Category Archives: Double IPA

Pubcast 241 – Viva Vivant?

Barrel Aged, Belgian Style Stout, Black IPA, Craft Beer, Double IPA, Grisette

The Brit joins up again with Mark Naski, beer consultant and BJCP judge, and we head down to Hopvine Brewing in Aurora to meet up with head brewer Ken McMullen. Our focus beers this week come from Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids, MI. 4 cans were donated by pod-guest and craft beer lover, Tom Ryan, who visited the brewery on his vacation. We have 3 Brewer’s Reserve and 1 limited edition to review, all which look to be unusual styles, but do they match up to the attractive packaging and reputation of the brewery?

To close out the session, we throw in a bottle that the Brit has been aching to open and share. From Odell Brewing in Fort Collins, CO., we have Brazzle, a golden raspberry barrel aged sour.

Beers reviewed:

Brewery Vivant, Grand Rapids, MI

Million Pound Grisette, grisette ale, 4.75%
Nuit Serpent, Black IPA, 6.3%
Civilistic, Belgian Style Stout, 5.8%
Devastation, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Double IPA, 11.6%

Odell Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO

Brazzle, Sour Golden Raspberry aged in Oak Barrels, 5.4%

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Pubcast 231 – Vacation Report: Mark’s Bottles

Double IPA, Imperial Porter, Porter, Quad, Sour Ale

This is another show-n-tell edition, and this time Mark brings to the pub some bottles (and one can), that he collected during his recent road-trip. We are headed to Florida and Utah in this show and trying some higher ABV brews. Joining Mark and Phil this week is Chuck Fort, assistant brewer at Church Street Brewing in Itasca, and tavern owner John Karwoski from John’s Tavern in Winfield.
This will be Mark’s last regular show as he is heading up to the northwest, and Boise Idaho, where he will passing on his brewing expertise to the growing craft beer industry there.

Our featured brewery is Barrel of Monks from Boca Raton, FL., who specialize in Belgian-style beers. They provide the following brews:
S’Tart Sour Ale, 6% ABV, Unblended, Lambic style ale
​Bon Bon Anniversary Ale, Belgian Chocolate Porter, ABV 7%
​QuandRum, rum barrel-aged quadruple, 10.5% ABV

We stay in Florida for our next beer, from NOBO Brewing, in N Boynton Beach.  We have a crowler of their ​Coconut Chocolate Coffee Imperial Stout, 12% ABV.
And our final brew is a more traditional double IPA from Squatter’s Brewing in Salt Lake City, UT. These folks have been around since 1989, so are the oldest of our trio of breweries. We sample their Hop Rising DIPA, 9% ABV.

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Pubcast 223 – Illinois vs Idaho

American Pale Ale, Blonde Ale, Craft Beer, Double IPA, Kolsch, Sour Ale

With March Madness behind us we thought it might be fun to match up a couple of breweries from two states beginning with the letter ‘I’ – Illinois and Idaho.  So with a complete arbitrary approach to balance and fairness we select Solemn Oath brewing to stand up against 2 Idaho breweries, Edge Brewing and Sockeye Brewing.  The Landlord stands by our Illinois brews, but will the all the taster’s agree? Chuck Fort, assistant brewer at Church Street, once again joins Mark and Phil for this episode, recorded at John’s Tavern in Winfield.

Phil has supplied the following from Solemn Oath:
Lü, Kölsch-style Ale, 4.7% ABV
Old Faithorn, American Pale Ale, 5.5% ABV
Funsponge, Belgo-American Blonde Ale, ABV: 4.8% IBU: 24


Mark has returned from his trip up to the North west and brought back the following:
Edge Brewing Co.
Odelay, Vienna Lager, 5.5% ABV, 23 IBU
Obligatory DIPA, 9.2% ABV, 88 IBU
Sockeye Brewing
Sour Puss, American Sour, 5.5% ABV, 6 IBU (why bother!)

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Pubcast 205 – Ram On Shaun Berns!

Brewery, Chocolate Beer, Craft Beer, Double IPA, Oktoberfest, Saison

We love putting shows together, but this one was a particular pleasure and a treat for both of us. Following GABF 2016, Mark and Phil sit down with one of the Illinois medal winning brewers, Shaun Berns from Ram Brewery (Schaumburg) to chat about his passion, and taste some of his beers including the Gold Medal winning, Chaos.

We taste his Oktoberfest, Pumpkin Beer, Saison, and the legendary Juicy DIPA ahead of completely luxuriating in Chaos, Chocolate Beer.

Head out to Schaumburg and try his beers – you won’t be disappointed!
Check out all the GABF winners – here

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