If you know the Illinois craft beer scene, then you probably know John Bittermann – he’s the crazy guy always asking for brewery glasses! He’s also a recognized beer historian, having presented displays and lectures at Joliet Museum. He is the source for those who need to know about new breweries in Illinois, and every year he takes at least one vacation trip downstate to visit those breweries that we in the Chicago and suburbs tend to completely miss out on knowing about, let alone visiting.
As a friend of the podcast, we asked John to come down to the pub studios and report on the ones he had visited earlier this year…oh, and if he wanted to share some of the brews he obtained along the way, we’d be happy to help him taste them. Joining The Brit, Phil Clark, were brewers TJ Bachorz and Chuck Fort from Church Street, and craft beer nerd, Tom Ryan.
On his recent late Winter/early Spring trip, John visited some 30 breweries across and 8-day period, and this show has him recount his experiences and reviews of the locations, so you can add them to your must-visit lists.
We also have a bonus beer from a vert traditional brewery, and learn from Chuck what krausening is, and John show’s us how to open a beer can from the bottom, collector style! Check out the video of this below…
www.thebritandyankee.com/Video/Pubcast309.mp4
It’s a bumper edition, so we thought you’d like a timing run-down in case you wanted to skip to any in particular, plus the brews we sampled:
- 00:00-08:00 Intro and prologue
- 08:00- 14:30 / Big Muddy Brewing, Murphysboro IL – Galaxy IPA, 7.5%
- 14:30-25:30 / White Rooster Farmhouse Brewing, Sparta IL – Expectation, BA Oud Bruin with blackcurrants, boysenberries and sweet cherries, 7%
- 25:30-38:30 / Old Bakery Beer Company, Alton IL, Digital Native Orange, IPA, 5.8%
- 38:30-52:00 /Excel Brewing, Breese IL, Winter Warmer, English Style Ale, 7%
- Excel Brewing, Bose Roggen, German-style Rye Schwarzbier, 4.8%
- 52:00-62:00 / Scratch Brewing, Ava IL, Chambourcin, ale brewed with grapes, 8.6%
- Scratch, Marigold, ale brewed with marigolds, 5.1%
- Bonus Beer: Reisch Brewing, Gold Top Krausened Lager 2019
Play the episode from one of the players below, or subscribe on iTunes!
