ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 273 - Blind Saisons Apr 24, 2019

Show notes

It’s that magical time of year again where the warm weather and budding flowers necessitate the enjoyment of saisons - and it’s also when we have our annual Saisonathon event during Illinois Craft Beer Week on Tuesday, May 14th at Forbidden Root! Outside of a few other shameless plugs for the event, this show is one we’ve always wanted to do. We take seven saisons, mostly representing more “classic” interpretations, and we review and rank them in a blind tasting. As usual with our blind shows, the results are a total surprise, and our guessing abilities are....limited. We also talk about Spring Break Craig’s wardrobe, Big League Chew, ultimate buffet pairings, That Beer Craig Had In Germany, and Saison Detectives. (Pssst….go to that thing we mentioned.)

Saison Reviewed Blindly (in order of appearance)

Brasserie Dupont - Saison Dupont

Brasserie St. Fuellien - Saison

Funkwerks - Saison

Off Color Brewing - Apex Predator

Allagash Brewing Company - Saison

Boulevard Brewing Co. - Tank 7

Forbidden Root - Saison

Episode 272 - Mikerphone Duets Apr 17, 2019

Show notes

Mike Pallen and his crew at Mikerphone are some of the most prolific collaborators in the business, and each year they expand their Cool Beer Friends Club by throwing an invitational they call Smells Like A Beer Fest. So to ready ourselves for this year’s shindig on April 27th, we drink five collaboration beers between Mikerphone and five other excellent breweries. Craig also gives us his White Sox Beer Review for the year, Ryan serves up a game of “Did They Duet?,” and we fixate on one of the worst songs and videos of all time. There’s also a new Beer Crank Bucket (inspired by Twitter), a little beer negging, and some real irie vibes. Stumble down the palate with us.

Beers Reviewed

Windmill Brewing & Mikerphone - Feel Good Inc. (Milkshake-style IPA made with passion fruit, coconut, lactose, and vanilla)

Cerebral Brewing & Mikerphone - Just The Two Of Us (Blonde ale w/ marshmallow fluff, raspberry puree, cacao, and lactose)

Lil Beaver Brewery & Mikerphone - Cupcakes, Cookies, & Rainbows (Imperial stout with milk sugar, chocolate and vanilla)

The Bruery & Mikerphone - Icky Thump (Imperial stout w/ Tugboat coffee)

WeldWerks Brewing Co. & Mikerphone - Sweet Disposition (Imperial Stout brewed with maple syrup, Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans, and Papua New Guinea vanilla beans, aged in a mix of bourbon and rum barrels for 18 months)

Episode 271 - Cellar Roulette Apr 10, 2019

Show notes

It’s a high concept week in the bunker as we gamify our cellars by letting a roll of the dice determine the show’s lineup. Both Craig and Ryan dug deep into their closets to offer up a range of twelve interesting offerings that go from forgotten oddity to valuable rarity. Each host rolls a six-sided die three times to determine the six beers for the show, and the tension is more than could’ve ever been imagined. This was a crazy fun time to record, and we hope you enjoy the results - you’ll have to listen to find out the final lineup. There’s also some stuff about Doomsday Preppers, perpetually wet floors, Pappy Kong, and a cuvee of dolphins. (Also, mark your calendars for Tuesday, May 14th as we bring Saisonathon to Forbidden Root!)

Our Twelve Cellar Offerings, in order of dice value

Craig

Transient Artisan Ales - Sporadic #2 (Wine barrels)
Hoppin’ Frog Brewery - Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S. Van Wink Oatmeal Imperial Stout
Evil Twin Brewing - Imperial Biscotti Break Bourbon Barrel-Aged
Hill Farmstead Brewery - E.
Cycle Brewing Company/Mikkeller - DOS Brunch
Cigar City Brewing - Double Barrel Hunahpu’s

Ryan

Avery Brewing Co. - Mephistopheles (2011)
Draai Laag Brewing Co. - R2 Koelschip
Paradox Beer Co. - End of the Beginning Vol. II
De Struise Brouwers - Cuvée Delphine (2013)
Firestone Walker Brewing Co. - Double DBA (2013)
Goose Island Beer Co. - Proprietor’s Bourbon County Stout (2013)

Episode 270 - Forager Brewery Apr 03, 2019

Show notes

Though the name suggests a more rustic approach, Forager Brewery out of Rochester, Minnesota is finding an audience with their adjunct-laden stouts and mixed-culture sours. We get our hands on four dark beers and one barrel-aged sour to learn more about this brewery that wowed us at GABF in 2017. Succumbing to the fudge giggles, we also find ourselves considering cereal smells, questioning our broken palates, and getting stickier than ever before. (Also, we share the big news about Saisonathon 2019, so tune in to this one for some details - or keep an eye on our website for more!)

Beers Reviewed

Sherpa’s Survival Kit (Imperial stout)

Pudding Goggles (Imperial porter w/ coconut, cinnamon, vanilla beans, and cacao nibs)

Obscurely Referenced (Sour blonde ale aged in gin barrels - collaboration with Fair State Brewing)

Happiness Layer (Imperial milk stout w/ roasted pecans, toasted coconut, vanilla beans, and cacao nibs)

Mexican Mocha (Imperial stout w/ vanilla beans, cacao nibs, habanero, guajillo, ancho, and mulato peppers, ceylon cinnamon, and coffee)

Episode 269 - SARA Revisited Mar 27, 2019

Show notes

A sequel almost five years in the making, this episode reunites us with the beers of Sante Adairius Rustic Ales thanks to listener Mike Rousseau. Recognized by RateBeer as the 10th best brewery in the world, SARA may have built its legacy on oak-aged saisons, but here we get to sample some of their recent forays into IPA. Craig seeks out some dog walking advice, Ryan shares the smartest snack, we practice a little tantric sipping, and we explore themes of the next films in the Expendables franchise. Decanting suggested!

Beers Reviewed

Woven (Oak-aged blonde ale - collaboration with Half Acre)

Tomorrow, Today (IPA)

Then Again (Blend of 1-, 2-, and 3-year old barrel-aged saisons)

Of This World (Triple IPA)

Cask 200: Batch 2 (Solera-style saison)

Episode 268 - The Legend of the Seven Sierras Mar 20, 2019

Show notes

An ancient prophecy foretold of a legacy brewery that would make a baffling number of IPAs to be available all at the same time, and that those IPAs would remind two lowly podcasters about why they fell in love with beer in the first place. Yeah, the Sierra Nevada love is strong on this one, especially from Ryan, whose CostCo shopping made this show possible. But we do find a lot of interesting variation in the seven IPAs in this lineup. Craig tries not to lean too hard into the “tastes like a beer” angle, we explore the next frontier in cooking shows, and there’s a bunch of bizarre stuff about dinosaurs. Dig those whiffs!

Sierra Nevada Beers Reviewed

Resilience IPA

Torpedo Extra IPA

Tropical Torpedo IPA

Brut IPA

Hop Solo IPA

Sidecar Orange IPA

Ruthless Rye IPA

Episode 267 - The HI Show Mar 13, 2019

Show notes

To help push us through the last bits of this awful Chicago winter, we drink beers from paradise to tackle our 19th state show. This episode features five beers from five Hawaiian breweries, and they taste pretty great even without the tropical background. We also introduce our extremely on-brand Sweet 16 bracket challenge, give you Something Else to Complain About Ⓡ, and explain how Craig’s mom is awesome (and better than Ryan). You’d expect us to say “aloha” here, but we didn’t. Ha.

Beers Reviewed

Lanikai Brewing Company (Kailua) - Route 70 (Saison w/ hibiscus and honey)

Waikiki Brewing Company (Honolulu) - Hana Hou Hefe (Hefeweizen w/ strawberry puree and orange peel)

Big Island Brewhaus (Kamuela) - Overboard IPA

Mehana Brewing Company (Hilo) - Volcano Red Ale

Maui Brewing Company (Kihei) - Imperial Coconut Porter (w/ toasted coconut and cacao nibs)

Episode 266 - Cherry On Tap Mar 06, 2019

Show notes

Like a lucky slot machine pull, we have a winning lineup of cherries on this show as we try five different styles of beer from five breweries, all featuring cherry. We learn quite a bit about these versatile drupes while we rank this group that has a few transcendent flavor experiences. This one is also ripe with diversions that include Zen gardens, Dairy Queen flagships, screaming lemons, the worst Sunday alibi, Al Borland Cosplay, hateful Hobby Lobby aromas, Dan Cortese’s filmography, and a BuzzBall the size of a baby’s skull. It’s certainly not…..the pits.

Beers Reviewed

Casey Brewing & Blending - Casey Family Preserves: Golden Cherry (Oak-aged Saison)

Sketchbook Brewing Co. - Ripe Now Farmstand Porter w/ Cherries

Transient Artisan Ales - Cherry Anachronism (American Wild Ale)

Hop Butcher for the World - Circumpolar Cherry Cyclone (Milkshake Double IPA w/ lactose, vanilla, and cherry)

Pipeworks Brewing Co. - Barrel-aged Cherry Truffle Abduction (Imperial stout w/ cacao and cherry, aged in bourbon barrels)

Episode 265 - BA Vanilla Stouts Blind Feb 27, 2019

Show notes

With a secondary price tag higher than our mortgage payments, this show is an embarrassment of riches in flavor and in rarity. But will we be embarrassed by our blind rankings of eight barrel-aged vanilla stouts released in 2018? You bet your sweet tooth we will. We are joined by Ryan Tracy at his Park Ridge establishment, Beer on the Wall, as we fumble through our guesses and evaluate these high gravity beers based only on what’s in the glass. It’s a fun way to hear our beer careers come to an end. If that’s not enough, we talk about confusing road signs, classic Chi-Chi’s commercials, the best doorbells to lick, and waffles. And it’s totally not scripted, we swear.

Beers Tasted Blindly (in order of appearance)

Transient Artisan Ales - Gray Skies Barrel Aged Neckbeard Nectar
Bottle Logic Brewing - Fundamental Observation: Batch 4
Goose Island Beer Co. - Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout (2018)
Angry Chair Brewing - Barrel Aged Ultra Violence
Voodoo Brewing - Big Black Voodoo Daddy (Aged in Bourbon barrels w/ vanilla beans)
More Brewing - Barrel Aged Henna (Vanilla Caviar)
3 Floyds Brewing Co. - Dark Lord: Marshmallow Handjee
Revolution Brewing - Vanilla Deth

Episode 264 - Flagship February Feb 20, 2019

Show notes

Whether you see it as beer’s #version of Record Store Day or as a viral marketing ploy to drive sales for struggling brands, we here at ABV Chicago embrace these classics with open arms. And our arms are very open on this episode as we sample 12 of the most important beers in American craft beer, all of which either launched or propelled legacy brands. No one in the world really needs our take on these beers, but here you go! Before pronunciation becomes a problem, we share the plagiarised stories of these beers’ varied histories, Craig accidentally ends up in a porn, Ryan forgets about Fat Tire, and we workshop some stuff for Spontaneous September. We also try and sell Jim Koch our palates, Craig yearns for the Days of Malt, and Ryan reviews Baker’s Square from the 90s. Come for the classic beers; stay for the Moist Steven.

Flagships “Reviewed”

Anchor Brewing Company - Anchor Steam Beer

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. - Pale Ale

Boston Beer Company - Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Bell’s Brewery - Amber Ale

Great Lakes Brewing Company - Dortmunder Gold

Yuengling Brewery - Traditional Lager

Deschutes Brewery - Black Butte Porter

Lagunitas Brewing Company - IPA

Allagash Brewing Company - White

New Glarus Brewing Company - Spotted Cow

Oskar Blues Brewery - Dale’s Pale Ale