Category Archives: Craft Beer

Pubcast 389 – Sundial Brewing and Blending

August 11, 2023Craft BeerLandlord

There have been two new breweries opening in Illinois in the last few weeks. We visited with Fox Republic in the last episode, and this week we focus on the one that opened just a week before, Sundial Brewing and Blending.

Co-owners/brewers, Mike DeMalpartida and lan Swanson, together with co-owner Diana Carlini, have taken over the space previously occupied by Flesk Brewing, in Barrington’s Icehouse Mall. There they are producing some exceptional beers using blending, barreling, and fermentation methods which are not your ‘standard’ styles, even though you will find a pils and a hazy on the taplist. By the way, that hazy is called a farmhouse IPA, as their twist is to use a Belgian yeast.

In our conversation we talk about how they came to start this venture, their approach to the styles they are producing, and the challenges they will face in storing and stacking their barrels. As we continue chatting it becomes more apparent that these guys really know how to produce the beers, using their experiences from home-brewing, and in the restaurant industry to understand what flavors can be obtained using a variety of different adjuncts. For example, their wit has the addition of coriander but also is changed up by using a citrus tea, making the result a wonderfully refreshing beer.

We are excited about Sundial, and highly recommend a visit to sample their brews. Tell them The Brit sent you! Cheers!

Beers Sampled:

Wit, Farmhouse Wheat Beer with citrus tea and coriander 5.2% ABV
Posh & Dodgy, Farmhouse Dark Mild fermented and aged in oak barrels, 4.5% ABV
Field Stone, Farmhouse IPA, 6.7% ABV
Dolce Far Niente, Port barrel aged Imperial Stout, 15% ABV

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Pubcast 388 – Fox Republic Brewing

August 4, 2023Craft BeerLandlord

This episode we are down in Yorkville IL, and one of the newest breweries to open in the Chicagoland area, Fox Republic Brewing. Of course, it was a shoe-in getting an interview here as the Brewmaster and General Manager is one of my co-hosts on the podcast, Ken McMullen. Joining him is his brewer, Sam Walstaff, who we are christening “The Tallest Man in Brewing”, coming in at a fine 6′ 9″!!

FRB has been open for just over two weeks at the time of recording and has shown themselves to have great promise for solid beers served in a great space with a community spirit. The Brit chats with Ken and Sam about the process of opening a new brewery and their approach to the opening days.

Of course we sample some of the styles available, of which there should be something to suit all palates. It’s an exhausting process opening a new brewery and these guys have been working 7 days a week to bring Yorkville and exciting new gathering space. It’s worth a visit, so head on out there! Cheers!

Beers Sampled:

Button Factory, Kolsch, 5.5% ABV
Confessions of The Fox, collab w/ Church Street Brewing, English Pub Ale , 4.3% ABV
Floating West, West Coast IPA
Tequila Seltzers, fruit flavors, 4.5% ABV

Pubcast 387 – Kishwaukee Brewing Company

June 29, 2023American Brown Ale, Brewery, Craft Beer, Doppelbock, IPL, SaisonLandlord

McHenry County in northern Illinois, is home to several great craft breweries, all of which you can check out on the McHenry Co. Craft Beverage Trail. This week we are visiting one of the two located in Woodstock IL, Kishwaukee Brewing who recently won a silver medal for their Bufflehead Brown Ale at the 2023 World Beer Cup.

Kishwaukee Brewing Co., is the pride of founders and owners, Dan and Cara Payson, and we visited with Dan and his head brewer, Mark Gres, to find out a little more about their success. Joining me for this interview was my co-host, Ken McMullen from Fox Republic Brewing, who may have assisted in starting the career of one of Kishwaukee’s future employees…more on that in the interview.

We talk with Dan and Mark about how their brewing careers started, and how they came to join forces at Kishwaukee to produce classic, award-winning beers. Dan’s approach has got them through building the brewery at the start of the pandemic, then opening after the first shutdown, only to be closed a week later with the second one. All that being in the past, they have emerged from those dark days, and are moving into a strong position as a producer of great beers in the Illinois craft beer scene. Their tap room is a wonderful space, as is the outdoor patio, and you won’t be disappointed when you make a visit!

We must offer our apologies to Mark, who apparently had a mic which had ‘technical difficulties’ and caused him to sound like he was at the other end of the brewery. We’ve done our best to improve his sound in post-production, so hopefully it won’t detract too much from the conversation!

Beers Sampled:

Bufflehead Brown Ale, American Brown Ale, 6.8% ABV
Sandhill Lager, India Pale Lager, 5.5% ABV
Tart Peach Saison, Wild Saison, 5.5% ABV
Pollinator, Doppelbock, 7.7% ABV

Pubcast 386 – Getting Our Kicks on Rt 66 at Old School Brewing

June 23, 2023Brewery, Craft BeerLandlord

We jump in the car and head south to Route 66 in Wilmington, IL., where located on an island between the Kankakee River and the Mill Race channel is Old School Brewing. Paul ‘Pauly’ Bidne is the head brewer there, and we chat with him about his brewery which can literally be described as an ‘old school’ tap room/brewery producing great beers and full of friendly people and lively chat!

Pauly was a home brewer (and ex-plumber) and now one of many who have turned to brewing professionally, and learned his craft at Flossmoor Station brewery. He talks to us about his beers, and some of other stories are the friendly rivalry with the lads at Metal Monkey Brewing, OSB’s relationship with Unpossible Mead, brewing NA beers and craft sodas, and some of the challenges of keeping up with beer production on a small system.

Pauly is one of the characters we love in the craft beer industry and we encourage you to take that trip down Rt 66 to visit OSB and try his beers, especially the California Common! Cheers!