Phil and Mark are back from their summer travels and both have collected several samples of brewing excellence from across the country. We will be sampling these over the next couple of shows and passing on our opinions as to if these breweries are worth visiting if you happen to head out their way.  From Utah to North Carolina and then down to Florida, the lads have selected bottles and crowlers and we’re drinking them in the name of the podcast, just for you!

In this edition, we have to pop open the selection of crowlers before their best-by dates, so we stopped by tavern owner John Kaworski’s deck and dipped into the cooler.  It was a windy day and Phil didn’t have his windscreen on the recorder, so apologies for a few ‘windy’ noises that may be apparent.

Our first crowler comes from One World Brewing in Asheville NC, and is their Chocolate Truffle Stout, an American Stout at 6.8%.  We also were able to get an interview with Jerry Shutz, their Owner/Brewer.

Next, we head to  Black Mountain NC,  a little town 16 miles east of Asheville, and a brew from Lookout Brewing, Mother Pucker Imperial Strawberry Sour Stout, 7.1%.  These guys were very generous and provided a couple of bottles for us to try in another show.

Third, we head 2 hours east of Asheville to Cornelius, NC, and the delightfully named Ass Clown Brewing.  We try their Blueberry Cab Stout Sour at 7.2%, and it turns out to be one of our favorites.  These guys have been brewing for over 6 years and the taproom is a delight!

Finally, we head back towards Illinois, stopping at Lafayette Brewing Company in Lafayette, IN.  The first brewery to receive a small brewers license back in 1993. We try their Oatis Brown, a northern English brown ale at 5.8%, and as a bonus beer we sample Black Rock, a Cascadian Dark Ale at 5.9%.

We will be back next week with Mark’s vacation report and the bottles he obtained.  Cheers!

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