Glen Ellyn IL is home to The Beer Cellar, one of the first craft beer bottle shops in the area, and less than a block away is Glen Ellyn’s intriguingly-named craft brewpub, Two Hound Red. Steve Woertendyke has been the head brewer there for 3 years and has managed to provide a well-balanced variety of brews that will be sure to suit everyone’s palate.

The Brit and Yankee team of The Brit and co-host Ken McMullen, were long overdue for a visit, so we rectified that this week and headed out to sit down and chat with Steve in the soon to be full of barrels, barrel room. We talked a week ahead of their Oktoberfest celebration, so his fest marzen and the companion smoked marzen started off our interview in great style. Steve  and Ken worked together many years ago at the long-defunct Limestone Brewing, so it was nice to get the two old chums together again for some pub chat!

As a full brewpub with an extensive restaurant menu, we feel 2HR is definitely worth a visit so you can judge for yourselves…Cheers!

Beers Sampled:

• Angel of Lite, American Lager, 4.1% ABV
• Steel Machete, Mexican Lager, 5.5% ABV
• Oktoberfest, Marzen-style, 5.0% ABV
• Smokektoberfest, Smoked Marzen-style, 6.0% ABV
• Pale Horse, IPA, 6.4% ABV
• Boathouse, IPA, 6.0% ABV

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This weekend is Labor Day and there’s going to be plenty of barbecues and parties held across the state. Why not offer your guests something that won’t leave them with a headache the next day, or perhaps you have guests who don’t drink, but want to be part of the craft crowd.

In this edition we visit with what we believe is the only non-alcoholic craft beer brewery in the state, Go Brewing Company, located in Naperville IL. Joe Chura is one of the co-founders and the President of GBC, and James Bigler is their head brewer. The Brit and co-host Ken McMullen (Fox Republic Brewing) sat down in their brewery taproom and talked with them about their ‘meteoric’ rise as one of the premier NA breweries in the country.

We talk build-out, process, styles and marketing, discovering many of the differences from being a traditional brewery, the biggest one of which is the distribution channel, online sales, which has led them to be able to sell on Amazon. Of course their brews are available in brick-and-mortar stores, plus many of the area breweries are now carrying their brews as the NA alternative. There’s also a bonus for those counting the calories with most of their brews coming in at less than 80 calories!

By the time this episode has published, their Oktoberfest Märzen will have been released, but we get a pre-taste of it, and a look at the awesome can art. This brew will be a hit at Oktoberfest celebrations for those who don’t drink alcohol, but want to raise their glass for a Prost toast!

We think they are going to only grow more, and The Brit has certainly been converted! We think you will be as well once you try them…cheers!

Beers Sampled:

• Suspended In A Sunbeam, Pilsner, 0.49% ABV, 45 calories
• New School Sour Berry, Sour with strawberries &blueberry, <0.5% ABV, 63 calories
• Damn Good Oktoberfest, Marzen, 0.47% ABV, 65 calories
• Street Cred Nitro Bold, Nitro Stout, 0.35% ABV, 60 calories
• Vanilla Porter, 0.5% ABV

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