Category Archives: Imperial Porter

Pubcast 257 – Corridor 55 Special Release #2 – Imperial Oak Brewing

American Pale Ale, Brewery, Craft Beer, Imperial Porter, Milk Stout, Sour Ale

This is the second in our series of podcasts recorded LIVE at breweries along the I-55 corridor, within 4 miles of an exit. This time we head to Willow Springs and visit Imperial Oak Brewing. Our hosts for the evening are brewer / co-founders, Brett Semenske and Grant Hamilton, who bring with them their Flagship, Showcase, and Inspiration beers for us to taste and talk about, and we hear stories of how the brewery came to be, how it has developed, and what’s in store for the future. And finally, bringing in the ‘chain’ beer ready for our next Corridor 55 podcast, brewers Jordan Isenberg, and Justin Rigoni, from Blue Nose Brewery in Hodgkins.  Usual co-host Chuck Fort is busy at a UKG meeting, so joining me as guest co-hosts are Corridor 55 producer and craft beer promoter, Kevin Herbst, and the ‘Yankee’, Mike ‘Lingo’ Lingafelter.

As we talk about the origins of the brewery, the futures, what their favorite TV shows are, and home brewing versus commercial brewing, we taste and review their beer selections.

Flagship Beer – a brew that represents a mainstay, and something you should always try when you visit
Udderly Black, Milk Stout, 5.4% ABV
Showcase Beer – a brew that the guests want to highlight as something special
Cognac Barrel Aged Double Dee’s, Imperial Porter, 10% ABV
Inspiration Beer – a brew that has some type of inspirational aspect or personal sentiment to our guests
Dave’s Pale Ale, American Pale Ale homebrew, a beer that won mant awards and inspired Imperial to have it on tap from time to  time.
Chain Beer – the brew that links our focus brewery to the next podcast release
Blue Nose Brewery, Lenna, Kettle Sour, 4.2% ABV

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

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.

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