All posts by Landlord

Pubcast 258 – Tangled Roots Brewing

Craft Beer

Down IL Rt.71 in La Salle county we find the town of Ottawa, IL. In the center of this thriving town is Tangled Roots Brewing, and The Brit and The Yankee made a trip down there to find out more about them. The first experience of TRB brews was their 1st Anniversary offering, a barley wine, which we reviewed favorably in show 250. Now it was time to get more in-depth with their beers.

We met with founder/co-owner and larger-than-life personality Scott Struchen, TRB Advocate, Mark Robison, and Amanda Hart their social media wiz, to enjoy a conversation about their brewery and more importantly taste and talk about their brews. It’s great pub chat, and a good time tasting and talking craft beer.

We taste the following sample of their offerings:
Matthiesson English Mild, 4.1% ABV
Forty1 Eighty8, American Pale Ale, 5.5% ABV
River Raptor, American Pale Ale
Smoked Stout, American Stout, 6.6% ABV

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

Pubcast 257 – Corridor 55 Special Release #2 – Imperial Oak Brewing

American Pale Ale, Brewery, Craft Beer, Imperial Porter, Milk Stout, Sour Ale

This is the second in our series of podcasts recorded LIVE at breweries along the I-55 corridor, within 4 miles of an exit. This time we head to Willow Springs and visit Imperial Oak Brewing. Our hosts for the evening are brewer / co-founders, Brett Semenske and Grant Hamilton, who bring with them their Flagship, Showcase, and Inspiration beers for us to taste and talk about, and we hear stories of how the brewery came to be, how it has developed, and what’s in store for the future. And finally, bringing in the ‘chain’ beer ready for our next Corridor 55 podcast, brewers Jordan Isenberg, and Justin Rigoni, from Blue Nose Brewery in Hodgkins.  Usual co-host Chuck Fort is busy at a UKG meeting, so joining me as guest co-hosts are Corridor 55 producer and craft beer promoter, Kevin Herbst, and the ‘Yankee’, Mike ‘Lingo’ Lingafelter.

As we talk about the origins of the brewery, the futures, what their favorite TV shows are, and home brewing versus commercial brewing, we taste and review their beer selections.

Flagship Beer – a brew that represents a mainstay, and something you should always try when you visit
Udderly Black, Milk Stout, 5.4% ABV
Showcase Beer – a brew that the guests want to highlight as something special
Cognac Barrel Aged Double Dee’s, Imperial Porter, 10% ABV
Inspiration Beer – a brew that has some type of inspirational aspect or personal sentiment to our guests
Dave’s Pale Ale, American Pale Ale homebrew, a beer that won mant awards and inspired Imperial to have it on tap from time to  time.
Chain Beer – the brew that links our focus brewery to the next podcast release
Blue Nose Brewery, Lenna, Kettle Sour, 4.2% ABV

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

Pubcast 256 – Colorado Cans (& Bombers!)

Craft Beer

Recording this show on National Beer Can Appreciation Day, we have a crop of brews that USBrit brought back from Colorado and his recent holiday trip out there. It’s a consumers show this time round as co-host Chuck couldn’t make it, and we have friend of the show, Tom Ryan, and the return of the Cellarmaster and original Yankee, Lingo in the pub to try a few of these. It’s a bumper show, and by brew #5, we get a little punchy!

To start and make sure we have more cans than bombers on this ‘auspicious’ day,  we have 3 cans. The first is from established Left Hand Brewing from Longmont, then from Wibby Brewing, one of the newer places in Longmont, and finally Denver’s Crooked Stave supplies the 3rd can.

Rounding out our show, we get a couple of bombers lined up from the Denver Beer Co., and Boulder’s West Flanders Brewing.

Brews Reviewed:

Left Hand Brewing, Saison au Genievre, Saison with Juniper, 6.8% ABV
Wibby Brewing, Double Dunkel, Imperial Dunkel w/ Vanilla and Chocolate malts, 7.5% ABV
Crooked Stave, Trellis Buster, Double India Pale Ale, 8.0% ABV
Denver Beer Co., ‘Tis the Saison, Holiday Black Saison, 9% ABV
West Flanders Brewing, Forever Wood Vintage 2015, BBA aged Stout, 9% ABV

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

Pubcast 255 – Michigan Makers Trail

Craft Beer

Following the closing of our local tavern, ex-tavern owner John Karwoski, long-time friend of the show and now retired, is making up for all those long hours behind the bar, and visiting many of our local area breweries as he travels around Illinois and the Midwest area. Happily, we are the benefactors of those travel as he returns with beer samples for us to try.

In this episode, we are tasting offerings from 3 breweries that are part of SW Michigan’s Makers Trail, and 2 offerings from each, making out SW six-pack.  Check out the Makers Trail app available for both iPhone and Android.

First up is North Pier Brewing, located in Benton Harbor, and we have 2 brews with mythical connections, one of which we question as to the origin …
The Conjurer, Belgian Golden Strong, 8.7% ABV
Old Schuck, London Porter, 5.0% ABV

Next, we stay in Benton Harbor and head to The Livery, in the center of the downtown art area, and we have a couple of ‘prowlers’ containing a BBA brew, and we learn what a ‘maillot’ is, but question if it really is a biere de garde …
Bourbon Barrel-aged Wee Heavy, Scotch Ale, 12% ABV
Maillot Rouge, Sour/Wild Biere de Garde, 8.5% ABV

Our final stop is in St. Joseph, and the Silver Harbor Brewing Co. ,ad we contrast another sour ale, this time aged in red wine barrels, and we finish up with another big beer, barrel-aged …
Wot ‘n’ Tarnation, Sour Ale w/ raspberries & blueberries aged in a red wine barrel, 5% ABV
Barrel-aged Bride Order Male, Russian Imperial Stout, 11.8% ABV

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