All posts by Landlord

Pubcast 204 – Rocky Mountain High!

American Pale Ale, Belgian Golden Ale, Craft Beer, Imperial Red Ale, Imperial Saison, Lambic, Sour Ale, Stout

To coincide with the 2016 GABF, we are tasting some Colorado brews that were provided to the pubcast earlier this year, and need to be tasted! Joining Phil this week is John Bitterman, Chuck and Mimi Fort, and John Karwoski. Mark is roughing it at GABF this week, so we should have a ‘on-the-floor’ report from him next time!

The brews we have selected are ones that we think appeal to the novice who visits Colorado through to the seasoned craft beer drinker.  Our panel is a cross-section of palates, so we hope they represent for the average craft beer drinker!

Brews reviewed are:
Wynkoop Brewing Co – Mile High Pale Ale, 5.5%
– Colorojo, Imperial Red Ale, 8.2%
Funkwerks, Tropic King, Imperial Saison, 8.0%
​Odell Brewing, Friek, Lambic/Sour, 6.9%
​Crooked Stave, Serenata Notturna, mixed fermentation Belgian Golden Ale, 12%
​Breckenridge Brewing, 72 Imperial Barrel-aged, Chocolate Cream Stout, 7.2%

We also get a bonus beer, a test brew from Chuck Fort, an English bitter!

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Pubcast 203 – Exit Strategy Brewing Co

Brewery, Craft Beer

Chris Valleau is the owner/brewer for ESBC, and together with his wife Katherine, he brought craft beer and great food to Forest Park. The brewery sits on the northern boundary of Madison St, with River Forest on the other side of the road (so look for the even numbers on the south side when you head out there!), and presents a very comfortable environment to try Chris’s brews.

In this episode, Phil flies solo (while Mark is out on one of his trips), and chats with Chris about his 18-month old venture, and how he produces such solid, to-style beers, including the legendary-named DIPA, Judgmental Dick.
Topics and samples are free-flowing, and we definitely recommend a visit, plus keep your eyes open for locations carrying their lineup.  Check out the brew lineup on their website.

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Pubcast 202 – The Limited Release Show

Craft Beer

On this episode, we gather a few friends of the podcast to talk about several topics and sample some limited releases that you may have or should be able to still get.
Kevin Herbst from Midwest Brewers Fest is here to talk about the next MBWF 2016 festival scheduled for October 8, and Ken McMullen from Hopvine Brewing talks about the cask test at MBWF, and his steps into distribution for Hopvine’s brews. John Bitterman rounds out the guest list, and not only brings 3 of the limited release  brews, but also tells us about his brush with beer writer and vintage beer recipe guru, Ron Pattinson. The Landlord had to rustle up another mic for this one and it wasn’t performing as planned, so apologies for him sounding like he is in a bathroom!

Today’s brews are a collection of limited releases from across the state and in order of play are:
Mikerphone Brewing, Travelin’ Man, dry-hopped Saison, 6%
​Arrowhead Ales, Melon Collie and the Infinite Hoppiness, Session IPA, 4.5%
​Noon Whistle, Lombard, Conan the Mandarian, Wheat Ale aged in Cabernet Barrels
5.1 IBU, 4.2%
​Off Color / Penrose Brewing, Consensus, Saison, 5.8%
Our Bonus Beer, courtesy John Bittermann:
Goose Island, Brewery Yard, Stock Pale Ale, 8%

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Pubcast 201 – Oktoberfest Again!

Craft Beer

In this episode, we select 4 readily available Oktoberfest brews, 3 from Illinois, and see if it’s worth laying out your hard earned dollars for a six pack.
As our baseline, we use a brew that Mark has some interest in – full transparency, it’s his recipe – Church Street’s Itascafest Marzen.  As the Landlord isn’t a fan of these styles, we’ll let him define if he likes it or not.

Our other selections are:
Revolution Brewing, German-style Oktoberfest, ABV 5.7%, IBU 25
Big Muddy Brewing, Oktoberfest, ABV 5.5%
Victory Brewing, Festbier, ABV 5.6%
Central Waters Brewing, Octoberfest Lager, 4.8% ABV

This is just our view…here’s another where they taste 55 varieties, Church Street not included – Paste Magazine.
You be the judge, and drink what you like!  Cheers!

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