This week we are excited to visit again with someone who has been on our podcast before, and is now owner and brewer at his own establishment. Erik Pizer has been part of the brewing community in the Chicagoland area for many years, and is now firmly ensconced in Tinley Park at Flipside Brewing.

Open for just under 6 months, he has built his business around the brewpub model, providing a range of solid beers and other liquors, while offering a fantastic food menu. Located only a short distance off I-80, this is fast becoming the place to hang out for locals. We talk about how he is trying to provide a small, but full range of offerings including beer cocktails, locally distilled liquors, and as The Brit discovers his “well-balanced” beers. As Erik says he has 10 years of experience so he may not know all of what to do, but he does know what NOT to do, and we agree that he’s doing things right!

Tinley Park is another core of great craft breweries and we highly recommend a visit to Flipside during your visit! Cheers!

Beers Sampled:

• Grey Skies Surprise, Dortmunder Golder Lager, ABV 5.9% 
• Driveshaft, West Coast IPA, ABV 6.5%
• Haunted Past, English Mild, ABV 3.8%
• Warm Hug,  American Porter with vanilla and coffee, ABV 5.5% ABV
• Pigloo, Barleywine, collaboration with Miskatonic Brewing, ABV 10.5%

Here’s our short ‘teaser’ video showing the brewery…

Play our audio podcasts using your favorite smartphone podcast app, or our player above. We have a direct link to iTunes and Spotify below…and lots of other links on the sidebar! Plus you can subscribe to our YouTube channel by clicking this link.

   

Last week our podcast interview was with one of the newest breweries in Illinois, and this week we chat with one that has been around for over seven years…Metal Monkey Brewing in Romeoville IL.

We have been tracking the owner/brewer team of Dan Camp and Jason Janes since their opening, which incidentally saw some 1100 people attend. We checked in with them 1 year later in show 215, we featured them in our series of ‘live’ recordings featuring breweries along the I-55 corridor, and most recently albeit March of 2020, we ‘zoomed’ with Dan during the pandemic.

So, it just made sense that following their recent 7-year anniversary weekend, we should sit down and get a retrospective from them on how this journey is progressing. We are pleased to say that the beers and their prospects are still great! But don’t take our word for it. Listen to this podcast where Dan and Jason provide some stories from their history, including how their ‘original’ pickle sour, Rick, came into being. Plus an insight into the future, all to the background of construction noises. Construction for what? Tune in to find out!

Beers Sampled:

• Breath of Pestilence, Czech Pilsner, ABV 5.7%, collaboration with Glacial Tomb
• Horns Up, Golden Ale with Blood Orange, ABV 5.1%, collaboration with Elwood in The Morning on QRock 100.7
• The Gnostic Mass, International IPA, ABV 8.5%
• Monkey Fuel, Belgian Tripel, ABV 9.3%

Here’s our short ‘teaser’ video showing the brewery…

Play our audio podcasts using your favorite smartphone podcast app, or our player above. We have a direct link to iTunes and Spotify below…and lots of other links on the sidebar! Plus you can subscribe to our YouTube channel by clicking this link.

   

This year we changed the format for our Barleywine show to focus on a vertical of a classic beer. It is primarily a video edition, but we have extracted the audio for our podcast feed.

The Brit was able to source 4 variants of the classic J. W. Lee’s Harvest Ale from one of his favorite watering holes, Broken Brix Fermentation Emporium in St. Charles, IL. To share in the tasting he invited his co-hosts and some guest brewers to sample them, both at the Pub and in their breweries.

All of these beers are matured in a variety of casks – sherry, calvados, port, and Lagavulin whisky. On hand to help The Brit are co-host Ken McMullen, head brewer at Hopvine Brewing, Steve Newman and Sam Altaner from Brother Chimp Brewing, and co-host Chuck Fort, and head brewer Sean Gregor from Church Street Brewing. Oh, and a cameo from Mike Seaman of Broken Brix, and the Brother Chimp guys insisted we taste and compare their barrel-aged version of Samson barleywine, so they snuck in that ‘bonus’ beer!

What are the panel’s opinions on the brews? Do the beer they stand up to the ‘historical’ hype? Are they ‘treat’ beers that are worth seeking out? Tune in and find out!

Beers Sampled:

• J. W. Lees Brewers, Harvest Ale, Barleywine, 11.5% ABV
  • Harvest Ale – 2017 – Matured in Sherry Casks
  • Harvest Ale – 2017 – Matured in Calvados Casks
  • Harvest Ale – 2015 – Matured in Lagavulin Whisky Casks
  • Harvest Ale – 2017 – Matured in Port Casks

Click HERE for the link to our YouTube channel video

The Audio Podcast:

Play our audio podcasts using your favorite smartphone podcast app, or our player above. We have a direct link to iTunes and Spotify below…and lots of other links on the sidebar! Plus you can subscribe to our YouTube channel by clicking this link.