Category Archives: IPA

Pubcast 229 – Illinois Brews for CCBW 2017

May 19, 2017Craft Beer, Dark Farmhouse Ale, Imperial Milk Stout, IPA, NE IPA, Pubcasts, Sour AleLandlord

In this show, recorded live at the Church Street Brewing tap room, Phil and Mark select 4 brews from Illinois to celebrate Chicago Craft Beer Week which runs from May 18^th through May 25^th. Joining them once again are CSB’s head brewer, T.J. Bacholz, assistant brewer Chuck Fort, beer historian John Bittermann, and CSB owner, Lisa Gregor who keeps us all in check!

We have selected 4 brews we think you should try, all from Illinois breweries, near and far, new and well-established. In order of sampling we have Hailstorm, Noon Whistle, newcomer White Rooster, and finally old-timer Two Brothers.

This will be the last episode for a while as the staff are heading out in vacation, but stay tuned for new episodes later in June.

Brews Sampled:

Noon Whistle, Lombard – Mr. Nice Gummy, HopHash NE IPA, 6.8% (Crowler)
Two Brothers, Warrenville – Sour Beer #2, Sour/Wild Ale, 5.5%
Hailstorm Brewing, Tinley Park – English Gentleman, Imperial Milk Stout w/Hazelnut, 13%
White Rooster, Sparta – Solitude, Dark Farmhouse Ale, fermented and aged in Used Bourbon Barrels for 12 months, 8%

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Pubcast 228 – Church Street and Tasty Brews

May 12, 2017Craft Beer, IPA, Maibock, Scotch Ale, Sour Ale, Stout, Wild Ale, ZwickelLandlord

In this episode, we return to Church Street Brewing in Itasca, nearly 4 years after we first talked to them (Pubcast 107, July 6, 2013), and find out what’s changed and taste some of their new brews. Joining Mark and Phil today are head brewer, T.J. Bachorz, assistant brewer Chuck Fort, and halfway through the show Illinois beer glass collector and historian, John Bittermann stops by.

Join us for friendly conversation and a sampling session, including what makes white stout white and how it differs from a regular stout. For the comparison, we throw in another can of UK brew from Harvey’s, their Black Stout. Big thanks to owner Lisa Gregor who also stopped by, and T.J allowing us to record our show in the taproom.

Church Street Brews:
Head in the Clouds, Zwickelbier – 5.4% ABV 30 IBU
Magisterium Maibock, Maibock / Heller (Helles) Bock – 6.5% ABV 22 IBU

Other Brew Reviews:
Crooked Stave, Denver CO., Hop Savant, Brettanomyces IPA, 7%

Byway Brewing, Hammond IN., Bean White, White Stout w/coffee beans & cocoa, 7.5%

Harvey’s Black Stout, authentic porter stout, 4.8%

Schlafly (The Saint Louis Brewery), Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy, 35th Anniversary of The Wine &Cheese Place, 6.2%

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Pubcast 224 – Fruit Beer and More!

April 14, 2017Craft Beer, Fruit Beer, IPA, Russian Imperial Stout, StoutLandlord

A friend of mine went out to Iowa and brought me back a couple of fuit-based brews and this prompted us to track down a couple more and give us the theme for this edition. Recorded down at Hopvine Brewing in Aurora, besides Mark and Phil, we welcome Chuck Fort from Church Street Brewing, and Hopvine’s very own head brewer, Ken McMullen. Rounding out this week’s guest is Alex Zapata from Fox Valley Homebrew and Wine Supplies, who has opened up their store right next to Hopvine.

We also try three varieties of Ken’s Ukranium Krusher, and while we taste and cogitate on these fine samples of Russian Imperial Stout, we have a somewhat confrontational discussion on beer can labels.

Our final segment focused on the new range of beers from Gun Craft Beer, which produce cans that feature guns on some of the labels. We discuss is this is a good thing, or perhaps it touches on the same area as some of the ‘sexist’ labels that have caused controversy. It could be that this is the end of the night, or perhaps its just good old pub chat, but thank goodness we live in a country where we can express our opinions freely – and drink damn good beer at the same time!

Review Beers:

Green Tree Brewery, LeClaire, IA – Mango Me Hoppy, Mango IPA, 6.3%
Sierra Nevada, Chico, CA – Peach IPA, Fruit and Hop Ale, 5.8%
Edge Brewing Co., Boise, ID – Pug In the Sun Clementine IPA, 6.8%
21st Amendment, Blood Orange Brew Free! or Die IPA, 7.0%
Green Tree Brewery, LeClaire, IA – C3 Chocolate Cherry Coffee Stout, 5.9%

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Pubcast 221 – A Little Irish, A Little Illinois

March 24, 2017American Brown Ale, Craft Beer, Golden Ale, IPA, Milk Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Pale AleLandlord

We always know that the pub is a place where friends drop in for a chat and a pint, and in this episode we have a couple of friends drop by to sample some brews with us. Mark is away traveling out West, so I’ve brought in assistant brewer from Church Street Brewing, Chuck Fort to help me try a few Irish brews, and a few Illinois brews.
As we recorded this at John’s Tavern in Winfield, owner John K. joins us later, and then my physiotherapist Matt drops by after a hard day of therapy.

This show tries the latest Guinness variety pack, a left-over from St. Patrick’s Day when we couldn’t record due to Phil getting the flu.

And then back home to Illinois, we try 3 new brews from our local breweries and we figure out if they are worth spending your hard earned dollars on.