This week, The Brit, Phil Clark, and The Yankee, Mike ‘Lingo’ Lingafelter, take a trip to Crete IL, and meet up with head brewer Steve Kamp from Evil Horse Brewing. We sat down in the expansive taproom with both Steve and his wife, Amy, to talk about Evil Horse, Steve’s background, and the historic building the brewery is located in.

We taste a sample of their brews that Steve selected, but The Brit had a special request to include one that is on the B & Y top ten brews to try, and we hear the correct pronunciation of the name. After our interview, we also enjoyed a pint of their American porter, Paxon the Ponyless, and we agree with Steve that chocolate notes are noticeable, but it proves to be a great all-year-round beer!

So, if you are looking for a nice destination brewery, with solid, mostly traditional style beers, you should head over to Evil Horse, and you won’t be disappointed!

Beers Reviewed:
Balmoral, Best Bitter (ESB), ABV 4%, 40 IBU
Sgt. Reckless, APA, ABV 5.5%, 45 IBU
Eyjafjallajökull, Russian Imperial Stout, ABV 12%, 98 IBU
Seggebruch, German-style Pilsner, ABV 5.6%, 44 IBU

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A slightly different episode this week, and recorded very much on the spur-of-the-moment. The Brit heads out to the pub deck, and sits down with his buddy and also remodeling contractor, Pete Kraft, to see if working at the Brit and Yankee pub these past few months on various projects and enjoying an after-hours brew from time-to-time, has influenced him to drink local craft offerings.

Pete was very much a Leinenkugel Shandy drinker in the past, and The Brit has introduced him to many local and Midwest brews to see if he can train his palette in a different direction. This week, as the projects come to an end, Pete visited a local Binny’s and selected a couple of craft brews to reciprocate with.  Although not Illinois brews, Pete selected based on his tastes and we get one selection from a well-established Colorado brewery and one from a Wisconsin craft brewery with a great reputation.

Hear this conversation and then decide if The Brit has been successful in promoting craft beer, and if there is now another convert to better beer!

If you need remodeling done then call Pete at Kraftwork – 847-878-9811

Beers Tasted:
Left Hand Brewing, Longmont CO – Nitro Milk Stout, ABV 6%
Central Waters Brewing, Amherst WI, Cassian Sunset, BBA Imperial Stout with coffee, vanilla beans and cinnamon, ABV 10.5%

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It was the first night of ‘extra hours’ for Skeleton Key, who now are open every Tuesday, and the Brit and Yankee podcast was honored to be their first night attraction. And we use the word ‘attraction’ with reserve if you have seen the podcast staff! Sometimes you record a podcast that was a ton o’ fun, and this was one of them!

Joining series producer, Kevin Herbst, and The Landlord are the panel guests and brewing trinity from SKB, head brewer John Szapo, and owners Paul and Emily Slayton.

And in front of a full house we expose Skeleton Key’s view on craft beer, their community  associations, we learn about some brewing nuances, and we get to  taste great brews.  Listen in and hear from the folks who are your hosts for a visit to this wonderful Woodridge brewery, and hear first hand on what they listen to, what they stream, and hear about future events like ‘Fermentation Fest’ – WTF!

Flagship Beer: 
Migratory, Toasted Coconut Golden Ale, ABV 5.3%
Showcase Beer:
7th Evil Ex, Schwarzbier. 5.5% ABV
Inspiration Beer:
Flitterwochen, Kolsch, inspired by people who want to be home brewers and take it to the next level
Chain Beer:
We would have Metal Monkey, but the brewing staff fell ill, so we subbed in another SKB brew!
Little Hoarse, Berliner Weisse, 4.0% ABV

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We’ve had a short break but we’re back and this edition is recorded at Pollyanna’s Roselare tap room in Roselle. It features a panel of likely lads including Roselare’s very own VP of Operations Ed Malnar, taproom manager Jay Rosicky, Hopvine head brewer Ken McMullen, and craft beer aficionados Kevin Herbst and Tom Ryan. Everyone got together to sample brews on a single theme, that being raspberry adjuncts.

We did a mini world tour, starting in Illinois with Pollyanna’s very own Summerly, and headed to Belgium, England, back to USA and Wisconsin, Colorado, and back to Illinois. We tried a variety of styles, discovered one brew that we know was not up to par (no fault of the brewery we feel), and all of us felt that these were beers all readily available that should be tasted by those new to craft beer. We feel these are great suggestions for people hosting their own tasting parties during these hot, dog-days of summer.

There’s also updates on Pollyanna TV, and what Hopvine will be bringing to Naperville Ale Fest (July 14), we encounter a really skunky bottle that surely is not the fault of the brewery, and one of our beers hits a 10 on the pucker list, and finally the panel picks their top 2 out of our 6-pack.  Ed and Jay tell how Pollyanna will be on WGN Around Town tomorrow morning, and here’s a link to that segment…we just like to think we were there first!

Here’s our list of brews we think you try:

Pollyanna Brewing, Lemont & Roselle IL, Summerly,  Raspberry Wheat Ale / ABV – 4.8% / IBU – 13 / SRM – 3
Lindeman’s, Vlezenbeek Belgium, ​Framboise Lambic,  ABV: 2.5% – OG: 1.050 – IBU: 12
Samuel Smith’s, Tadcaster Yorkshire, Organic Raspberry Ale, 5.1% ABV
New Glarus, Wisconsin, Raspberry Tart, Wisconsin Framboise Ale, ABV 4.0%
Epic Brewing Co., Utah and Colorado, Brainless on Raspberries – We got a skunky bottle, so apologies to Epic!
Substitute brew:  Transient Ales, Bridgman MI, Raspberry Maigre, Raspberry Berliner Weisse, 3.1% ABV
Une Anne, Niles IL, Framboise, Lambic, 6.5% ABV

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