Mike Seaman over at Broken Brix in St. Charles (aka The Homebrew Shop), has dived into his cellar and come up with a number of old brews that need opening and trying. These range from Belgium and the UK, some of which are sought after by collectors. These have been stored in uncertain conditions, so have they stood the test of time, or have they gone south and need dumping?

Our tasting panel comprises podcast co-hosts Chuck Fort from Church Street, Ken McMullen from Hopvine Brewing, and Ed and Mike Seaman (father and son team) from Broken Brix. It was an honor to try some of these classics, even though a few of them really challenged our palates, and The Brit found out that his taste buds were OK (incorrectly) with oxidation, but that the best of the lot hailed from his home country!

Thanks to Ed and Mike for allowing us to take over their taproom, and with an average age of 20 years each brew, it was a night to remember!

Brews Sampled:

• Hanssens Artisanaal bvba, Dworp Belgium,Mead the Geuze, Geuze with mead from Lurgashall Meadery, Sussex UK, 7.9% ABV – Age 20+ years
• Hanssens Artisanaal bvba, Dworp Belgium, Oudbeitje, Belgian Fruit Lambic, ABV 6% – Age 10+ years
• De Proefbrouwerij (bvba Andelot), Lochristi-Hijfte Belgium, Zoetzuur Flemish Ale, Flanders Red Ale, 7% ABV – Age 10 years
• George Gale & Company, Horndean Hampshire UK, 1995 Prize Old Ale, English Old Ale, ABV 9%, Age 24 years
• J.W.Lees, British Vintage Barleywine, Harvest Ale, ABV 11.5%, Age estimated at 1986, 33 years
• Thomas Hardy Ale 1999, Barleywine, Eldridge Pope Brewery, Dorchester Dorset UK, ABV 11.9%, Age 20 years
• Thomas Hardy Ale 1988, Barleywine, Eldridge Pope Brewery, Dorchester Dorset UK, ABV 11.9%, Age 31 years
• Seaman Cellars, Leap Year, Thomas Hardy clone, 2016, ABV 13% – Age 4 years
• Malheur 12°, Brouwerij Malheur, Buggenholt Belgium, Belgian Quadrupel, 2005, ABV 12% – Age 14 years

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About 90 minutes west of the Brit and Yankee Pub studios is Freeport IL. At one time there were 15 breweries in Freeport, but alas Prohibition put an end to that, and now Generations stands alone and has proven to be worth a visit. Steven Winter is the current ‘generation’ who is the brewmaster and co-owner here, and The Brit and Ken McMullen had the opportunity to sit and chat with him, plus try some of the well-crafted brews available at the tap room.

We hear from Steven about his background, how the brewery was ‘custom-built’, and the stories behind some of his seasonal beers, one of which is an annual brew using spruce tips from a special source. Freeport is known as the Pretzel City, and we get a short history lesson on why and Freeport’s origins. Our final tasting of Steven’s Berliner Weisse, Jelly Donut, which takes us to his exceptional Smelly Donut variant, and he tells us how they produced this marvelous and unique beer. There is even a discussion on if beer is vegan…how we got there we don’t know!
We think you should take a trip to Generations…you won’t be disappointed!

Brews Sampled:

• Wintergreen Spruce IPA, American IPA with spruce tips, 7.6% ABV
• Cranacopia, cranberry and black walnut double stout, 8.0% ABV
• Pretzel City Amber, American amber ale, 5.6% ABV
• Under Par Pils, Danish-style rye pilsner, 5.3% ABV
• Jelly Donut, German Berliner Weisse with cherries and blueberries, 3.8% ABV
• Smelly Donut, BA Berliner Weisse in Bordeaux wine and American whiskey barrels

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Mark Naski has been part of the podcast for several years, both as co-host and as ‘technical’ consultant to several breweries in the Midwest. He moved out to Boise Idaho a couple of years ago, but frequently returns to the Chicago suburbs, each time bringing samples of the great brews from some of the growing population of craft breweries in Boise (24 as of this recording). In this edition, we have brews from a couple of the breweries that were at GABF this year, Barbarian Brewing and Mad Swede.

This show was recorded during a bottle share session when Mark came back to Illinois recently, so we had already sampled 6 other brews. The panel joining The Brit was Chuck Fort, Ken McMullen, Tom Ryan, and John Karwoski, and they had begun to show a little ‘wear and tear’ after that first session (show 334). That said, we enjoyed the brews and think you need to know about them!
One of these has a pucker factor of 10 according to The Brit, one is from a GABF-medal brewery, and the last one is a pastry stout from a brewery that does a lot of experimental brewing as Mark tells us.

Brews Sampled:

• Barbarian Brewing, Artio 2, sour Belgian Brown with raspberries, 6% ABV
• Mad Swede Brewing, First King of Kiev, BA Aged Imperial Stout, 10.5% ABV
• Barbarian Brewing, Guru Maple Bar, American stout with Guru Donuts Maple Bars , 9.2% ABV

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On a previous visit, The Brit met co-owner Pete Dolan, who kindly donated a bottle of Professor Plum for later review on the show. We sampled that beer last week, and in this episode we formally visited Elmhurst Brewing Co., and chatted with the other co-owner, Frazer Donaldson and brewer Cam Horn.
The Brit was joined by both of his co-hosts, Chuck Fort from Church Street and Ken McMullen from Hopvine and we setup in the brewery to chat and sample brews. Lisa Gregor from Church also stopped by…something about keeping an eye on Chuck we think!

In this conversation, we hear how Cam and Frazer both got into craft beer and brewing, and how Cam brewed the strongest beer in Texas. EBC also submitted 2 beers to the recent FOBAB festival (but alas did not win any medals), and Cam talks about both of these and barrel-aging, and Frazer lets us know which beers they liked at the festival. We also discuss what a zwickel is and if there really is a ‘zwickel-helles’, if an Imperial Berliner Weisse is a real style, what different styles of wood add new flavors to beers, and Cam waxes lyrical on his hopes for the craft brewing industry. Plus we discover that Cam does NOT know the phone number of the brewery! A great conversation held in the brewhouse with plenty o’ samples!

Brews Sampled:

• The Schwartz, Schwarzbier (Black Lager), 4.6% ABV 27 IBU
• Fools Gold, Golden Coffee Stout, 6.8% ABV
• Go To Helles, Helles Lager, 4.7% ABV 23 IBU
• Julius Squeezer, Juicy IPA, 6.3% ABV 23 IBU
• Doppelapfelstrudelweiss, (collab w/ 93 Octane) Imperial Berliner Weiss, 9.1% ABV 2 IBU
• The Devil Wears Jammies, Spicy Oatmeal Cookie Stout, 8.9% ABV

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