Abv Chicago Craft Beer Podcast

We finally realize our champagne wishes and IPA dreams as we gather some of the first beers released locally under the new Brut IPA style. What makes this San Francisco-born variation on IPA so special, and do we even really understand what a Brut IPA is by the end of the show? Maybe! There’s some light research on the history and science behind the style before we both turn into bubbles. Also, there’s a lot of old Batman talk, Craig faces his embarrassing e-mail shame, Drunk Ryan emerges very early, we coin the “pFriem standard,” and we explore the beauty of nunchuk art. Now we toast! Brut IPAs Reviewed Mikerphone Brewing/FinBack Brewery - Brut-ee-licious (Dry-Hopped Brut IPA w/ Citra and Enigma Hops) Hailstorm Brewing/Arrowhead Ales - Hopsecco (w/ sauvignon blanc juice) Middle Brow Beer Co. - Art Brut Miskatonic Brewing - The Cryomancer Illuminated Brew Works - Radionic Amplifier

This one’s for all you Breeniacs out there. Listener Don Kasak hooked us up with a mixed bunch of St. Louis goodies, and ranking them does not prove to be easy. This show reinforces why St. Louis is one of the best beer cities in the nation once you look past the Budweiser building. There’s also a lengthy discussion of the trailer for the new film by provocative auteur and actual human Neil Breen (see it here) before we settle on some beers to pair with the movie. We also taste some hoppy beers that happily harken back to simpler times, and have some odd memories of the game Earthbound for the SNES. Welcome to the virtual metaverse. I’ll be right…..here. Beers Reviewed The Civil Life Brewing Co. - American Brown Ale Perennial Artisan Ales - Prism: Mosaic (dry-hopped saison) Shared - Oranges on Wheat (witbier) Modern Brewery - Citrapolis (IPA) Earthbound Brewing - Meteor IPANarrow Gauge Brewing - Meersalz - Apricot/Peach (gose)

A little background noise for your next de-stemming party, this episode has us drinking American takes on the cherry-featuring “kriek” - with four of the five produced in the style of traditional lambic. There’s also a brief chat with Bill and Hagen from Dovetail about their recently-released (but long-planned) kriek beer and some very exciting news about future releases. Elsewhere on this Extra Luxury show, we share a little kriek history, try our hand at defining the style, marvel at the marvelous mouthfeels, and go full-on fanboy on one brewery in particular. Also, we try to solve a dwindling natural resource crisis, Ryan confesses to a 28 year-old crime, Craig wants a canned lambic, and we shame stupid Jeremy for his stupid SuperSoaker taking all the water from California. Damn it, Jeremy! Beers Reviewed Arclight Brewing Company - Soursmith Kriek New Belgium Brewing - Transatlantique Kriek pFriem Family Brewers - Oude Kriek Dovetail Brewery - Kriek Funk Factory/O’So Brewing - Door Kriek (2015)

For the past three years, Bearded Iris has been bringing some exciting flavors to its home of Nashville, Tennessee, and thanks to listener Matt Milam, we get to indulge in some of their hazy and sweet offerings. We sample five beers on this show for our arbitrary review, and one beer is an “all-timer.” Also, Craig has some fresh ideas for the Fast & Furious franchise, Ryan waxes nostalgic about his Woodstock ‘94 necklace, and we hear from the Grumpy Gardener. And then Ryan explains Supreme to Craig, we dream of Teddy Grahams, and Craig relives some Krispy Kreme past. Guard your crepes. Beers Reviewed Homestyle (IPA) Mood Ring (DIPA w/ blood orange, pineapple, and mango) Moon Dust (Imperial milk stout w/ chocolate, graham cracker, vanilla, lactose and Moon Pies - collaboration with WeldWerks) V. Latte (Imperial oatmeal stout w/ cocoa nibs, vanilla bean, lactose, and espresso coffee) Fresh Baked (Imperial oatmeal stout w/ vanilla, lactose, and chocolate chip cookies)

Like diamonds, we have many facets. And on this highly Instagrammable show, we explore rosé as a wine, as a cider, and as a beer. Will our complete inexperience in drinking rosé (or wine in general) skew the rankings towards our “home” style, beer? You will be surprised by the outcome on this one! We talk a lot about rosé - with only one angry rant - and whether or not we’re experiencing “pastry wine.” There’s also stuff about beer trends vs. wine trends, great bar TV, illegal Hi-C dipping, bad clowns with hard seltzer, and two wine-drunk hosts. Our words will evoke the great philosopher Sommelierates. Drinks Reviewed Union Wine Company - Underwood Rosé Wine Swish Beverages - Babe Rosé with Bubbles Virtue Cider - Rosé 2 Fools Cider - Rosé Anderson Valley Brewing - Framboise Rose Gose Forbidden Root - Sparkling Rosé Ale

Well this episode isn’t THE PITS! Get it?!? We sample six pretty different beers that prominently feature peaches to pick our favorites. We talk about the secrets to finding the best peaches, how the lambic brewers of the world can come together, and what makes something a “festival sour.” We also explore some new breakdancing names, call for the Peach Police, smack down a ludicrous conspiracy theory, and get caught in a bit of a Looper situation. Beers Reviewed Revolution Brewing - Freedom of Speach (Session sour) pFriem Family Brewers - Peche (Lambic-inspired ale) Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project - Colorado Reserva Palisade Peach (Golden sour aged in oak) Casey Brewing and Blending - The Mix: Bourbon Peach Bank (Saison aged in bourbon barrels) Illuminated Brew Works - Gay Agenda (Double dry-hopped double IPA) Triptych Brewing - Prairie Peach Picnic (Mixed culture ale)

We were shocked to learn that it’s been 8 months since our last hazy beer/New England-style IPA-focused show - can we learn to love them again? Well, the six beers on this show certainly make a strong case, as we drink newly canned hazy offerings from a variety of local brewers. We also add to our Wall of Fame with our latest celebrity run-in, Craig explains what the hell “throat hops” are, and Ryan predicts future IPA trends. Beers Reviewed Alarmist Brewing - Le Jus (New England-style IPA) Horse Thief Hollow Brewing - Spoonful (Hazy IPA) Saint Errant Brewing - Takers & Leavers (DDH IPA) Noon Whistle - Gummypocalypse (Northeast DIPA)Hubbard’s Cave - Fresh IIPA V4 (Imperial IPA w/ Mosaic and Simcoe) Cruz Blanca Brewery - Freetown (DDH DIPA)

Our love of saisons runs deep - far deeper than our technical knowledge of them - but nevertheless, we get excited when we see new saisons filling up our local beer stores. We taste five recently released saisons that are all pretty different takes on the style, while figuring out which ones we’ll add to our must-buy list. There are two pieces of important information about Christopher Cross, a story about a mysterious object on a fishing pole, the semantics of band-aid licking, some real flower eaters, and a proposal on napkin taxes. So, you know, the usual. (Also, we are putting it here in writing that we are trademarking the term Farmhouse IPA™ without doing any actual research if it already exists, but you know, just in case.) Beers Reviewed Perennial Artisan Ales - Saison de Lis (saison w/ chamomile flowers) Middle Brow Beer Co. - Neko (rye ginger saison) New Belgium Brewing - Belgian Reserve Sour Saison Solemn Oath Brewery - Larry Powder the Magical Boy (dry-hopped saison) Hop Butcher for the World - We

Lagers still represent the most consumed style of beer in the U.S. and it’s not even close. But consumers demand more than the watered-down adjunct-laden fare peddled by the biggest brewers and have pushed slightly less-big brewers to make some tastier options. We blind taste eight lagers - four from “macro” brands, and four from “non-macro” brands* - and try to guess what we’re drinking while ranking our preferences. It’s another one filled with blind surprises and one very unhappy host, but we’ll also take you to Dark Walgreens, toss a few barbs at the band Korn, and introduce you to The Ham Gambler. You can hang your hat on that. Beers Tasted Blindly (in order of appearance on the show) Hamm’s Premium Lager Firestone Walker Lager Ballast Point Longfin Lager Pabst Blue Ribbon Coors Banquet Beer Founders Solid Gold Premium Lager Spiteful Lager Old Style *Founders is 30% owned by leading Spanish beer brand Mahou-San Miguel; Ballast Point is 100% owned by Fortune 500 company Constellation Brands; Firestone Wal

It’s like an hour-long cheat day, for on this episode, we indulge in everything sweet and sugary to enrobe ourselves in stouts just in time for the summer. We review five stouts that all feature a bevy of big flavors and adjuncts to create boozy, liquid desserts. There’s also talk about this year’s Riot Fest lineup, a game about candy bar ingredients that Craig is terrible at, and some timely Sega Genesis game reviews. Our diet starts tomorrow. Beers Reviewed Lil’ Beaver Brewery - Happy For Pecans (Milk Stout w/ pecans) Saint Errant Brewing - Cauallier (Imperial Stout w/ chocolate and roasted peanuts) Hubbard’s Cave - French Toast (Imperial Stout w/ cinnamon, maple syrup, vanilla, and lactose) Mikerphone Brewing - Smooth Whopperator (Double Milk Stout w/ chocolate malted milk) Hop Butcher for the World - The Dog House (Chocolate cake shake stout w/ vanilla and lactose)

As an amalgamation of two styles seen as so disparate in their processes, it’s easy to call Sour IPAs a gimmick - a style that cannot nor should not exist - or simply, liquid clickbait. We put our own skepticism to the test with five of our favorite local breweries and their spin on the tart, juicy, and (supposedly) hoppy trend. We learn about the different methods brewers use to create these mashups, all while we’re desperately seeking the IPAness. Hear our Saisonathon night experiences, a fear of disembodied mouths, a call for Gravy IPAs, a plug for Ryan’s old websites, and the reason why we oh so desperately could use some more mugwumps right now. #liqbait Beers Reviewed Forbidden Root - Assembly Required V2 (Sour IPA w/ key lime and vanilla) Marz Community Brewing - tart’n’tangy (Wild NE IPA w/ lactose) Maplewood Brewing - Fizzle Drizzle (Sour IPA w/ raspberry) Illuminated Brew Works - Mugwump Brunch (Sour DIPA w/ orange juice) Corridor Brewery & Provisions/Forbidden Root - New Wave Dance Craze (Sour

In the world of brewing, beer is brewed by two separate yet equally important groups: the independent brewers who make interesting beer, and the corporate brewers who imitate the former. On this show, we investigate six offerings, mostly brand new to the market, that big beer companies want to trick you into drinking. We try to be open-minded - empathetic, even - but some of these crimes can never be forgiven. Can we be accused of being elitist craft beer jerks for spending an hour dumping on big beer’s version of innovation, when so many of these are objectively bad? That’s where you get to be the judge. Hey - you do your job, I do my job, ok buddy? Also, we get nostalgic about murder, upset fans of punishment shots, read some ridiculous marketing copy, and set up an ill-advised beer bong challenge. We also share some of our highlights from this year’s Beer Under Glass, because the whole show can’t just be us throwing the book at bad beer. BeerCrimes Investigated and Prosecuted The Plank Road Brewery (Miller

It’ll be another six months before the next wave of Bourbon County hits the supermarkets, so we check in on the 2017 lineup to see how they’re tasting after half a year. We are joined by Josh Noel, author of the brand new book Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out: Goose Island, Anheuser-Busch and How Craft Beer Became Big Business, to review the beers and talk all about Goose Island and the story behind the book. Never has a craft beer drinker’s relationship with a brewer been more complicated, and we reminisce on the pre-sale days of innovation in styles and marketing. Then we talk plenty about what has changed since that fateful day in 2011 and all the people responsible for what we now know as Goose Island and how the craft beer world has been redefined with the acquisitions race of the last five years. But also, is this the least impressive lineup of Bourbon County to date? And how can Goose reinvigorate the legacy of their premier release? We try and figure it out before the ABV catches up to us. See what i

Stealing furtive glances from across the liquor store, you let your gaze finally fix on what could be your new summer crush - a local canned beer under six percent alcohol. We flirt with some new releases from some favorite locals, and put them on our Crushometer©™ along with our usual rankings. You’ll also hear the rare double lead-up, Craig’s review of the Impossible slider, a super sneaky (and deadly) Mosh’, some old Playstation games, and the terrifying threat of improv poetry. Kick! Punch! It’s all in the mind. Beers Reviewed Blue Island Beer Co. - Limón Pepino (Witbier w/ cucumber and lime) Middle Brow Beer Co. - Little Crush (Session IPA) Maplewood Brewing - Zip Zap (Extra Pale Wheat) Forbidden Root - Hay Fever (Dry-hopped Farmhouse) Pipeworks Brewing - Blood Orange Guppy (Session IPA w/ blood orange and honey) Half Acre Beer Co. - Fader (German-style Pilsner)

Few styles are as satisfying as a perfectly executed saison. It’s no wonder that the devotees of this heterogeneous style are as passionate as they are, passing on the latest fad IPA to reach for some stubby green bottle with the hard-to-pronounce Belgian name. This show is dedicated to saisons of much variation, and we’re joined by saison lover and brewer Mike Thorpe of Afterthought Brewing in Lombard. Though Mike’s mixed culture and oak-aged saisons are being made in extremely limited volume, the beer is already approaching expert levels of refinement. For this show, we drink seven distinct saisons or farmhouse ales from all over to experience the variations in the style while Mike gets technical about the process. There’s a lot about Afterthought, but we also just luxuriate in the wonders of saison and what makes it different than just about any style. Also, there’s a huge development in the Craig Eating Celery Saga that you won’t want to miss. And if you truly love saisons, check out our Illinois Craft Be

To commemorate everyone’s favorite early-May drinking holiday, we have six beers to celebrate Polish Constitution Day! (Thursday, May 3rd!) Though this show cost only $15 to fill, its true value lies in providing the literal worst singular beer experience either us have ever had. Seriously. But there are also some killer value finds, along with stories of dumb eye injuries, the return of Black Phillip, and a Craig celery update. Beers Reviewed Tyskie Browary Książęce - Tyskie Gronie (Pale Lager) Browar Amber - Koźlak (Bock) Browar Wąsosz - Miodowe (Honey Beer) Lulu Craft Beer - Peach Gose Grupa Żywiec - Żywiec Porter Browar Okocim - Okocim O.K. Beer (Pale Lager/Pilsner)

It’s a HIGH concept week here at ABV Labs as we determine whether certain beloved beers should or should not be aged. We have six beers to drink: two vintages of three different beers, and we approach each set blind to see if we can tell the difference. We learn quite a bit about beers and aging, but most importantly, we learn a lot about life….and love. We pitch to get an actual-size Craig bobblehead built, Ryan gleeks with no regard, and we both assail your ears with a barrage of threadless pop culture references beyond our usual so-called restraint. And if love of High Life makes you uncomfortable - morally or physically - you may want to have that skip button ready for the last segment. Beer Vintages Tasted Blindly New Glarus Brewing - Belgian Red: 2013* vs. 2018 Founders Brewing Co. - KBS: 2015 vs. 2018 Off Color Brewing - Eeek!: 2016 vs. 2018

An episode we swore we would never do, it’s all smoked beers of different styles on this show as we attempt to shake our long-running distaste of drinking ashy campfire ales. Do we finally open our minds and palates to the wonders of smoked malts? Listen to find out if we safely cross the Rauch rope bridge to escape gaunt Vin Diesel and his villainous clan. (It’ll make sense later.) There’s also an unusual amount of movie references, a discussion of all the things you can smoke (in both ways), a spoogey ghost, the deep recesses of the weed internet, and Ryan’s attempt to make sense of children’s YouTube. Hold up. Heyyyy. Beers Reviewed Schlenkerla - Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen Freigeist Bierkultur - Abraxxxas (Lichtenhainer) Dovetail Brewery - X01 (Flanders Rauch aged in bourbon barrels) Alaskan Brewing - Smoked Porter Goose Island - Islay (Imperial stout aged in Ardbeg Scotch whisky barrels)

As another dogged Chicago winter comes to a close, we have some leftover beers that need to be emptied out into our swollen hibernation tummies. For this show, we drop the high concept act and drink six random beers for enjoyment and review, with the return of a game of Beer Carnac to boot. We learn about Craig’s wardrobe proclivities and his extreme views on iguana marriage. And both the looming threat of sediment and an esophageal acid bath are enough to send us into a gleeking frenzy in desperate need of a tarp. Thanks for listening to our beer show that doesn’t make any sense and is barely about beer! Beers Reviewed Untitled Art/The Brewing Projekt - NEAPA (New England-style American Pale Ale) Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers - Barrel-aged Saxonator (Dopplebock) Hop Butcher for the World - Mellotron (Double IPA) Good City Brewing - Reward (Double IPA) Suarez Family Brewery - 100 Ft. North (Country Beer/Saison) The Good Beer Company/Bottle Logic Brewing - Square Fruit (Barrel-aged sour w/ ten fruits)

Slow growth is better than no growth - and it may be even better than rapid growth, as the crew at Hop Butcher for the World proves. After nearly two years of intermittent releases of their (mostly) hoppy offerings, the demand for Hop Butcher beers has surpassed all of their local peers - and few breweries deserve it more. But now that their operation has moved down to Miskatonic’s space in Darien, the canned releases are coming with more volume and frequency while not compromising their excellent quality. For this show, the guys at Hop Butcher sent us five of their more recent releases to sample and review, and we try to balance our high standards for their beers with our usual garbage arbitrary opinions. Also, Ryan feeds the 90’s vampire, Craig asserts his new stout authority, and we come up with our most excellent podcast idea to date. (To all those Herbs: please apply at abvchicago@gmail.com) Beers Review Blazed Orange (IPA) Ole Knotty (IPA w/ Hobson Oak and Vanilla) Collaboration with Solemn Oath and Mis