Monthly Archives: December 2018

Pubcast 296 – Central IL Brews Pt.2 & Christmas Cheer!

This week we have part 2 of our show reviewing Central Illinois brews, and as with last week, we have a distinguished panel comprising 2 brewers and 2 consumers. From Church Street Brewing we welcome FOBAB medal winning brewers TJ Bachorz and Chuck Fort, and from Hopvine, Ken McMullen. Then we have ex-tavern owner, John Karwoski, and last but certainly not least, is friend of the show and supplier of tonight’s brews, Deb Piscola.

We continue our trip and visit Savoy and Bloomington, and then take a detour to southern Illinois and Murphysboro.  Listen in and hear the panel’s thoughts on the brews, plus comments on why milkshake IPAs are good business, if it is a beer for the millenial generation, how The Brit can’t figure out the French word for cinnamon even though it is on the label of the bottle, and why the SIU Saluki dog isn’t a wimpy dog at all!

Our final segment sees the panel sampling the FOBAB medal winning Holy Moly! and hear about how it was produced from TJ and Chuck. Plus we round up which of the brews we enjoyed the most from our two shows.

Then The Brit actually heads over to Church Street in Itasca for the traditional Christmas toast with Anchor Steam’s 2018 Christmas Ale offering. This is the 44th year it has been produced so they should know what they are doing by now!

And finally, as we always do, we add on the Brit and Yankee’s rendition of The Night Before Christmas, just to get you all into the Christmas spirit. We’ll see you after our holiday break with more craft beer and brewery episodes. Happy Christmas and New Year to all our listeners! Cheers!

Brews Reviewed:

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

Pubcast 295 – Central Illinois Brews Pt.1

This week we are back in the Brit and Yankee pub, and we have part 1 of a bumper show, which recorded so long we decided to break it up into 2 shows…that and it’s the holidays and the pub staff are swamped with revelers and holiday parties!

Joining The Brit for these two shows is a distinguished panel comprising 2 brewers and 2 consumers. From Church Street Brewing we welcome FOBAB medal winning brewers TJ Bachorz and Chuck Fort, plus Ken McMullen from Hopvine. Then we have ex-tavern owner, John Karwoski, and last but certainly not least is friend of the show and supplier of tonight’s brews, Deb Piscola.

Our theme for this edition is brews from some of the perhaps lessor-known Illinois breweries that can be found in the Bloomington and Champaign areas of the state, but we also slip in one from southern Illinois just as we had it in the pub fridge!

We are tasting brews from Georgetown, Savoy, Champaign, Bloomington, and finally Murphysboro and the samples run the gamut of styles. Listen in and here the panel’s thoughts on them, plus we get some technical information on the brewing side from TJ and Chuck. We try to figure out how one brewery uses wood in their fermentation process, the different ways to add coffee to beers, and why Sorachi Ace hops make a good food pairing beer.

Next week we will round out the trip with the other great Illinois beers, plus some Christmas cheer!

Brews Reviewed:

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


Pubcast 294 – Joe Tota: Red Arrow Tap Room

This week’s episode is something a little different as we’re not at a brewery or down in the pub, but we are visiting with Joe Tota, owner and founder of the Red Arrow Taprooms. Ken McMullen from Hopvine joins The Brit at the Naperville location, where we sat down with Joe to find out how this self-serve taproom works, and what people can expect if they stop by to try it out. Apparently The Brit had some problems with his microphone, but Joe and Ken’s are fine, so that’s all that matters!

As we sit and chat, we cover a lot of topics, and how these establishments are impacting the craft beer scene, and making it easy for new breweries to self-distribute and get their beers to people outside of their own brewery taprooms. Check out our podcast and then take a trip to one of their locations and try it for yourself. Cheers!

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