Abv Chicago Craft Beer Podcast

Each fall, Chicago holds one of the best beer fests in the country, so don’t blame us for getting all giddy about it. We talk a lot about what we’re excited for at the 15th Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers and review beers from some of the better breweries set to pour. Yes, a lot of the FoBAB talk has a bit of a relevancy expiration date, but there’s a lot more general beer and festival discussion as we sip five impressive barrel-aged beers. But also, we answer humanity’s best question, take sides on two late 90s teen movies, reveal Craig’s jelly aversion, and get ready for some hot Jeff-on-Jeff action. Beers Reviewed // FoBABlin’ Segments pFriem Family Brewers - Pruim (Lambic-inspired ale w/ plums aged in French Oak) // Festival Tips Atom Brewing Company - Raspberry Harvest (Oak barrel-aged raspberry ale) // Little known breweries to try Fremont Brewing - Bourbon Barrel Dark Star Coffee Edition (Imperial oatmeal stout) // Known breweries not to miss Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery - Wooden H

Be cautious beer audio traveler, there’s a dense fog advisory covering this episode as we blindly taste through six New England-style hoppy beers. We pit murky IPAs and DIPAs from Illinois against the opaque juice bombs from other states in a blind faceoff-matchup-tasting thing, because we’ve run out of original ideas. Despite our presumptuous hazy expertise, we are still shocked by a few of the results. Beyond that, we talk about around-the-house jeans, beard tips, prospective beer names, Rummikub, and papayneapples. Now I just kind of want some Jamba Juice.   Beers Tasted Blindly (in order tasted)  Old Nation Brewing - M-43 (IPA) Forbidden Root - Night Moth (IPA w/ oak spirals) Mikerphone Brewing - Super Special Sauce (DIPA) Weldwerks Brewing - Extra Extra Juicy Bits (DIPA) Tree House Brewing - Doppelgänger (DIPA) Corridor Brewery & Provisions - SqueezIt (DIPA)

In what will surely become a Hellish yearly tradition, we get gruesome on this show by trying to break each other by pouring the worst beers we could find. It’s a contest of depravity as we each selected three beers for the other to experience blind, and the results are horrifying. There’s a game aspect to the whole show, wherein punishment points are gathered for a final rankings drinking of The Punishment Cuvée™ (aka The Cuvée of Doom™). If you don’t like two guys being disgusted by a diverse range of terrible beers, then proceed with caution. But if you want to hear us suffer at each other’s hands (kinky!), this will be your favorite episode of this show. Either way, I’m pretty sure we have violated the Geneva Conventions and will be going to forever prison. The Tortuous Collection Craig’s Choices Half Acre Beer Co. - Beer Hates Astronauts (IPA - 2013) Pipeworks Brewing - A Couple Two Tree (Scotch Ale w/ spruce tips and oak spirals) Bell’s Brewery - Eccentric Ale (Herb/Spice Beer - 2011) Ryan’s Choices Fou

For many years now, vanilla has been the adjunct that takes a beer’s status from gold to platinum, instantly raising its secondary value to ridiculous levels. Not wanting to waste a drop, we invited a bunch of our friends - who brought a whole lot more beer - to taste 15 (!!) vanilla adjunct beers that are mostly stouts. We are joined by MC Johnsen (Worth a Thousand Beers), Matt Johnsen (Horse Thief Hollow), Brent Banks (Saint Errant Brewing), and two loyal listeners and friends - Randy and Daniel. Although some of the beers aren’t solely enhanced by vanilla, we do learn from real brewers how to extract the best vanilla flavor in a brew. But in our long quest to find the best vanilla adjunct beer, we take some diversions to discuss micropancakeries, Craig stink, ice cream safe zones, Tootsie Roll songs, Wafflehouses, sad fruits, and whether or not Ryan should trade a “Prop” for a Nintendo 64 with Goldeneye. (He should.) #VSBS Beers Sampled Avery Brewing - Vanilla Bean Stout 4 Hands Brewing - Madagascar (2015)

Our Fourth Annual GABF Recap Spectacular is bursting with content, as we gathered more interviews and drank more beer than ever before! Recorded from our Denver hotel room, this show - featuring MC Johnsen - serves as our recap of the 36th Great American Beer Festival, as we share our overall highlights, favorite beers, and many interviews from the floor. We also drink two area beers - one from Cerebral and the other from Wiley Roots - to help us hold on to the glory days a little longer. We also recap a few of the related events, with focus on the weekend-long Melvin bacchanalia that penetrated the whole city. Also, hear about the Illinois medal winners while hearing from two of them, including Matt Johnsen, who stayed awake for part of this one. Relive the greatest weekend in beer and get mile high with us.   Beers Reviewed   Cerebral Brewing - DDH Rare Trait (New England IPA) Wiley Roots Brewing & Outer Range Brewing - Neature Walk (Double IPA)   Interviews   Great Notion Brewing (Portland, OR) - Paul

We broke our self-imposed hop hiatus in spectacular fashion, thanks to listener Mike Rousseau. Five super sexy hoppy cans from the Golden State don’t even stand a chance here, as no drop is left undrank. Thus begins a journey of pure inebriation, as we explore Craig’s doppelgangers, draw up some sick face tattoos, get largely aromatic, and perseverate on label fonts and kerning. There’s a game called “Rap Songs All White Guys Know the Lyrics To”, and we try to hold on to the memory of Pudgy Craig. Long live Pudgy Craig.   Beers Reviewed   Fieldwork Brewing - Sea Farmer (IPA with sea salt and grapefruit) Fieldwork Brewing - Pulp (IPA) Fieldwork Brewing - King Citra (Double IPA) Monkish Brewing/The Answer - Red Beans and Rice Didn’t Miss Her (Double IPA) Bottle Logic Brewing - START: Konami Code (Double IPA)

There is a ridiculous amount of options for the Chicagoland beer buyer, but that won’t stop five more established breweries from carving out some shelf space! We try five beers from these new arrivals to try and determine how they will play to the Chicagoland consumer - and some are going to be hard to overlook. We also try to be a beaming light of beer positivity despite our cynical proclivities, talk at length about the proper definition of a New England IPA, discuss the power of the mixed six pack advantage, and play a game called Know Your SKUs! There’s some prognostication about Twenty Kuitteen (and Twenty Schwarty), Craig’s problem with yogurt, and Ryan’s joy-diverting beer-clickbait article rant. Grab a new beer, and let us eat that slime ham for you. Beers Reviewed Alaskan Brewing Amber Sun King Wee Mac Scottish Ale Trinity Brewing Seven Day Sour Epic Brewing Citralush New England Style IPA Perrin Brewing Unfinished Business (Barrel-Aged Japanese Emperor Stout)

The third show in our own Jersey Trilogy (thanks to listener Mike Bobal), we finally get to try more from a brewery that’s blown us away at festivals in the past - Kane Brewing. We have three hoppy cans, two potent bottles, and two irreverent trivia games on this episode as we spiral towards a drunken blackout. Craig extols the majesty of bunting, Ryan works on his interview technique, and we both do a little ghost hop hunting. And don’t listen to this one alone in a room with your vacuum because it could be pretty awkward. Beers Reviewed Sneakbox (American Pale Ale) Head High (IPA) Overhead (Double IPA) Morning Bell (Imperial Coffee Porter) Vengeful Heart (American Barleywine)

We’ve been smitten with The Mitten for as long as we’ve loved beer, because Michigan just might be the best beer state in the Midwest. We stick to the western coast of MI as Craig gathered four interviews and five beers for this 11th stop in our ongoing State Show series. You’ll hear from John Lustina from Beer Church about how sometimes a good concept needs to be rushed; David Coyle from Arclight on their hopes for Chicago distribution; David Cockell from Watermark on how his biochemistry degree helps him keep yeast happy; and Mitch Ermatinger from Speciation on deriving character from patience. We also do our best to review these beers before Ryan succumbs to death by heartburn and before the new Pudgy Craig gets audibly winded. There’s also talk of communion wafer smells, cheesecake love, and an update on Ryan’s brewery concept. If you seek a pleasant state show, listen about you. Beers Reviewed Beer Church Brewing - Crooked Cross (Cream Ale) Arclight Brewing - Soursmith Strawberry (Sour Ale aged w/ straw

This episode will, once and for all, determine which state is the greatest on Earth: Wisconsin or Illinois? We find sort-of equivalent beers in pretty specific styles from each state to vie for our arbitrary love. This episode is soft dystopia for soft adults, with mentions of FroBAB, the ReinheitsgeBot, and drunken Cinnabon. One beer leaves us almost completely speechless, and another blurs style lines unlike any we’ve ever experienced. We also drop some advice on must-hit beer stops on a Chicago visit, and get confused over popular songs from like 4 years ago. It’s brats vs. Polish sausages; cheese curds vs. deep dish; cheese heads vs. ....Ditka mustaches? Whatever it is, it’ll be interesting. Beers Faced Buckledown Fritzicuffs vs. New Glarus Hometown Blonde Hubbard’s Cave El Zacatón vs. Untitled Art/3 Sons Oaxacan Stout Goose Island Brasserie Blanc vs. Funk Factory Cervino

Taking a much-needed vacation from hops, we let our taste buds travel to five different continents to sample beers from around the world. In addition to an interview with Pete from Garage Project, this episode contains a valuable lesson about getting out of America every once in awhile. How long can we keep up a shaky plane metaphor? What do we have to say about esophageal displeasure, hotshipping with a volcano, and carbonated gravy? Well, grab your passport, hop on the Turbulence, and find out with us! Beers Reviewed Garage Project [New Zealand] - Bastard Rye (Imperial Rye Blond aged in bourbon barrels) Ölvisholt Brewery [Iceland] - Lava (Smoked Imperial Stout) Kiuchi Brewery [Japan] - Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale (Belgian Strong Pale Ale) Way Beer [Brazil] - Sour Me Not Caju (Sour Ale) Tusker [Africa] - Lager

While many of their friends were starting breweries and gaining notoriety, Brent Banks and Ryan Jacobs were honing their craft as home brewers while juggling jobs in finance and the medical field. At the urging of their comrades, the pair finally decided to go pro and start Saint Errant Brewing. Currently, they contract brew out of the Mikerphone space in Elk Grove Village, and as of mid-August, they released their first (solo) offering, Strange Loops, in bottles and kegs. We sat down with Brent and Ryan to taste through several recent brews and test batches to discover that starting a brewery in 2017 isn’t so crazy when the beers taste this excellent. We cover a lot here including the difficulties of beer names, the significance of yeast variables, Chicago’s perplexing lack of love for sours, where to shop for the best peaches, and how those Vermont trips with Fitz helped them dial in their New England style IPA recipes. (Shout out to Julio Rosenstein!) Beers Sampled Get It Together (Double IPA with mangos/c

From the tip of New Jersey’s elbow, Carton Brewing makes beers sometimes born of unusual inspiration that combine culinary artistry with just the right amount of whimsy. Listener Mike Bobal sent us six Carton beers for this one, and the flavors are as big as the alcohol content. We talk about Carton’s namesake leader Augie and his prolific internet presence while tasting through beers that steeply rise in ABV pretty early in the show. Naturally, this leads to asides about drunken oaring, Chupa Chups, sex stuff with oranges, proper nachos, and Craig’s monogamous cereal life. We also hop on the CanniBus to Weed Church before everything goes all orange on us. Don’t put this one in a box! (Because that would be physically impossible as this is a digital medium.) Beers Reviewed Wit Whale (Hoppy Wit Beer) 077XX (East Coast Double IPA) Cosmonaut (Russian Imperial Stout with Freeze-Dried Ice Cream and Spices) All Orange Everything (Triple IPA - Collaboration with Other Half Brewing) Regular Coffee (Imperial Cream Ale

Ignoring the fact that there are plenty of beers out there that relegate hops to a simple supporting ingredient, we again indulge our insatiable appetites for chronic hop-led tonics by tasting out five super fresh local IPAs and DIPAs. Are we getting too old for this sh*t? Not likely! We do have a hell of a time trying to find critical points that separate these all-hazy all-juicy hop cocktails before they disappear from our glasses. And because our usually-rich lexicon of descriptors (ha!) is limited to a few keywords again and again, we bring back the fan-favorite episode-spanning game Beers Against Humanity to force us to shoehorn dirty and terrible phrases into our normally pristine and knowledgeable beer analysis (HA!) Give in to your temptations, and let the hops take over. (And tell ‘em Bruce Candles sent you.) Beers Reviewed Forbidden Root - Radio Swan (Rye IPA) Hop Butcher for the World - Skrap Metal (DIPA) Pipeworks/Run the Jewels/Interboro - Stay G-O-L-D (IPA) More Brewing - Loose Candies (DIPA) Co

We love hops - and more importantly, our listening audience loves hops too. So to keep pushing those download numbers higher, we take our palates to the limit with six random hoppy beers. We talk about the wacky world of beer pricing, the shelf life of hazy beers, and the best brewery that Chicagoans aren’t talking about. If those hot takes aren’t enough to get your download fingers twitching with anticipation, then we also tackle the important issues like which deli meat is the stickiest, and why Joey Pants is the best, and what are the most lethal Slip N’ Slides? Plus, Craig trademarks his beer gym idea, and we set straight something very important about Gushy. Thanks for the clicks! #hazybeer #hazyipa #KregTightjacket #LilTeashat #BobUecker Beers Reviewed Marz Community Brewing Co. - Jungle Boogie (pale wheat ale w/ rooibos tea) Haymarket Brewery - Oscar’s Pardon (Dry-hopped Belgian pale ale) Sun King Brewing - Fistful of Hops (IPA) Triptych Brewing - Wake Up Neo (New England-style DIPA) Transient Artisan

It’s been a year and some months since Chris Betts made Transient Artisan Ales not-so transient by opening up a brewery and taproom in Bridgman, Michigan. We take the short jaunt around the tip of Lake Michigan to catch up with Chris over some of his world-class beers and talk about some of the big things coming for the brewery. We learn about the brewery’s expansion plans, the truth about the shelf life of hazy IPAs, what he’s doing with a barleywine, why people criticising some of his prices are dead wrong, and how being surrounded by wineries has helped his transition into Michigan. There’s also talk of the future of contract brewing, the odd parameters people use to evaluate beer, the secret to conditioning hazy hoppy beers, the way he avoids lambic faux pas, the odd charm of the Norway beer scene, the influence of local flora on his Michigan Wild Ales, and the possibility of more Transient meads. And stay until the very end for some exciting news about the future of Transient in Chicago. Just don’t mind

Two Illinois brewing traditionalists inspired us to dig deeper into lagers and hefeweizens, so we pitted a bunch against each other in a goofy Crossfire showdown. Riggs Beer Co. out of Urbana and Dovetail Brewery out of Chicago know the German way and have expertly paid homage to tradition at their year-old breweries. But that wasn’t enough as we brought in other examples of each style, either American or Bavarian. We get caught up in the crossfire as we also lagerjam our way into another potpourri of pop culture word association that you would expect from a typical episode of this show. Tradition, y’all.   Beer Combatants //   Lagergeddon:   Riggs Beer Co. - American Lager Surly Brewing Co. - #Merica! Dovetail Brewery - Lager Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan - Weihenstephaner Original   Hefeweight Championship/HefeRock:   Riggs Beer Co. - Hefeweizen New Glarus Brewing Co. - Bubbler Dovetail Brewery - Hefeweizen Ayinger Privatbrauerei - Ayinger Bräuweisse

From the basement of an Italian restaurant just outside of St. Louis, Narrow Gauge has started to gain a name in the Midwest and beyond as purveyors of great hazy IPAs - and other outstanding beers, as we find on this episode. We review four crowlers of beer that Craig schlepped back from a recent trip to Missouri, and the mix of quantity and quality has us hurtling towards shambling inebriation. We try to find Narrow Gauge’s place in the current hazy beer wars, and wax philosophical about the Perception of Aqueosity and the Arbitrarity of Rankings. Ryan introduces two new segments, and Craig will just put anything in his mouth. Beers Reviewed FloMO Pils Fallen Flag IPA Cloud City IPA Old Town Porter

Mike Pallen opened the doors on the tasting room for his new Elk Grove Village brewery back in March, and the rarest thing - besides some of his beers - is finding an open seat at the bar. We sat down with Mike at the new location to dive deep into what makes Mikerphone Brewing something like a phenomenon. And you’ll find out why opening a tasting room was the best thing Mikerphone has ever done. Over many bottles, we discuss the New England styles that have helped make a name for the brand, how he intends to try and fill the demand for Smells Like Bean Spirit (while creating more demand for some upcoming, crazy barrel-aged versions), the future of packaging for Mikerphone, how he uses Untappd for QC, his plans on establishing a flagship beer or two, what’s to come with distribution of his highly-coveted beers, and much more. At some point, we lose sight of the whole “interview” part of the show, and Mike just slides right into the 3rd host chair by joining us on diversions about New Glarus, Easter eggs on la

Whether it’s for a barbecue or a beach, choosing the right refreshing beer for your summer outing is more daunting than ever with so many choices. So, for your benefit, we drink eight Chicago-area beers that are built to pulled from ice and crushed. (For safety purposes, we must advise against you literally crushing beers, unless you own a CraigBot.) We also spend a lot of time with Summer Craig, get ball-punched by Peanut Tillman, conceptualize some mayo beers, bring down the PunGate, push for #NoMoLoMaNoMa, put out a can date mandate, talk about bad Untappd reviews, and slingshot some hams. So, it’s basically par for the course on an eight beer episode. Grab your longboard! Beers C-C-C-C-CRUSHED Middle Brow Beer Co. - Copacetic (cream ale with popcorn, lime, and peppers) Temperance Beer Co. - Greenwood Beach (blonde ale with pineapple) Pollyanna Brewing - Summerly (wheat ale with raspberries) 5 Rabbit Cervecería - Paletas Guava (wheat ale with guava and pink peppercorns and tarragon) Hailstorm Brewing Co./T