All posts by Landlord

Pubcast 190 – Smacked and Bruised!

Barrel Aged, Berliner Weisse, Imperial Stout, Red Sour

We record a show over at John’s Tavern in Winfield, and we’re getting violent on this show with some Smack and Bruising!   Noon Whistle has been producing their Smack series of beers and we have 2 of the barrel-aged varieties to review.

The first is Swanky Smack, a red sour aged in cabernet barrels and checking in at 4.8%.  The other is Face Smack, a Berliner Weisse aged in cabernet barrels, and 4.0%.  In between, we sandwich a rarity from The Bruery, Hottenroth Berliner Weisse (3.1%), something that is discontinued according to their website but we have it on draft at John’s.  We recommend all three!

To end our evening we check our bruises with Bruiser, a 9%, wood-aged Imperial Stout from Emmett’s Brewing.  And as this is a sipper, we will use the time to go over the World Beer Cup 2016 winners from Illinois, and give them the kudos they deserve.

All this and we throw in another Instant Brew Review, this time from craft brewing seniors, Two Brothers, and their new A bretter DAY, Biere de Mars, 5/5%. Why is the last word in upper-case?

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

Pubcast 189 – Beer and a Curry 2: Leather Chair Beers

Barrel Aged, Craft Beer, Sour Ale

Phil revisits with Sean Curry from Sketchbook Brewing, and this time Sean brings out some special brews from his extensive cellar.  All of these brews can be considered ‘Leather Chair’ beers, in other words those that require you to sit down, relax, and sip them at the end of a great evening.  Together with Tom Ryan, the three forego the leather chairs and relax on wooden chairs up at Sketchbook’s new tap room in Evanston.

First up is Asheville, NC’s Wicked Weed Chocolate Covered Black Angel, the light-weight in the collection. It’s a sour dark ale with cherries and chocolate and comes in at 7.2%.
Second LC&C brew is a 2013 Imperial Oatmeal Stout called Dark Star Bourbon Barrel Aged, from Fremont Brewing Co., Seattle, WA.
And the last comes from The Bruery, and is an Imperial Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels with Hazelnut called Grey Monday.  This beer gets solid 100 ratings in Beer Advocate and Rate Beer, and comes in at a whopping 18.6%.

This edition also features a couple of Instant Brew Reviews, featuring Tinley Park’s Hailstorm Brewing Prairie Madness IPA, and 4 Hands Alter Ego, Black IPA.

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

Pubcast 188 – Beer and a Curry: IPA Challenge

Craft Beer, DIPA, IPA, Pubcasts, TIPA

This week we are joined by Sketchbook Brewing co-founder, outdoors man, urban farmer, brewer, Untappd moderator, and cool dude, Sean Curry. Well, at least that’s what his Facebook page says!  Also joining us is beer aficionado and Sean’s buddy, Tom Ryan.
Together, we talk IPA and conduct a small East vs Midwest challenge. Sean obtained a couple of cans of Alchemist Heady Topper so that Phil could taste this legendary brew, usually found on many Top USA IPA lists.
Along with this, we try All Orange Everything (collaboration with Other Half Brewing), and Boat Beer from Carton Brewing, and match those up with Sketchbook’s very own IPA, Orange Door.
Join us for a great tasting session, and hear Sean’s beer knowledge overflow…luckily none of the beer did!

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

Pubcast 187 – John’s Choice: Unlocking the Legend

American Pale Ale, Black IPA, Brewery, Craft Beer, Porter, Pubcasts, Stout, Wee Heavy, Weizenbock

TJ Hagen from Urban Legend Brewing in Westmont, has provided John’s Tavern with a cavalcade of brew samples, and John has called in the Brit and Yankee Pubcast to help him taste and select his next in-house beers. A great opportunity for us to run through some of the offerings from this suburban brewery, and find out some of the stories behind the beer names. Find out which ones we’d like to see on draft and in a bomber!

Our tasting list was:
1. Scylla’s Grasp – Mosaic Pale Ale – ABV- 5.2%, IBU- 45
2. The King’s Tree – Coffee Stout – ABV – 8.8%, IBU – 41.1
3. Udderly Utopia, Milk Stout – ABV 5.2%
4. Step On It Klaus! – German Weizenbock – ABV – 8%
5. Fain’s Sword – Scottish Wee Heavy – ABV – 9.4%
6. The Creature – Black IPA – ABV- 8.5%, IBU- 85
7. Imperial Mugshot – Brown Rye Porter – ABV – 9.1%, IBU – 70

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