Category Archives: Fruited Sour

Pubcast 376 – Sturdy Shelter Brewing

Over the past couple of years, the Fox River Valley is starting to rival downtown Chicago in the sheer number of  craft breweries. The tri-cities of St. Charles, Geneva, and Batavia alone can boast 11 locations and Sturdy Shelter Brewing is the newest of these, located beside the Fox River in historical downtown Batavia.

Co-owner and brewer, Frank Mercadante along with his wife Diane, and General Manager Oliver Bulley have created a taproom and brewery that has become an important meeting place in the Batavia community, plus the all-important brews are well made and there is something for everyone.

The Brit and co-host Ken McMullen (brewmaster at Hopvine Brewing) visited with the Sturdy Shelter team one Monday when the brewery was closed and we could sit down and enjoy some good conversation, and sample some of their current taplist. We find out how the name of the Italian Pilsner came about, the history of the building, and plans for the future.

Beers Sampled:

  • Francesco, Italian Style Pilsner, ABV 5.6%
  • Batavia Lager, Helles Style Lager, ABV 5.5%
  • Huckleberry Sour, Fruited Kettle Sour, ABV 4.3%
  • Pulped Up! Tropical, New England Hazy IPA, ABV 7.1%
  • Robustacious, Imperial Red Ale, ABV 7.5%
  • Porter, ABV 5.3%

Here’s our short ‘teaser’ video showing the brewery…

Play our audio podcasts using your favorite smartphone podcast app, or our player above. We have a direct link to iTunes and Spotify below…and lots of other links on the sidebar! Plus you can subscribe to our YouTube channel by clicking this link.

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Pubcast 350 / Virtual Happy Hour – Rabid Brewing

It seems we have found a way to keep producing content through the Zoom conferencing application, while still maintaining our inside social distancing requirements. So, through the magic of technology we present this edition of our virtual happy hour series in which we head down to the southern suburb of Homewood, and visit with the splendidly named Rabid Brewing, and three awesome folks.

Raiye, Tobias and Max form the backbone of this brewery and we chat with them about their beers and the ‘mythical’ theme to their brewery. The Brit is joined by brewer Ken McMullen (live from his Hopvine brewhouse) and we taste a few of the Rabid offerings, including a lactose IPA with the polarizing name of Dripping Teats!

Brews Sampled:

  • Mystis, Fruited Sour with Meyer Lemons and Michigan Blueberries, 4.4%
  • Hexed, Blackberry Apricot Ale, Fruited Sour, 5.8%
  • Dripping Teats, Lactose IPA, 7/1%
  • Hemogoblin, Chocolate Blood Orange Wheat, 7%
  • Manticore, Kveik Russian Imperial Stout, 11%

Sorry about the video quality on this episode, but these days we take what we can, based on the imposed social restrictions! Cheers!

Our YouTube video…

Play the audio podcast on our player below…or your favorite smartphone podcast app…we have a direct link to iTunes for iPhone users, and GooglePlay for Android users:

Apple podcasts badge   

Raiye, Tobias and Max form the backbone of this brewery and we chat with them about their beers and the ‘mythical’ theme to their brewery. The Brit is joined by brewer Ken McMullen (live from his Hopvine brewhouse) and we taste a few of the Rabid offerings, including a lactose IPA with the polarizing name of Dripping Teats!

Brews Sampled:

  • Mystis, Fruited Sour with Meyer Lemons and Michigan Blueberries, 4.4%
  • Hexed, Blackberry Apricot Ale, Fruited Sour, 5.8%
  • Dripping Teats, Lactose IPA, 7/1%
  • Hemogoblin, Chocolate Blood Orange Wheat, 7%
  • Manticore, Kveik Russian Imperial Stout, 11%

Sorry about the video quality on this episode, but these days we take what we can, based on the imposed social restrictions! Cheers!

Our YouTube video…

Play the audio podcast on our player below…or your favorite smartphone podcast app…we have a direct link to iTunes for iPhone users, and GooglePlay for Android users:

Apple podcasts badge