ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast

Revolution has taken some serious steps towards becoming THE barrel-aged beer producer in the city of Chicago by churning out varied, high-quality product in an accessible format over a fairly casual release schedule. Simply put, they are killing it. So we couldn’t be more eager to line up the first five releases of 2018’s Deep Wood series to review and rank, giddy with knowing that there will still be five more to come. We also chip away at two different wood-based trivia games, dust off the Playstation and some bottles of schnapps, fear the #BiL backlash, and speculate on the upcoming sequel to beer: Beer 2. Kick! Punch! It’s all in the mind.

Beers Reviewed

Code Switch (Imperial Ale aged on blackberries in whiskey and bourbon barrels)

V.S.O.J. (Cuvée of two- and three-year aged bourbon barrel barleywines)

Deth’s Tar (Barrel-aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout)

Café Deth (Barrel-aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout w/ Dark Matter coffee)

Deth By Currants (Barrel-aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout w/ black currants)

Direct download: ABV_Chicago_252_Deep_Wood.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:30am CDT

Every Black Friday, Goose Island strives to deliver on a year-plus promise of bringing together consistent quality and technical innovation for a Bourbon County lineup that succeeds in besting the previous year’s. We sat down with Mike Siegel, head of Brewery Research & Development, to walk us through a tasting of some of this year’s offerings while highlighting the processes that brought these beers into existence. There’s also questions about the major changes instituted since the infection year; how specific ingredients are chosen and integrated to match a flavor concept; what quality concerns led to Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout getting passed over this year; how much AB-InBev’s influence plays a part in the yearly release; and how a new variant goes from a simple idea or blending experiment to a nationwide offering. There’s an absolute ton of other material here that would be best enjoyed while shivering in a pre-dawn line for Bourbon County, or while sitting and revelling in your spoils while sipping on a glass of barrel-aged stout. Dust off your Randall, because we’re infusing your brains with some tasty Bourbon County talk.

Beers Tasted

Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine

Reserve Bourbon County Brand Stout (aged in 12 year-old Elijah Craig Barrel Proof bourbon barrels)

Bourbon County Brand Midnight Orange Stout

Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout

Direct download: ABV_Chicago_251_BCBS_2018.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:30am CDT

For our big 250, we bring together a show that’s been over four years in the making about beers that take at least three years to produce. It’s all American-style gueuzes - er, Méthode Traditionnelle, in some cases - from six sour beer makers. We’re joined by Doug Veliky of Revolution Brewing, just because we wanted a friend to share these with. But Doug shares with us a bunch of Revolution updates, and spoils our dreams on why we’ll likely never see a canned Gueuze. If that weren’t enough, this show also features brief drop-in interviews from James Howat of Black Project (and one of three board members for Méthode Traditionnelle Society), Jason Pellett of Orpheus Brewing, and Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey. Thank you for your listenership at any point along the way of these 250 episodes, and thank you more sincerely for tolerating our terrible Gueuze puns.

Gueuzes Cruised

Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales - Oxcart: Blend A (2018)

New Glarus Brewing Company - R&D Vintage 2017

Orpheus Brewing - Everything Lasts Forever

Jester King Brewery - 2017 Spon 4

Bullfrog Brewery - Le Roar Grrz (2016)

The Lost Abbey - Duck Duck Gooze (2016)

Direct download: ABV_Chicago_250_Gueuzn_USA.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00am CDT

The 16th annual Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers is almost upon us, and we continue our yearly tradition of geeking out about our favorite Chicago festival. We have five beers from brewers who will be pouring at this year’s fest while we also share some festival tips and breweries to seek out. Ryan also has done his homework as he subjects Craig to a few rounds of FoBAB history trivia. But we also review the bathrooms at the Google HQ, recklessly redefine the word “subtle”, enter the Apriverse, discover a new fetish, and get a little oxidation in our eyes. It’s more fun than you can fit in a...uh...some kind of….uh...liquid-holding vessel?

Beers Reviewed

Cerebral Brewing - Deep Thought (Chardonnay barrel-aged saison)

Cruz Blanca Brewery - Paz Y Piña (Saison refermented on pineapples in Chardonnay barrels)

Cellador Ales - Seconds (Blended barrel-aged sour with apricots)

Indeed Brewing Company - Rum King 2015 (Rum barrel-aged imperial stout)

Revolution Brewing - V.S.O.J. (Blend of 2 and 3 year-aged bourbon barrel barleywines)

Direct download: ABV_Chicago_249_FoBABlin_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:30am CDT

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