Monthly Archives: January 2018

Pubcast 257 – Corridor 55 Special Release #2 – Imperial Oak Brewing

This is the second in our series of podcasts recorded LIVE at breweries along the I-55 corridor, within 4 miles of an exit. This time we head to Willow Springs and visit Imperial Oak Brewing. Our hosts for the evening are brewer / co-founders, Brett Semenske and Grant Hamilton, who bring with them their Flagship, Showcase, and Inspiration beers for us to taste and talk about, and we hear stories of how the brewery came to be, how it has developed, and what’s in store for the future. And finally, bringing in the ‘chain’ beer ready for our next Corridor 55 podcast, brewers Jordan Isenberg, and Justin Rigoni, from Blue Nose Brewery in Hodgkins.  Usual co-host Chuck Fort is busy at a UKG meeting, so joining me as guest co-hosts are Corridor 55 producer and craft beer promoter, Kevin Herbst, and the ‘Yankee’, Mike ‘Lingo’ Lingafelter.

As we talk about the origins of the brewery, the futures, what their favorite TV shows are, and home brewing versus commercial brewing, we taste and review their beer selections.

Flagship Beer – a brew that represents a mainstay, and something you should always try when you visit
Udderly Black, Milk Stout, 5.4% ABV
Showcase Beer – a brew that the guests want to highlight as something special
Cognac Barrel Aged Double Dee’s, Imperial Porter, 10% ABV
Inspiration Beer – a brew that has some type of inspirational aspect or personal sentiment to our guests
Dave’s Pale Ale, American Pale Ale homebrew, a beer that won mant awards and inspired Imperial to have it on tap from time to  time.
Chain Beer – the brew that links our focus brewery to the next podcast release
Blue Nose Brewery, Lenna, Kettle Sour, 4.2% ABV

Play the show from our player below, or from the Podbean player…


Pubcast 256 – Colorado Cans (& Bombers!)

Recording this show on National Beer Can Appreciation Day, we have a crop of brews that USBrit brought back from Colorado and his recent holiday trip out there. It’s a consumers show this time round as co-host Chuck couldn’t make it, and we have friend of the show, Tom Ryan, and the return of the Cellarmaster and original Yankee, Lingo in the pub to try a few of these. It’s a bumper show, and by brew #5, we get a little punchy!

To start and make sure we have more cans than bombers on this ‘auspicious’ day,  we have 3 cans. The first is from established Left Hand Brewing from Longmont, then from Wibby Brewing, one of the newer places in Longmont, and finally Denver’s Crooked Stave supplies the 3rd can.

Rounding out our show, we get a couple of bombers lined up from the Denver Beer Co., and Boulder’s West Flanders Brewing.

Brews Reviewed:

Left Hand Brewing, Saison au Genievre, Saison with Juniper, 6.8% ABV
Wibby Brewing, Double Dunkel, Imperial Dunkel w/ Vanilla and Chocolate malts, 7.5% ABV
Crooked Stave, Trellis Buster, Double India Pale Ale, 8.0% ABV
Denver Beer Co., ‘Tis the Saison, Holiday Black Saison, 9% ABV
West Flanders Brewing, Forever Wood Vintage 2015, BBA aged Stout, 9% ABV

Play the show from our player below, or from the Podbean player…


Pubcast 255 – Michigan Makers Trail

Following the closing of our local tavern, ex-tavern owner John Karwoski, long-time friend of the show and now retired, is making up for all those long hours behind the bar, and visiting many of our local area breweries as he travels around Illinois and the Midwest area. Happily, we are the benefactors of those travel as he returns with beer samples for us to try.

In this episode, we are tasting offerings from 3 breweries that are part of SW Michigan’s Makers Trail, and 2 offerings from each, making out SW six-pack.  Check out the Makers Trail app available for both iPhone and Android.

First up is North Pier Brewing, located in Benton Harbor, and we have 2 brews with mythical connections, one of which we question as to the origin …
The Conjurer, Belgian Golden Strong, 8.7% ABV
Old Schuck, London Porter, 5.0% ABV

Next, we stay in Benton Harbor and head to The Livery, in the center of the downtown art area, and we have a couple of ‘prowlers’ containing a BBA brew, and we learn what a ‘maillot’ is, but question if it really is a biere de garde …
Bourbon Barrel-aged Wee Heavy, Scotch Ale, 12% ABV
Maillot Rouge, Sour/Wild Biere de Garde, 8.5% ABV

Our final stop is in St. Joseph, and the Silver Harbor Brewing Co. ,ad we contrast another sour ale, this time aged in red wine barrels, and we finish up with another big beer, barrel-aged …
Wot ‘n’ Tarnation, Sour Ale w/ raspberries & blueberries aged in a red wine barrel, 5% ABV
Barrel-aged Bride Order Male, Russian Imperial Stout, 11.8% ABV

Play the show from our player below, or from the Blubrry player…


Pubcast 254 – Corridor 55 Special Release – Pollyanna Brewing

We’re back after our end of year break, and we’re excited to present our first podcast in our Corridor 55 Special Release series and we feature and record it LIVE from Pollyanna Brewing in Lemont, IL.

In this series of podcasts we are going to visit the 9 breweries in the stretch of I-55 between Plainfield and Lyons, all no more than 4 miles from an exit. We have asked the guest(s) to select at least 3 brews they want to feature and have us taste, and we get the stories behind the brews and the brewery.

Our guests for this show are VP of Operations and co-founder of Pollyanna, Ed Malnar, and brewer Chris Koentz.  And joining us for our final brew to link, or ‘chain’, the next Corridor 55 show, is co-founder and brewer Grant Hamilton from Imperial Oak. This is an evening of conversation about beer, the brewery, and good old pub chat!

The selected beers are as follows:

Flagship Beer – a brew that represents a mainstay, and something you should always try when you visit
The Full Lemonty, Golden Ale, 5% ABV, 20 IBU

Showcase Beer – a brew that the guests want to highlight as something special
Ed’s choice – Acclamation, Belgian-style Golden Ale with Apricots, 7.7% ABV, 25 IBU
Chris’s choice – Fun Size, Milk Stout with Peanut, Vanilla Bean, Cocoa Nib, and Sea Salt, 6.1% ABV, 25 IBU

Inspiration Beer – a brew that has some type of inspirational aspect or personal sentiment to our guests
Ed’s choice – Ruffled Feathers, Hopvine Brewing, Aurora IL – Hoppy Brown Ale, 8% ABV, 75 IBU.  With which Ed’s inspiration  is brewer Ken McMullen.
Chris’s choice – Biere Du Pays, Side Project Brewing, St. Louis MO., Table Saison aged in Chardonnay barrels with Oude Fermier cultures, 4% ABV.  Chris’s inspiration is the brewery Side Project and their approach to brewing wild and sour ales.

Chain Beer – the brew that links our focus brewery to the next podcast release
Grant Hamilton, Imperial Oak, Prediction?…Pain!– Imperial IPA- 8.5% ABV

Play the show from our player below, or from the Blubrry player…