It’s a Saturday Special today as we check out how business is doing at another brewery who had to postpone their anniversary celebrations because of the pandemic. This time it’s Huntley’s ‘Hometown Brewery’, Sew Hop’d, and the crew visit with taproom manager Katie Hofmann, and head brewer, Doug Van de Walker. McHenry county has a growing number of noted breweries and SHB opened their doors just over a year ago, and it snowed that day. For their first anniversary it was going to be a delayed celebration to avoid this happening, but little did they think that chance would play another hand to delay their plans.

Situated in a part of the historic Union Sewing Machine building, Doug has worked there for 35 years, and through his home brewing expertise, he persuaded the owners of USM to transform part of the building into a craft brewery, and then took the reins as head brewer. Katie Hofmann has been involved in the craft beer industry for several years and jumped at the opportunity to manage the front of house operations.

Together they have created a unique brewery experience, and Sew Hop’d is producing excellent brews, these days only available via curbside pickup. With summer approaching, it’s worth an expedition to McHenry and a visit to Sew Hop’d – they’ll have plenty of beer waiting for you in cans and bottles!

To start off another week where we can’t get out to have a beer in person with our chums, we are having a virtual beer with someone who is well-known in the craft beer industry, Chet Brett. Colloquially known as ‘the tallest man’ in craft beer, you will probably see Chet at most of the major beer fests, but in this videocast we track him down to his home office and find out about his latest project, Brewing Kindness.

Still in it’s early days, this project seeks to team up breweries with local charities, and Chet is aiming to spread this across the country. As usual, the Hops at Home team of The Brit, Jay, and Ken enjoy a virtual brew with Chet as we talk to him about this project, find out how it works, check out his beer fridge, and discover that Chet is NOT his real name! Cheers!

One of the last audio podcasts we recorded was in February of this year, just before the Covid-19 lock-down, and it was with a new brewery in the western suburbs, 93 Octane in St. Charles, IL. Packed into a small corner of a strip mall, there is nothing small about their beers, brewer, and ambition.

Nick ‘The Wiz’ Wisniewski is head brewer, and has a top pedigree coming from Chicago’s Off Color Brewing to show off his styles here in the suburbs. Joining him on this episode is Brewery Director, Chris Peckat, and new employee of 3 days, Nick Ford, which shows much promise for a positive outlook to the future in these times.

We chat about their beers, pay a visit to Chris’s beer fridge, and find out what they are streaming to pass the time during lock-down. Joining The Brit is Ken McMullen and Jay Rosicky, making it a challenging 6-way call, but we hope you’ll enjoy it and drink a beer with us all on this virtual happy hour!

One of the youngest breweries in the Chicago suburbs is located in East Dundee IL, and is Black and Gray Brewing. We are happy to have owner/brewer Chris Kennedy on this videocast, as his full-time job is with Elgin Fire Department and is very much on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic. Supporting Chris K. with brewing duties, is Chris Contesso, who helps split the workload at B&G. Affectionately these guys are known as No-hair Chris and Long-hair Chris, and they are brewing some fine beers on their small 2-bbl system, plus beginning to can as a response to the pandemic tap room limitations.

We recorded this episode on May 4, the day before the release of their Mexican-style lager, Caesar Chavez, coinciding with Cinco de Mayo. We hear from a first responder how to stay Covid safe, and how to get a mobile canning run going in an otherwise un-populated taproom. If you are supporting our local breweries, we recommend heading out to their location and picking up some 4-packs and a couple of oil-cans, which we find out is the substitute size for the hard-to-get crowler.

Cheers to Chris for his service, and to both of them for their brews