ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast

Craig extends his curbside to wherever he may roam, and after a month of quarantine, he hit up Milwaukee, carbound and down to score some more Third Space. After our visit last July, we’ve been thirsting for more from this brewery that’s just a Christian Yelich homerun away from Brewers’ stadium. We have a nice variety of five beers, and we take inspiration from the brewery’s Seinfeld obsession to run a round of Stumptappd about nothing. We also share some of our new quarantine names, reimagine the movie theater experience, chase grandma with some fireworks, seek solace in the filthiest chips, and really botch a Zoom call-and-reponse. My wife!

Beers Reviewed

Summer Home (Hoppy Blonde Ale)

Unbridled Enthusiasm (Juicy Double IPA)

Haunted Barrel 2019 (Barrel-aged candy bar porter aged in bourbon and rum barrels w/ cacao and vanilla)

Happy Place (Midwest Pale Ale)

Mystic Knot (Barrel-aged Irish-style Coffee Stout)

Direct download: ABV_Chicago_325_Third_Space.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:30am CDT

As we continue our shelter-in-place recordings, this time we’ve got a somewhat random mix of dark beers to distract us from *gestures broadly* and get us nearly incoherent by rankings time. Whether teeming with adjuncts or not, these five Midwestern porters and stouts compete in the Pretty Head Competition while the show becomes robust with distraction. We imagine an augmented-reality taproom experience, conduct a lunchbox check, break down existentially over Christmas music, get mesmerized by blacklight posters, and let Malt-O-Meal be our quarantine saviors. Let it levitate on your palate. 

Beers Reviewed

Shared - Base Weight (Robust porter)

Pipeworks Brewing Company - Easy Keepers (Oatmeal stout)

Old Irving Brewing Co./Illuminated Brew Works - Ancient Magick (Imperial stout w/ cocoa nibs, vanilla, cinnamon, peanut butter and marshmallow)

Transient Artisan Ales/More Brewing Co. - Breakfast Sauce (Imperial oatmeal stout w/ coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, black tea, and chai spices)

Lift Bridge Brewing Co. - Barrel-aged Silhouette (Barrel-aged imperial stout)

Direct download: ABV_Chicago_324_SIP_Dark.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:30am CDT

We’re sheltered-in-place and slamming way more of some killer hoppy beers than normal, because we don’t actually have to share. In our first remotely-recorded episode, we overcome a brief technical glitch before returning to what feels very normal: Craig and Ryan fumbling through flavor descriptors while distracting each other with random stories from our past. Craig has invented the perfect game for these times, Ryan’s trying to make a deal with Greg Avola, and we catch up on each other’s new quarantine hobbies. Other talking points include mint creamsicles, Mario Kart coaching, Idahos 1 through 6, Mr. Met, the shirt technique, statued asses, bad Altoids stunts, and the secret of the green river dye. 

Recorded 4/7/20

Beers Reviewed

Hubbard’s Cave - Clean Pale (Midwest pale ale)

Half Acre Beer Company - Tome (Hazy pale ale)

Cruz Blanca Brewery/Hop Butcher for the World - Hard Right Angle (Hazy IPA)

Old Irving Brewing Co. - Beezer (Double dry-hopped IPA)

Hop Butcher for the World/Eagle Park Brewing Company - Swans of Lir (Milkshake DIPA w/ mint and vanilla)

Direct download: ABV_Chicago_323_SIP_Hops.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am CDT

In lieu of, you know, actual travelling, we’re taking our tastebuds down to Kentucky thanks to our good friend Sarah Rehmer. As our last in-person recording for a while, we couldn’t have expected that a show with five different Kentucky beers would have so many standouts - along with one just hateful beer. We’re building 90s quarantine playlist, claiming governance over each others’ bodies, planning our binge-watching material, breaking down the grain brackets, and squeezing into our husky Arizonas. Also, Ryan has a stupid soundboard and is going total jazz with it before packing it away for the foreseeable future. Thanks for listening - and keep coming back, as we’ll still have new episodes every week.

Recorded 3/20/20

Beers Reviewed

Against the Grain Brewery (Louisville, KY) - A Beer (American Light Lager)

Mile Wide Beer Company (Louisville, KY) - Catalina Breeze (West Coast IPA)

Falls City Beer (Louisville, KY) - Slam Dunkel

Monnik Beer Co. (Louisville, KY) - Tropic of Capricorn (Double IPA)

Country Boy Brewing (Lexington, KY) - Nacho Bait (Habanero Blonde Ale)

Direct download: ABV_Chicago_322_The_KY_Show.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:30am CDT

We can all use a heaping helping of beer-based nostalgia right now, so we spend an hour drinking and talking about one of the most significant craft breweries Chicagoland has ever known: 3 Floyds. For the first time ever, we have five different beers from the Munster, Indiana-based brewery represented, including three that really get us story-telling. Though this was recorded at the early stages of quarantine, Ryan’s lead-up indicates that it’s already gotten to his head a bit. We also talk about wide mouthfeels, classic DIPAs, hop extract vs. other extracts, and the indefinite (and not totally unfortunate) end of line bottle shares. We’ve got that curbside weird you ordered all ready for you.

Recorded 3/18/20

Beers Reviewed

Region X (Dortmunder-style Lager)

Alpha King (Pale Ale)

Zombie Dust (Pale Ale)

Arctic Panzer Wolf (Double IPA)

Wigsplitter (Imperial Oatmeal Stout w/ Espresso)

Direct download: ABV_Chicago_321_Three_Floyds.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:30am CDT

1