydream (Imperial Oat Cream IPA) Jackie O’s Brewery - Bourbon Barrel Oil Of Aphrodite (

We took last week to recover from FoBAB, so this week we dip into our short-storage vault for this episode we recorded back in May with five listener-donated beers. This beer lineup features both minor misses and absolute hits, but we’re feeling genuinely warmed by the listener love. Impending summer makes us looser than ever as we cover the positives and negatives of non-craft beer bars; we imagine Playdoh-aged beers; Ryan draws the line at Baudoinia or Bust; and Craig breaks the podcast through one simple simile. Cream those beans! Beers Reviewed Southern Grist Brewing Company - Lemon Meringue Pie Gose (Provided by Matt Milam) Ale Asylum - Bock’d & Loaded (Maibock aged in Tequila and Chardonnay barrels, provided by Gary Nidetz) Lo Rez Brewing - Apricot Knockout (Farmhouse Ale w/ apricots, provided by Sarah Rehmer) Perennial Artisan Ales - Sump Coffee Stout 2018 w/ Ethiopian Roba (Provided by Don Kasak) Ozark Beer Company - BDCS (Imperial milk stout aged in bourbon barrels, provided by Chris Butler)

With winter approaching, one might feel it necessary to lament the passing of lager season. But dear listener, never fret! Brewers from all over the world have got your back! On this show, we salute our schwarz as we drink seven different dark lagers, with four coming from our own backyard of Chicago. We learn a bit about the schwarzbier by soaking up the words of the experts, and we’re pleasantly surprised to find variation all throughout this lineup. Also, Ryan’s age is showing, we mourn the brief life of windbreaker season, we try not to throw away any ghosts, and we take a hard stance on beer made with human ingredients. Touch of molasses! Beers Reviewed  Metropolitan Brewing - Magnetron (Schwarzbier) Köstritzer Schwarzbierbrauerei - Köstritzer Schwarzbier Argus Brewery - Cygnus X-1 (Dark lager) Budějovický Budvar - Czechvar/Budweiser Budvar B:Dark (Euro dark lager) Spiteful Brewing - Dark Lager Krombacher Gruppe - Krombacher Dark (Schwarzbier) Maplewood Brewing Company - The Shade (Schwarzbier)

We’re celebrating our big 300 by treating ourselves to the exquisite (and expensive) beers from one of Belgium’s longest-running gueuze producers, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen. Despite the occasion, we just do it like we have for the last 300 by reviewing carefully crafted beers as sloppily as possible, only diverting to mini-tangents about Craig’s assassin dog, horse accoutrements, Goozzwords, vacation mouth, forced floors, nighttime TinglersⓇ, and Mosher’s leveled-up skill set. Thanks for listening at any point during our 300 episodes - we hope it’s been entertaining (and just a little informative).  Beers Reviewed Oude Geuze  Oude Geuze Cuvée Armand & Gaston Oude Kriek Framboos (2014) Hommage

The most terrible tradition returns with our third annual gauntlet of gore as we try and outdo each other with the absolute worst-tasting beers we can find. Throw in some Zombie Skittles, and you have a profane exhibition of freakishly-bad flavors. We also try to avoid adding ounces to our Cuveé of Doom by guessing details on our brutal blind pours. We share some Halloween party conversation starters, recreate the general mood of The Deer Hunter, dine at UmamiBloodMeat, and fight against our Pavlovian smelling instincts. Malignant Beers Reacted To Mikkeller - Spontanbeetroot (Lambic-style ale w/ beets) 3 Floyds Brewing - Barrel-aged Chevalier 2013 (Barrel-aged Biere de Garde w/ brett) Stone Brewing - 17th Anniversary Götterdämmerung (Double IPA from 2013) Rinkuškiai - Crazy Brewski (Imperial Pilsner) Brewery Vivant - Tart Side of the Moon (Dark Farmhouse Ale) Goose Island Clybourn - Silver Jubilee (Double Pale Ale from 2013)

In our yearly tribute to Chicago’s biggest and best beer fest, we continue our tradition of giving our recommendations for the Festival of Wood and Barrel-aged Beers while drinking from a distinguished lineup of attendees - but that’s not all. We introduce the FoBAB Fantasy Draft into the world, give you instructions on how to run your own league, and hold a mock draft between ourselves (before our real league draft). But we don’t forget to hurl some major superlatives at the barrel-aged beers on the show, and talk about sad dinosaur stories. (Keep your eyes peeled on our website for the next week to get more info on running your own FoBAB Fantasy Draft. And buy tickets to FoBAB, if you haven’t already.) Beers Reviewed Revolution Brewing - Strawberry Jacket (BA Barleywine w/ strawberries) Revolution Brewing - Honey Jacket (BA Barleywine w/ honey) Around the Bend Beer Co. - Proximal (BA Barleywine) Begyle Brewing - Barrel Aged Imperial Pajamas (BA Imperial Oatmeal Stout) WeldWerks Brewing Co. - Medianoche Prem

It’s a joyous time in the ABV bunker as we celebrate Craig’s engagement by letting him pick a lineup of seemingly incongruous beers that are as significant as they are interesting. With a mix of cellar dives and recent finds, Craig imbues this episode with a certain personal resonance while also napalming Ryan’s esophagus. Craig shares his creative and beer-related proposal story, but we also expound upon our fat voices, weird produce, Craigaoke, misheard Beyonce lyrics, Zach Afrin, and the worst beer collaboration ever imagined. Congratulations to Craig and Liz! Beers Reviewed Hill Farmstead Brewery - Civil Disobedience #6 (Blended wine barrel-aged saison) de Garde Brewing - Imperial Apricot Bu (Berliner Weisse aged in oak w/ apricots) Triptych Brewing - And I Think My Spaceship Knows Which Way To Go (Hazy Double IPA w/ Galaxy & Ella hops) Funk Factory Geuzeria - Framquartet (Méthode Traditionnelle blend aged w/ red, purple, black, and golden raspberries) The Bruery - Black Tuesday Reserve (Double barrel