September 2017 - The Brit and Yankee Craft Beer Pubcast

Oktoberfest is the time when all craft beer drinkers turn to the stein, and fill it with a plethora of seasonal marzens, or as we probably refer to it, Oktoberfest Ale. The Brit headed to a a local store and selected a 6-pack of readily-available brews from 6 different breweries, and put them up against one another in a taste challenge. Providing their personal preferences to those beers are co-host Chuck Fort, Illinois beer historian John Bittermann, and tavern owner John Karwoski.

There was some thought to the matchups, but really this episode is to find out if there are any brews that standout based on what my local store had to offer. We have 3 preliminary rounds followed by a 3-way final tasting. Which comes out on top? You should listen to the podcast to hear the conversation and reasoning behind our choices, but SPOILER ALERT, here are the results, with winners bolded:

Round 1
Erdinger Oktoberfest, Germany 5.7% vs Schlafly Oktoberfest, St. Louis MO., 5.5%
Round 2
Left Hand Brewing, Oktoberfest Marsen Lager, 6.6% vs Sam Adams, Boston MA., Octoberfest, 5.3%
Round 3
Bells, Comstock MI., Octoberfest, 5.5% vs Pollyanna Brewing, Lemont IL., Fruhauf Oktoberfest Lager, 5.4%

Final Round Winner: Schlafly Oktoberfest, St. Louis MO., 5.5%

Bonus Beers:
Schlafly Imperial Oktoberfest, 8.0%
Victory Brewing, Down

ington PA., Festbier, 5.6%

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

This edition reports on the first Firkin Fest held on a sunny Saturday, September 9, at the CityGate Center in Naperville. The festival introduced many people to the firkin and the difference of the beer that was served from it. Over 30 breweries brought their offerings for people to try, and The Brit headed out there to report on the event . This edition is a sampling of the interviews with brewers, who talk about their brews and their approach to serving firkins.
The event was in aid of Project Help, and we hear from their President, about what they are trying to achieve with this organization.

Our interviews include Hopvine Brewing, Church Street, 3 Sheeps, Sketchbook Brewing, Blue Nose Brewing, Miskatonic Brewing, and finally Soundgrowler.
Apologies to Matt from Prairie Krafts Brewing and Shane Coombs from Rushford Meadery and Winery as we experienced technical difficulties with their recordings due to a high wind causing too much noise. We’ll catch up with them in another episode. Shane experienced this visitor to his glass of cider – what’s that bee doing in my glass…literally the backstroke!