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Pubcast 349 / Virtual Happy Hour – Liquid Love Brewing

Brewery, Craft Beer

As we travel through the phases of this Covid-19 world, so we settle in on a new title for our content. Our podcast is a ‘pubcast’ as we record from The Brit & Yankee Pub studios, but we are now offering a video version, courtesy of Zoom, which we like to call our ‘Virtual Happy Hour’…yeah, not that original, but that’s what we are aiming for. Grab your favorite brew, and settle in after a hard day’s work, for a Happy Hour with us here at the pub!

This week, we are offering two versions of our program, audio and video, so you can listen OR watch, however the fancy takes you.

Liquid Love Brewing has been causing a buzz in the Chicago craft beer market, producing sold-out brews, and jumping in to the scene during strange times when you might think it would be wiser to hold off. Production brewing initially, we are pleased to say they are finally settling in to a permanent home which will include a taproom. In this episode, we get an exclusive interview with three chums who decided they could produce great beers that the market wanted to buy. Witness sales of their fruited sour, Sad Thug, which they wanted to mimic a granola sundae, and has sold out on the first run and has people clamoring for more.

The Brit, Phil Clark, and co-host and brewer at Hopvine Brewing, Ken McMullen, jumped on a Zoom call with Jon, Matt, and Joe, the three main partners/brewers in this venture, to find out all about Liquid Love. We had such a good chat and enjoyed sampling their brews, that the whole thing ran longer than other episodes, so we decided to publish and be damned!

Brews Sampled:

  • Dear To Heart, Dry Hopped Pilsner with Tettnang and Callista Hops, 5.2%
  • Sad Thug, Sour Ale with Granola, Blueberries, Vanilla Bean and Milk Sugar, 5.6%
  • Black Is Beautiful, Imperial Stout with Coffee, Cacao Nibs and Vanilla, 10%

Our YouTube video…

Play the audio podcast on our player below…or your favorite smartphone podcast app…we have a direct link to iTunes for iPhone users, and GooglePlay for Android users:

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Hops Outside: Ep. 27 – Goldfinger Brewing

Brewery, Craft Beer, Lager

We have an exciting, exclusive edition this time round and another video/audio edition. There’s a new brewery in Downers Grove that is getting ready to open at the end of July (as of the release of this video the date is July 31st). Goldfinger Brewing is a lager-only brewery owned and operated by Tom and Alison Beckmann, and their brews are already causing a stir locally, and selling out kegs before the tap room is officially opened!

The Brit, and co-hosts Ken McMullen of Hopvine Brewing, and Jay Rosicky of Malted Tales and Milk Money Brewing, jumped on a Zoom call and chatted with Tom and Alison, plus we were able to sample the brews for ourselves. In the video, you will get Tom’s background and how they came to build out their brewery, and a sneak peek at what it looks like, 2-3 weeks ahead of opening.

Then in the extended audio podcast, we carry on the conversation with Tom, finding out what styles will be brewed in their future, what the taproom experience will be like, and why they went the ‘classic style’ route as the mainstay for their brewery.  Tom talks to their distribution direction, why he likes bottles but has to look to cans practically, and we all postulate on what might be allowed now that wasn’t before lock-down. Cheers!

Brews Sampled are their core three offerings:

  • Original Lager, German-style Helles, 5.2% ABV
  • Vienna Lager, 5% ABV
  • Pils, German Pilsner, 4.9% ABV

Our YouTube video…

Play the audio podcast on our player below…or your favorite smartphone podcast app…we have a direct link to iTunes for iPhone users, and GooglePlay for Android users:

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Hops Outside: Ep. 26 – Grumpy, Stoned, and Here For Looks

Collaboration, Craft Beer, Farmhouse Ale

In this July 4th-edition of our virtual happy hour series “Hops Outside”, Ken McMullen and The Brit visit with 3 Chicago-area breweries, who have just released an intriguingly named brew. Seeing this as an opportunity to get them altogether, we have gathered Mik Dempsey and Ben Sampson from Dry City Brew Works, Alex Drayer from D and G Brewing, and JD Heinrich for The Forge Brewhouse for some socially distanced beers and chat!

Their new release, “Grumpy, Stoned and Here For Looks“, is perfect drinking for the summer if you are looking for something with a little bite, a classic profile, and a touch of sweetness. This is a farmhouse ale with honey, and we talk to the lads about the making of it. We learn about JD’s background, and how each of them doing in this phase-4 period, and their expectations for the future.

We had some technical challenges when the Zoom connection drops, and we had to finish the recording from a different device! We persevered and got through it for a fun time with this ‘ménage à brew’!

This edition is video only, and please check out our YouTube channel for more episodes. Cheers!

Hops Outside: Ep. 25 – It’s not all Sanitizer at Church Street!

Craft Beer

Church Street Brewing in Itasca had long been a friend of the podcast almost since it’s inception nearly 6 years ago. We have been lucky enough to have Chuck Fort, their head brewer, come onboard as one of the podcast co-hosts and we’ve had many recording sessions at the Brit & Yankee studios…up until March of 2020! Then the Covid-19 virus hit, and we had to lockdown along with the rest of the country. The Brit checked in with Chuck on a curbside beer run, but the conversation was short. So, we thought it might be time to check in with him for an extended look at what’s new at CSB!

Joining us in this virtual happy hour Zoom chat is the podcast’s other co-host, Ken McMullen from Hopvine Brewing, and the ‘band’ is back together again! CSB’s marketing manager and all-around whirlwind personality, Jace Rhea joins us later in the videocast  and we find out what was more important than drinking a brew with us!

We are all drinking CSB brews, and checkout 4 of the newest additions to the CSB line-up, which are departures from the ‘classic’ styles they are known for. Chuck tells us what area of the market they are targeting with their fruited styles, and shows why he isn’t in sales! Plus we get the story on Chuck’s beer can collection as he shows off some of his collection.

This edition is another video/audio extended edition, so check out our YouTube channel, and then look for the extended audio podcast later this week. Cheers!

Brews Sampled:

Our YouTube video…

Play the audio podcast on our player below…or your favorite smartphone podcast app…we have a direct link to iTunes for iPhone users, and GooglePlay for Android users:

Apple podcasts badge