ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 372 - Baltic Porters Mar 24, 2021

Show notes

Despite the allure of warmer temperatures, we’re not quite ready to be done with stout season. So we grab the next-closest seasonally appropriate alternative: baltic porters! In our latest episode in our Prestige Styles Series, these five beers challenge what we know about both porters and lagers, but they are no challenge to drink. We share some fractured history about the style, try to determine the best month for Baltic Porterfest, and designate the perfect animal mascot. Also, we imagine ice cream bars that match classic novels, praise the new era of home delivered beer, and play our new favorite game - 1987’s Personal Preference.

Beers Reviewed

Dovetail Brewery - Baltic-Style Porter

Empirical Brewery - Endothermic

Haymarket Brewery & Taproom - Baltic Porter

Third Space Brewing - Ice Bear

Church Street Brewing Company/Illuminated Brew Works - Barrel-aged EGLé

Episode 371 - Back 2 The Barrel Mar 17, 2021

Show notes

Finally ready to recover from Barrel-Aged December™, we assembled a star-studded sequel to last year’s episode, bringing on five barrel-aged beers presented without additional adjuncts. The plethora of bourbon barrels and base beers make for some flavorful variations, and they leave us practically - and almost literally - floored. Also, we adjust to our new ISOs, discuss why Rev’s collaboration choice was genius, consider Half Acre’s barrel-aged beer plan, prepare for the inevitable stout slushie boom, and do a little fudge flirting.

Beers Reviewed

Central Waters Brewing Company - XXIII (2-year Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout)

Private Press Brewing - Life Is Round (Blended Bourbon Barrel-Aged Barleywine)

Half Acre Beer Company - Obsidian Throne (Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout)

Revolution Brewing Company/Half Acre Beer Company - On & On: Part 1 (Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Rye Porter)

More Brewing Company - Mehndi Special Reserve 2021 (Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout)

Episode 370 - Russian River Mar 10, 2021

Show notes

It’s always been exciting to drink Russian River - every bottle opened feels like an event, and it has felt that way for us for well over a decade. On this show we celebrate the brewery that changed the way we both drink beer. Though this episode seems to be about Pliny the Younger (and a lot of it is), the whole lineup is a marvelous progression. Also, we aim to bring back sticker books, open up the ABV Denver Fitness Club, get rolled for R.R., check the Midwestern forecast, and go on D.O.N.G. patrol. (Thanks to Mike R. for the assist!)

Beers Reviewed

STS Pils

Happy Hops IPA

Funky Foeder Cherry

Intinction

Pliny the Younger

Episode 369 - Black IPAs Mar 03, 2021

Show notes

Either through public demand or divine intervention, the Black IPA has made an unexpected comeback in 2021, and We. Are. Here. For. It. We snagged the first five Black IPAs we could to tap into the cultural zeitgeist, and Craig learns to stop worrying and love the style. We discuss why the style lost favor with the beer buying public, and speculate on where they may be going. Also, we consider which singers deserve their half birthdays recognized, nearly touch Dick Biondi with a roman candle, call breweries with our list of demands, seek the path to chocolate IPAs, and accidentally give someone the crinkle tingles.

Beers Reviewed

Revolution Brewing - Jukebox Hero

Stone Brewing - Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA

Bell’s Brewery - Black Hearted Ale

Phase Three Brewing - Mystic Infinity

Sew Hop’d Brewery - Blind Hem

Episode 368 - Local News Feb 24, 2021

Show notes

Tonight, we have the story of five breweries local to Chicagoland who opened amidst a global crisis, and the five beers that lifted the spirits of two weary beer reviewers. It’s ABV Chicago with your Local News - new breweries and new beers with your old friends, Ryan and Craig. First, we open with a few surprising new buttons, then to one person’s battle cry for ska; and later, a lactose-free label? You won’t believe your ears. Then at 10, it’s the new series: Jaws of Justice. All that after your number one source for arbitrary beer reviews recorded remotely from Chicago.

Beers Reviewed

Art History Brewing - Gravitace (Czech-style Pale Lager)

Goldfinger Brewing Company - Vienna-Style Lager

Histrionic Brewlab - After (FX) (Pale Ale)

Brothership Brewing - DDH Earth Go Hard (New England-Style DIPA)

Azadi Brewing Company - Kadak (Mumbai Chai Cutting Stout)

Episode 367 - Bock to Basics Feb 17, 2021

Show notes

The bitterly cold winter months call for rich and bready lagers, and the bock beer is ready to swaddle you in warming flavors. For this show, we try five very different bock beers that speak to the diversity of the style and contribute to the sudden inebriation of the hosts. We uncover the history of bocks while acknowledging the vast differences between substyles, but we can’t resist driving the bock pun thing into the ground. Listen for Craig’s surprising personality test, our two-decades late XXX movie review, the latest market advice on Beanie Babies, our VagueCast about The Crown, and the top three societal contributions of House of Pain. We also play a game of Stumptappd for bock beers. Whatever you do, please don’t look bock in anger.

Beers Reviewed

Alarmist Brewing - Sebastian (Bock)

Great Central Brewing Company - Weizenbock

Forbidden Root Brewing Company - Beanie Weather (Bock beer w/ orange & spices)

Maplewood Brewing Company - Silver Morning (Doppelbock)

Pipeworks Brewing Company - Genuine Bock Beer

Episode 366 - OEC Brewing Feb 10, 2021

Show notes

We’ve long sought out the strange and elusive beers of Connecticut’s Ordinem Ecentrici Coctores - or OEC Brewing, informally - so we have a ritualistic orientation with six beers from their little secret society. There’s a lot to love from this diverse lineup - not the least of which is that one of them comes in a freaking blue bottle. Also, we explore our legal options in a trademark dispute, let the funk do the talking, and play two games about stock symbols and airport codes. For Asgard!

Beers Reviewed

Rosé de Pétanque (Blended sour w/ coriander, orange peel, and blueberry juice)

Coolship Lager Black (Czech-style black lager)Tempus (Blend of lagered and oak-aged young saison, 1 year-old lambic style ale, and 4 year-old saison aged in red & white wine barrels)

Aether (Dry-hopped sour ale)

BiFrost (Nordic-inspired Cryogenic Double Pale Ale)

Phantasma (Sour porter aged in cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and marsala barrels)

Episode 365 - Revolution: Straight to the Ryeway Feb 03, 2021

Show notes

We send off this season’s Deep Wood series by opening up some of their finest ‘wines. Big on barrel variation, this lineup of barleywines and ryewines features a few of the best things Revolution has ever done with these styles - and our rankings diverge quite a bit. We speculate on the next Deep Wood lineup, fail at recreating Honey Nut Cheerios, zoom in on physical pictures, praise the “Rock N’ Roll Racing” soundtrack, and discuss fonts for a solid ten minutes. (This episode was maximized for CDBass® Boost Power.)

Beers Reviewed

Straight Jacket (Bourbon barrel-aged barleywine)

Honey Jacket (Bourbon and rye barrel-aged barleywine w/ honey)

Mineshaft Gap (Cognac barrel-aged barleywine)

Ryeway to Heaven (Bourbon and rye barrel-aged ryewine)

Apple Brandy Barrel Ryeway (Apple brandy barrel-aged ryewine)

Episode 364 - 7 Year Surprise Jan 27, 2021

Show notes

This year is our seventh as a podcast, and because we couldn’t throw a party like we usually do, we’re bringing the drunken fun inside your head holes. It’s certainly a nostalgia fest at times here as we relive our epic anniversary parties at Beermiscuous, but we made this one more interesting by dropping off some blind local beers to our remote recording spaces. We have six entries, with each host contributing three heavily wrapped beers, and we enjoy hearing each other squirm over style and brewery guesses. We also discuss classic movies whose plots fall apart with modern technology, relive Ryan’s favorite Christopher Cross memory, and reconsider Mosaic-based torture. Thanks for your support at any point over these seven years, and we can’t wait to party with you again soon.

Beers Reviewed Half-Blind (in order of appearance)

BuckleDown Brewing - Hooligan Soup (English-style Mild Ale)

Roaring Table Brewing - Whirlycaster (Sour IPA w/ blackberry, raspberry, Meyer lemon, milk sugar, vanilla, and rose hips)

Dutchbag Brew Co. - Somewhat Informal (Sour saison)

Pipeworks Brewing Company - Emerald Grouper (Double IPA w/ honey)

Hopewell Brewing Co. - Pub Culture (English-style porter)

Ørkenoy - Oscar Orchard (Gruit w/ sweet gale, yarrow, elderflower, and huacatay)

Episode 363 - Brown Ales Jan 20, 2021

Show notes

Though it may not be considered all that popular, the brown ale is resilient. Craft brewers have been making them for decades, and even now it’s more common to see a hyped-up brewery release a brown as a change-of-pace. To dig deeper into English and American Brown Ales, we drink a mix of five from near and far. Craig also turns this show into his own personal gameshow, putting Ryan to the test on five rounds of music trivia based on the history of the Billboard Hot 100. We discover that no one brown ale here tastes like the other, and that we can thank the California Raisins for N.W.A. Also, the hops get a spa day, the chocolate IPA comes closer to reality, and disaster nearly strikes when we put Mark McGrath and Mario Lopez in the same room.

Beers Reviewed

Samuel Smith - Nut Brown Ale (English-style Brown Ale)

AleSmith Brewing Company - Nut Brown ale (English-style Brown Ale)

Bell’s Brewery - Best Brown Ale (American-style Brown Ale)

Midwest Coast Brewing Co. - West Town Brown Ale (American-style Brown Ale)

Hubbard’s Cave - Janet’s Brown Ale (Hoppy American Brown Ale)