Monthly Archives: August 2018

Pubcast 282 – Beer Fought the Law, and the Beer Won!

We’ve been off on our vacation for a couple of weeks, but we’re back with a bumper show, and we’ve gathered together a rather special panel of brewers and consumers on this edition of the pubcast.

We have Ken McMullen, hosting our podcast at Hopvine, with Marc Wilson from Oswego, Chuck Fort from Church Street, and Brandon Wright from WerkForce, plus Pollyanna’s VP of Operations Ed Malnar, Kevin Herbst, and last but not least the original Yankee, Mike ‘Lingo’ Lingafelter.

We’re talking about the implications of recently passed HB 4897 (what!) that affects our Illinois brewing industry, and we hear what this really means to breweries and brewpubs. As we chat, we’re tasting beers from Tennessee that Ken collected during his May trip to the Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville, in May this year.  We also touch on 360 tabs, ICBG, craft beer demographics and politicians, IMBIBE, Brewer’s Association (BA), the price of beer, adjuncts, and much, much more.

It’s a bumper edition and an evening of ‘raw’ brewer talk, and backroom chat, so listen in and here from the guys who make the beer we love! And because Brandon and Ken love bluegrass, we’re playing segues from that genre!

Brews Tasted:
Hopvine, Bodacious Blonde Infusion, 5.9% ABV
Symposium beer for CBC Mockingbird Maibock, ABV 7.2%
Yazoo Brewing, Saison du Bois, ABV  5.7%
Blackstone Brewing, St. Charles Porter, ABV 5.8%
Wiseacre Brewing, Gotta Get Up To Get Down, Coffee Milk Stout, ABV  5%
Quaff On! Brewing,  Busted Knuckle, Ale, ABV 7.2%
Strawberry Blonde, American Blonde Ale, ABV 4.2%
Against The Grain, The Brown Note, Brown Ale,  ABV 5%

Bluegrass Music Segues:
The Joydrops, Not Drunk
Black Twig Pickers, Bushey Fork of John’s Creek
Shake That Little Foot, Turkey in the Straw
Sam Hill, Tennesee Mine
M Shanghai String Band, Same Old Moon

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


Pubcast 281 – Reeling In The Years: Cellar Beers!

In this edition, friends of the show, Tim and Tom Stephenson bring over a selection  of cellar beers from their vast collection. We wanted to have them select a variety of styles but also include comparison years from a single vertical.

I called in a few ex-John’s Tavern punters, Jon Harlson and John Karwoski, with The Yankee, Lingo joining us mid-recording.  We embark on a trip through time, and what did we learn?  Were the beers worth keeping? Is there a finite time-frame within which you should crack it open and enjoy?

We do get a variety of opinions on the beer from no carbonation to cardboard, to disappointing and weak, to freaking over-the-top. Listen in and then take note that beers are meant to be drunk in a finite period, so don’t over-cellar and the ‘best by’ dates are meant to be adhered to in most cases!  And we culminate the show with one of the strongest beers we have tasted, and to quote John K, “…it will make your nose hairs curl!”

Beers Reviewed:
New Holland Brewing
Envious, 2010, Ale brewed with pear juice with raspberries added, aged in oak – 7.5% ABV

Left Hand Brewing Co
Imperial Stout 2007 Aged in Oak Barrels – 10.4% ABV
Imperial Stout 2009, Aged in Brandy Barrels – 10.2% ABV

Firestone Walker
Double DBA, Barrel aged Imperial special bitter, 2012 – 12% ABV
Velvet Merkin, Barrel aged Oatmeal Stout, 2013 – 8.5% ABV

Brewdog
Tactical Nuclear Penguin, Uber Imperial Stout, 2009, 32% ABV

Our summary, Left Hand IP 2009 seems to have aged the best, with a second place vote for the Penguin!

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