Guest Hosts

Chuck Fort – Brewer, Church Street Brewing, Itasca, IL

Chuck jumped in to the host chair when Mark left for Boise. We needed an expert and as he has been home brewing for years, was past President of Urban Knaves of Grain, and is now one of the brewing team at Church Street, we thought he might have something to offer. Now, together with his trusty laser flashlight he uses to view the brew clarity, he provides all the technical background we need when we talk mashing and fermenting.

Ken McMullen – Brewmaster, Hopvine, Aurora, IL

Over the years we have formed friendships with many brewers, but Ken was the one who foolishly said he would collaborate and brew some beers with us. As brewmaster at Hopvine in Aurora, Ken provides a great range of excellent brews including Brew Monkey Belgian Tripel, and one of The Brits faves, 2nd Esteem dark common. Ken has been involved in brewing and restaurant management for many years, was part of the Midwest Brewers Festival organizing committee, and is a promoter of firkinery and cask conditioned ales. As Trump would say, “Great guy, great guy”, and we are happy to have him join us whenever he can.

Kevin Herbst – Craft Beer Promoter, Plainfield IL

We’ve added Kevin to our guest host page, but really he is responsible for producing our 2018 Corridor 55 Series of podcasts. He thought it would be a great idea to go and talk to breweries who were within 4 miles of an I-55 exit in what is known as the Heritage Corridor. And so the ‘live recording’ series was born. He has his hands in all-things craft beer and volunteers for FOBAB as an organizer. He’s not a bad guy, even though his roots are Irish and he is an ardent Notre Dame supporter! Thanks Kevin!