ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
539 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 days ago - ★★★★★ - 87 ratingsA Chicago-based craft beer podcast with beer and events reviews. Visit our website at www.abvchicago.com!
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Episodes
Episode 334 - 5new2us
July 01, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 68 MBAfter months of curbside-only beer shopping, craft bottle shops have opened their doors to customers looking to pluck some single cans off the shelves in hopes of discovering a few new favorites. We did just that at The Open Bottle in Tinley Park, finding five beers from out-of-state breweries to check out, leading us to one mystery after another. But in that exploration, we learn a lot about ourselves, including just how much older we are than Willy Wonka. (I know, right?!?) This bevvy of c...
Episode 333 - Meeting Beers
June 24, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 61.4 MBBy the time you hit that third Zoom meeting of the day, you’re likely thinking about a beer to drink discretely that won’t get you in trouble. On this episode, we have five very different beers that all land under 6 percent, which should keep you out of trouble with HR. Craig seeks out some movie recommendations, Ryan wishes he had a Willi, and we discuss 3-time World Dabbing Champion Tom Emanski. We also discuss the merits of the margarita gose, get shocked to the core by a City Slickers re...
Episode 332 - Hop Butcher for the Quarantine
June 17, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 74.9 MBEven though people are chasing pre-orders instead of trucks these days, Hop Butcher is still as hot as ever thanks to their consistent schedule of mostly hoppy - and mostly hazy - releases. The variation amongst these six beers is surprisingly significant, despite all being some sort of play on IPA. This episode is a tribute to what this brewery has become, and we’re satiating the Hop Butcher nerds with two trivia games and some additional information about all elements of their process - pl...
Episode 331 - Milkshakes Not Handshakes
June 10, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 66.6 MBSoothing that early summer heat with big ol’ glasses of lactose and hops, we’re sharing shakes from afar this week with the hopes of better understanding our complicated relationship with this popular style. We have five very different milkshake IPAs from some local favorites and - GASP - there may be a grifter in our midst! Other childish talking points include Green River floats, new Fun Dip slogans, the merits of Neapolitan ice cream, toilet ghoulies, shower sharks, and just who is at the...
Episode 330 - Café a la Maison
June 03, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 55 MBSince you won’t find either of us sitting on some coffeehouse patio anytime soon, we’re bringing the coffee home in the form of five stouts. While they all deliver the caffeine and the booze, each beer stands on its own unique merits - or is a victim of context. But we’re also here to get Craig prepped to audition for the new Supermarket Sweep, including how to navigate the new craft beer aisle. We also feel nostalgic for beer travels, stop at Ryan’s cooking corner, get VIP access to the fie...
Episode 329 - Fruit Salad
May 27, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 56.9 MBHere’s hoping that we can talk you out of attending that backyard barbecue by offering up this refreshing bowl of audio fruit salad to help your summer isolation feel a bit more festive. We have five different fruited beers that really span the range from “pleasant fruit accessory” to “chunky berry sludge” - and they honestly succeed in ways we didn’t expect. We plan some totally radical ways to break up illicit social gatherings, please the Tootsie Pop conspiracy theorists, mistake Craig fo...
Episode 328 - Stone Redemption
May 20, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 72.3 MBWhen you’ve been around as long as Stone, you’re bound to take some lumps. And lumps we have delivered in the past by subjecting Stone beers to undeserved spots on our Torture Test episodes. Thanks to Lizzie at Stone, we are finally able to give the brewery its first proper set of arbitrary reviews, and we only ignore one “enjoy by” date in this episode. The beers on the show are mostly pretty great, but all the talk of redemption arcs has us reflecting on past bad beers. We do a comprehensi...
Episode 327 - SIP Lagers
May 13, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 60.2 MBWe were already becoming very good at staying home and drinking copious amounts of lager before this whole mess, so it’s only natural that we shelter-in-place with a rich lineup of bottom-fermenting beers. Featuring six different lager styles from six Midwestern breweries, this episode highlights impressive flavor and mouthfeel variations so we actually, like, have stuff to talk about. Ryan takes unforeseen risks to increase contact with the outside world, Craig ponders, “What is cornbread?...
Episode 326 - Curbside Haze
May 06, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 56.4 MBThis week, we celebrate the resilience of local breweries and bottle shops that are still finding a way to keep getting hazy IPAs into the begloved fans of the juice. Though not necessarily the most hyped haze producers in the area, the five breweries on this show prove to be absolutely worth your contact-free dollar. We have a rare first-timer on the show, share our drunk online shopping stories, give out orange slices to the whole soccer team, argue best milkshake flavors, and admire Craig...
Episode 325 - Third Space Brewing
April 29, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 72.5 MBCraig extends his curbside to wherever he may roam, and after a month of quarantine, he hit up Milwaukee, carbound and down to score some more Third Space. After our visit last July, we’ve been thirsting for more from this brewery that’s just a Christian Yelich homerun away from Brewers’ stadium. We have a nice variety of five beers, and we take inspiration from the brewery’s Seinfeld obsession to run a round of Stumptappd about nothing. We also share some of our new quarantine names, reimag...
Episode 324 - SIP Dark
April 22, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 64.3 MBAs we continue our shelter-in-place recordings, this time we’ve got a somewhat random mix of dark beers to distract us from *gestures broadly* and get us nearly incoherent by rankings time. Whether teeming with adjuncts or not, these five Midwestern porters and stouts compete in the Pretty Head Competition while the show becomes robust with distraction. We imagine an augmented-reality taproom experience, conduct a lunchbox check, break down existentially over Christmas music, get mesmerized ...
Episode 323 - SIP Hops
April 15, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 63.3 MBWe’re sheltered-in-place and slamming way more of some killer hoppy beers than normal, because we don’t actually have to share. In our first remotely-recorded episode, we overcome a brief technical glitch before returning to what feels very normal: Craig and Ryan fumbling through flavor descriptors while distracting each other with random stories from our past. Craig has invented the perfect game for these times, Ryan’s trying to make a deal with Greg Avola, and we catch up on each other’s n...
Episode 322 - The KY Show
April 08, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 50.4 MBIn lieu of, you know, actual travelling, we’re taking our tastebuds down to Kentucky thanks to our good friend Sarah Rehmer. As our last in-person recording for a while, we couldn’t have expected that a show with five different Kentucky beers would have so many standouts - along with one just hateful beer. We’re building 90s quarantine playlist, claiming governance over each others’ bodies, planning our binge-watching material, breaking down the grain brackets, and squeezing into our husky A...
Episode 321 - 3 Floyds
April 01, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 52.4 MBWe can all use a heaping helping of beer-based nostalgia right now, so we spend an hour drinking and talking about one of the most significant craft breweries Chicagoland has ever known: 3 Floyds. For the first time ever, we have five different beers from the Munster, Indiana-based brewery represented, including three that really get us story-telling. Though this was recorded at the early stages of quarantine, Ryan’s lead-up indicates that it’s already gotten to his head a bit. We also talk ...
Episode 320 - Girl Scout Cookie Press
March 25, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 77.7 MBBecause, what else are we going to do? A while back, Ryan bought three French presses and was determined to make an absolute mess of some good beers for your entertainment. Craig picked out six beers from local breweries in a range of styles, and we drink and review those beers as normal before cramming a bunch of cookies into them and sampling the results. The flavor combinations are surprising and, in one case, life-affirming. Here’s some other quarantine talking points from this long play...
Episode 319 - Jersey? Sure!
March 18, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 56.3 MBIt’s good to have friends back East, as listener Mike Bobal sent us a box of New Jersey delights to reacquaint us with beers of the Garden State. And yeah, we snuck a ringer on. But there are many great beers to celebrate on this show, as we ponder many important questions. What kind of uncle will Craig be? Is a notebook technically a tree? Why does Craig feel compelled to sing 90’s songs so much? Who doesn’t want our new beer cold roller invention? What’s in the New Jersey water? How did Ry...
Episode 318 - Peanut Butter Cup Stouts Blind
March 11, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 55.8 MBThree great tastes that taste great together: peanut butter, chocolate, and stout combine in all six beers on this blind tasting - and a few prove that there is a wrong way to drink a Reese’s. Otherwise, we are lavishing in decadence throughout this show with six local-ish peanut butter cup stouts that help us regain our confidence in blind guesses. Ryan reports with the exclusive scoop on the 1st Annual Destination Toddler Rumble 2020 with interviews from a few participants, Craig has a pho...
Episode 317 - Single Hop Blind
March 04, 2020 13:30 - 1 hour - 53.1 MBWith most blind shows, we aim to learn more about how our biases impact our perception of beer styles, and we are often surprised and enlightened by the results. But not this episode. Our attempts to try and determine hop varietals through a blind sampling of five single-hop beers ends disastrously, so listen and enjoy our slow descent into existential crisis. But the beers here are varied and delicious, making the pain go down a bit easier. We analyze Craig’s Van Halen dream, Ryan does well...
Episode 316 - Revolution: Deeper and Woodier
February 26, 2020 13:30 - 1 hour - 60.5 MBThe 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...
Episode 315 - 1840 Brewing
February 19, 2020 13:30 - 1 hour - 54.6 MBBack 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...
Episode 314 - More Brewing
February 12, 2020 13:30 - 1 hour - 60.1 MBVilla 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 ...
Episode 313 - Back to the Barrel
February 05, 2020 13:30 - 1 hour - 58 MBAfter 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 yourse...
Episode 312 - Goose Diaspora
January 29, 2020 13:30 - 1 hour - 59.3 MBThe 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...
Episode 311 - Danks for Legal Weed
January 22, 2020 13:30 - 1 hour - 74.3 MBThe 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’...
Episode 310 - Under the Table and Drinking
January 15, 2020 13:30 - 1 hour - 54.5 MBIt’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 t...
Episode 309 - Beer on the Wall Collabs
January 08, 2020 13:30 - 1 hour - 55.1 MBWe’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 ...
Episode 308 - middle brow.
January 01, 2020 13:30 - 1 hour - 58.5 MBFollowing 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 ...
Episode 307 - Bourbon County 2019
December 23, 2019 14:00 - 1 hour - 94.4 MBWherein 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 pan...
Episode 306 - FoBAB Winners
December 18, 2019 13:30 - 1 hour - 61.4 MBTo 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! B...
Episode 305 - Cruz Blanca Luchadors 2019
December 11, 2019 13:30 - 1 hour - 61.4 MBAt 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. ...
Episode 304 - Deep Wood 2019 Part 1
December 04, 2019 13:30 - 1 hour - 62.5 MBThe 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 wond...
Episode 303 - Hot Drops
November 27, 2019 13:45 - 1 hour - 63.9 MBWhen 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. A...
Episode 302 - Listener Supported
November 20, 2019 13:30 - 1 hour - 50.2 MBWe 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 th...
Episode 301 - Dark Lagers
November 13, 2019 14:00 - 1 hour - 63.8 MBWith 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 t...
Episode 300 - 3 Fonteinen
November 06, 2019 13:43 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBWe’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 listeni...
Episode 299 - Torture Test III: Pain Train
October 30, 2019 16:26 - 1 hour - 79.6 MBThe 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...
Episode 298 - FoBABlin’ 4 The People
October 23, 2019 13:17 - 1 hour - 76.1 MBIn 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 bee...
Episode 297 - Craig’s Choice
October 16, 2019 12:52 - 1 hour - 58.8 MBIt’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 ...
Episode 296 - GABF 2019
October 09, 2019 12:56 - 1 hour - 95.5 MBFor three whole days, we are the masters of our domain - which is the expansive festival hall in Denver, Colorado for the Great American Beer Festival. We’re double dipping on this episode as we combine interviews from the festival floor with beer reviews and a weekend recap from the comforts of our hotel room. We stop short of two hours on this one, but it’s filled with takes on our favorite beers from the fest, a recap of Illinois medal winners, and highlights from drinking around Denver a...
Episode 295 - Rev Against the Machine
October 02, 2019 10:15 - 1 hour - 59.3 MBAlready an established force in IPAs, Revolution was curiously slow to embrace the hazier varieties. Not rushing in has afforded them the ability to learn from others and perfect their approach, starting over the last year through wildly popular test batches at the brewpub. But since this summer, Revolution has jumped in head first by releasing two murky Hero varieties and collaborating with a few of the hottest local haze producers. We sample five beers that represent this new side of Rev, ...
Episode 294 - Road 2 GABF
September 25, 2019 12:30 - 1 hour - 72.7 MBIn this long-awaited sequel, we are filling our meters with GABF excitement as we talk about the upcoming fest while drinking some local medal winners. We sample four Chicagoland beers that have previously earned medals - and deservedly so. There’s also a lot of tips for the Great American Beer Festival for 2019, including our Illinois brewery picks, which new-to-us breweries we’re most excited about, and all the other breweries that can’t be missed. Also, we develop an emergency plan in the...
Episode 293 - New Chicagoland Sampler
September 18, 2019 12:30 - 1 hour - 58 MBThe number of breweries in or around Chicago has surpassed 200 at this point, deflating the opinions of those that speculated about a major bubble bursting in the last few years. But that market density means that breweries must start strong to gain their footing with consumers. On this episode, we’re sampling five beers from five Chicagoland breweries that have opened or begun releasing beers in the last few months, and this show gives us a lot to be excited about. We also write a tubular e...
Episode 292 - Oktoberfest Blind
September 11, 2019 12:30 - 1 hour - 60.1 MBLike hooded sweatshirts and nutmeg-dusted coffee drinks, Oktoberfests make the impending colder temperatures much more bearable. Is it beer’s most popular seasonal? Probably! We had no problem finding nine different Oktoberfest/Märzen beers, most of which were brewed right here in Chicagoland. So we put them into a big blind tasting to determine which malty lager rises to the top, and we are desperately seeking jumbo pretzels by the end. Craig has a chicken-wing experiment, Ryan is a BelVita...
Episode 291 - The NH Show
September 04, 2019 12:30 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBOur state show journey reaches New Hampshire, courtesy of listener and friend David Leshinski, who sent us a state sampler box with *record scratch* no hazy IPAs?!? We enjoy this welcome and scenic diversion from our usual (lactose) fare with five different beers from five different New Hampshire breweries, and we’re livin’ free. Also, Craig Pokémons his dog and relives his time at Riverdance U, Ryan has a parenting and superhero dilemma, and we aspire to live like famous treasure hunter Nic...
Episode 290 - Kveik Beers
August 28, 2019 12:30 - 1 hour - 73.3 MBThe *ahem* hot new yeast on the scene for both homebrewers and professionals alike is actually an ancient and pastoral tradition, propagated by Norwegian farmers and evolved by necessity. Kveik yeast offers undeniable positives for brewers: it ferments fast and clean at unusually hot temperatures, often infusing the resulting beer with a welcome fruitiness that seems to match most styles. To learn more about Kveik, we drink five beers made with different strains of the Norwegeian yeast, and ...
Episode 289 - Triptych Diptych
August 21, 2019 12:30 - 1 hour - 54.4 MBThough it’s been three years since their last feature on the podcast, Triptych has remained one of our favorite downstate breweries while continuing to grow into fine purveyors of all things hazy and beyond. For this one, we sample six different beers from the Savoy-based brewery (and “Memery”) to try and make an arbitrary case for which super flavorful beer is better than the others. It’s a tough job. Also, Craig attempts to fill in some gaps in his 80s movie watching quest; we marvel at th...
Episode 288 - Gaga for GA
August 14, 2019 12:30 - 1 hour - 54.3 MBIn the three years since we last drank five Georgia beers on the show, there have been significant law changes allowing breweries to sell directly to consumers, resulting in another wave of craft beer growth in the Peach State. Listener Brandon Ramirez sent us a box of tasty treats for our review, and none are short on flavor. We also mark a historic event before it happens, fire up the Aquafier, gain some sympathy weight, and smell some warm hugs. Beers Reviewed Arches Brewing - Lloyd’s...
Episode 287 - Brew City
August 07, 2019 12:30 - 1 hour - 85.2 MBMilwaukee’s great reputation as the home of brewers (and The Brewers) was long built on cheap adjunct lagers. But in three years time, the Brew City has been reborn as a craft beer destination. Ryan and Craig had a torrid affair with Milwaukee’s beer scene in 24 hours, gathering beers and interviews along the way to provide a whole episode that is basically beer tourism propaganda. Listen as we welcome Andy from Third Space to hazetown, and he guides us through a speed-tasting while explaini...
Episode 286 - Eagle Park Brewing Company
July 31, 2019 12:30 - 1 hour - 74.7 MBEven though they’re not even three years old, Eagle Park Brewing Company has already acquired its third location to brew their top-tier beers to serve the Milwaukee area. We chat with co-owners Max Borgardt and Jake Schinker about their explosive growth while sipping through a taproom lineup of flavorful show-stoppers. Everything about the business’ past, present, and future is explored, from how a band of brothers practicing in their parents’ basement and brewing in their garage led to leng...
Episode 285 - Phase Three vs. Hop Butcher Blind
July 24, 2019 12:30 - 1 hour - 51.9 MBThe two great local conquests of the haze-chasers in Chicagoland for 2019, Phase Three and Hop Butcher have built a hype train of hops that has no signs of slowing down. So we do some blatant pandering to the beer geeks by having three double IPAs from each brewery in a blind tasting to finally determine...well, very little, actually. Taste is subjective, our opinions are arbitrary, and we have weird palates. It’s really just a fun experiment diving into these hazy monsters while doing just ...