Monthly Archives: February 2018

Pubcast 260 – Archive: Beer Judge?

We are taking a week off to take care of some personal things, so this episode is from our archives, broadcast in March 2012, the early days of the craft beer explosion.

This show was one of the first to feature Mark Naski who was to become co-host later in the year, and one of the first to be recorded at the now-closed John’s Tavern in Winfield.

Mark talks about being a fully-certified BJCP judge, what it takes to achieve this, and we pick up some tips on how to taste beer and identify the characteristics. Then we test our skills on a home brew. The tips in this show are still valuable today so tune in and learn the basics with USBrit, Lingo, and their guests.

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


Pubcast 259 – Colorado Brews Part 2

This week we add on to show 256 where we reviewed a number of brews from Denver, Colorado, and this time we have 3 more bombers from breweries in and around Denver, and one from downstate Colorado. We’ve headed out to record this show at Church Street Brewing in Itasca, where we assembled a plethora of brewers and consumers. As well as my 2 co-hosts, Lingo and Chuck, we have head CSB brewer T.J. Bachorz,and owner Lisa Gregor, plus hovering on the perimeter is new assistant brewer L.J.

We start our show with a warm-up brew, Church Street’s Dunkel, a dark lager that segue’s nicely in to our first CO brew from Great Divide, The Smoothness. Then we work our way through some barrel-aged bombers from the Denver Beer Co., Elevation Brewing, and finally Crooked Stave. At the end hear which is our favorite!

Brews reviewed:

Church Street Brewing, Bob’s Your Dunkel, Dark Lager,
Great Divide Brewing Co, The Smoothness, Dark Lager, aged in Jameson Caskmates barrels, ABV 8.7%
Denver Beer Co., Anniversary VI, barrel-aged red sour ale with cherries, 7% ABV
Elevation Brewing Co., Signal de Botrange, Farmhouse Ale aged in Rombauer Chardonnay Wine Barrels, ABV 9%
Crooked Stave, Origins, Burgundy Sour Ale aged in Oak Barrels, ABV 6.5%

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


Pubcast 258 – Tangled Roots Brewing

Down IL Rt.71 in La Salle county we find the town of Ottawa, IL. In the center of this thriving town is Tangled Roots Brewing, and The Brit and The Yankee made a trip down there to find out more about them. The first experience of TRB brews was their 1st Anniversary offering, a barley wine, which we reviewed favorably in show 250. Now it was time to get more in-depth with their beers.

We met with founder/co-owner and larger-than-life personality Scott Struchen, TRB Advocate, Mark Robison, and Amanda Hart their social media wiz, to enjoy a conversation about their brewery and more importantly taste and talk about their brews. It’s great pub chat, and a good time tasting and talking craft beer.

We taste the following sample of their offerings:
Matthiesson English Mild, 4.1% ABV
Forty1 Eighty8, American Pale Ale, 5.5% ABV
River Raptor, American Pale Ale
Smoked Stout, American Stout, 6.6% ABV

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