Category Archives: American Pale Ale

Pubcast 353 – Phil Castello of Side Lot Brewery

American Pale Ale, Belgian Tripel, Black IPA, Brewery, Craft Beer, Pils

Just like corner taverns, small craft breweries are key communal locations for some neighborhoods, even more so in these days of social distancing and closed bars. Side Lot Brewery in Wauconda IL is one of these craft breweries, who under the guidance of owner/brewer Phil Castello, continues to produce a variety of great style offerings, and has adapted their outside beer garden for safe consumption.

This video / audio edition, recorded via Zoom, visits with Phil to find out more about his brewery, his beers, how they help support local events and organizations. Ken McMullen from Hopvine Brewing joins The Brit to sample and discuss 4 Side Lot brews, a complimentary sample 4-pack of which will be provided to one lucky person!

As The Brit is also a ‘Phil’, he becomes English Phil, and Phil Castello is Italian Phil, and not to be left out, Ken claims the name Irish Ken.

Note:   The drawing is open from 5pm, Nov 11 2020 to Midnight, Nov 16 2020, and the rules are laid out by English Phil at the start of the recording. All you need to do is listen for the “Magic Phrase”! If you are listening past the closing date, then never mind and carry on about your day…the offer expired!

Brews Sampled:

    • Philsner, German Pilsner, 5.5% ABV
    • Yours, Mine + Ours, APA, 6% ABV
    • Vibranium, Black IPA, 6.5% ABV
    • Jimmy The Weasel, Belgian Tripel, 10% 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 Google Play for Android users: 

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Pubcast 269 – Cut Price Craft Beer?

American Pale Ale, Belgian Amber Ale, Craft Beer, IPA, Maibock, Schwarzbier

This week we have gathered our panel of usual suspects, co-host Chuck Fort from Church Street Brewing, ex-tavern owner John Karwoski, and craft beer nerd, Tom Ryan. They are press-ganged into a blind taste test, this time with brews from cut-price supermarket Aldi.
Their web site states “Brewed To Exceed Your Expectations”…so is it?

We collected 6 sample brews, a range of styles, and we use a very arbitrary rating system that covers Appearance, Smell, Taste, After Taste, and Drinkability, across a 100 point weighted rating system. We blind tasted the brews, then averaged the total scores to find out the beer we best liked.

Interestingly, a real micro-brewer produced the one we liked the most, but overall it seems that getting your fresh brews from a local craft brewer is the way to get good beer!

Stick around after the show for a bonus beer review of Noon Whistle‘s Dubbel Giggidy. Aged in Old Forester bourbon barrels, ABV 9.1% – we saved the evening with a decent local brew!

Tech Note:  this week we had a slight hitch where some sound was too loud. All I can say is sorry, live with it!

Below is the list of beers in the order we tasted them, with their final average score and their final standings –

Folded Mountains Pale Ale, ABV 5.3% (Brewed at Gennesse, Rochester, NY)
Average score 49 / 100 – #5

Wild Range IPA, ABV 6.9% (Brewed at Gennesse, Rochester, NY)
Average 37 / 100 – #6

Hoplift IPA, Third Street Brewing, Cold Spring, MN., ABV  6.2%
Average 76 / 100 – #1

Boot Tread, Belgian Amber Ale, Brouwerij Martens, ABV 5.0%
Average 69 / 100 – # 4

Feldschlossen Maibock, Feldschlossen Dresden, ABV 7.2%
Average 70 / 100 – #3

Wernesgruner Dark, Schwarzbier, Wernesgruner Brauerei, ABV 4.9%
Average 73 / 100 – #2

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

Pubcast 265 – Oswego Brewing Co

American Pale Ale, Black IPA, Brewery, Craft Beer, Helles Lager

New craft breweries continue to open across the Chicago suburban area with amazing regularity. In this edition we’ve headed south-west to Oswego, where head brewer Marc Wilson is putting in the hours to ready the Oswego Brewing Company for opening in late April to mid-May.

Marc is a friend of the show from his former brewery, so of course we immediately gave him a shout to see if we could come down and get a progress report from him.  The first half of this show presents that report where we get a flavor for some of the aspects of opening a new brewery and tap room, and what to expect from OBC as they make their mark on the Illinois brewing scene.  Watch their build-out in pictures here…

Joining me for the second half, which we recorded up at Church Street Brewing in Itasca, is ex-co host and brewing expert, Mark Naski. Together with CSB head brewer TJ Bachorz and current co-host Chuck Fort, we do the unthinkable by comparing a helles lager from Six Ten Brewing in Tampa FL., to CSB’s own Heavenly Helles.

And finally, because growlers don’t last long, Mark has brought a couple along for tasting, and we go from Tampa to Nampa, Idaho. Crescent Brewing is a small brewery “out in the woods” as Mark says, and he brings their Tilted Kilt Pale Ale, and the Skullsplitter IPA, and we debate whether they are open for copyright issues, but finally decide that the beer speaks for itself!

Beers Reviewed in this episode:

Six Ten Brewing, Tampa, FLA., Tent Beer, Dortmunder/Helles, 5.2% ABV
Crescent Brewing, Nampa ID., Tilted Kilt Pale Ale, 5.2% ABV
Crescent Brewing, Skullsplitter DIPA, American Double/Imperial IPA, 9.00% ABV

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

Pubcast 262 – Blind ‘State’ Taste Test – APAs

American Pale Ale, Craft Beer

This week we are back in the Brit and Yankee studios and we welcome 2 co-hosts, the Yankee Mike ‘Lingo’ Lingafelter and Church Street’s Chuck Fort, and Hopvine Brewing head brewer, Ken McMullen.

We also have a guest appearance by BJCP judge and ex-co-host, Mark Naski, who provides some technical perspective on pale ale brewing and the style, and while he chats to us, Phil is downing a Cigar City Invasive Pale Ale.

The Landlord has selected a brewing style, this time American Pale Ale, and arbitrarily chooses six beers from six states in the Midwest, namely Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. We want to see which state may come out on top, and so each of the beers were provided to the panel under the same conditions and they marked down their impressions and ratings for each of  the following categories – Appearance, Smell, Taste, Finish, Drinkability.

There’s a surprise ringer in the collection that Ken is familiar with, and we find out if he can spot it, plus it generates some discussion on a hot topic in the news.

What came out on top? Indiana’s 18th Street Brewing and their Velvet Cashmere, which was the overriding favorite of the panel.  Do you agree? Why not go out and try them and let us know!

There’s bonus beers at the end where we taste the new Church Street offering, Pils, and as an addendum Lingo has brought a real treat beer from 10 years ago, Stone’s 07-07-07.

The beers were as follows in order of presentation to the panel, followed by their final rating:

1. Indiana, 18th Street Brewing, Velvet Cashmere APA 4.5% – ranked #1
2. ​Michigan, Odd Side Ales, Hopgobbler, Session Pale Ale, 5% – ranked equal #5
3. ​Missouri, O’Fallon Brewing, Zekes Pale Ale, 5.1% – ranked #5
4. ​Minnesota, Surly Brewing, Xtra Citra Pale Ale, 4.5% – ranked #2
5. ​Illinois,  2nd Amendment Brewing, Gun Craft Tactical APA 5.5% – ranked equal #4

6. ​Wisconsin, Ale Asylum, Hopalicious APA, 5.7% – ranked #3

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