This week we conclude our profile podcast of Barrel of Monks Brewing from Boca Raton FL., and it’s a tasting session with VP of Operations, Kevin Abbott. Held up at Church Street Brewing following a collaboration brew day, head CSB brewer Chuck Fort and owner, Lisa Gregor, join Phil ‘The Brit’ Clark to sample some brews that Kevin brought with him on his trip up to Illinois.

There’s more conversation on Belgium beers styles as Kevin discusses topics like esters and phenolics, and the use of different yeast strains for each type of beer, plus how they brewed a beer with Tampa Bay’s good ol’ #99, Warren Sapp.  Kevin left samples of the brew and asked we share with some of the breweries we visited while he was here, so there is a bonus review of #99 from Eric Bramwell over at Riverlands Brewing!

If you are headed to Florida we highly recommend a visit to their brewery, and tell them, The Brit and Yankee podcast sent you!

Beers Sampled:

• #99, collaboration with Warren Sapp, Hoppy Belgian-style Blonde Ale, 7% ABV
• Odd Breed Ales, Past & Future, Saison Aged in French Puncheons, 5% ABV
• Abbey Terno, Dubbel, ABV 7.5%
• Grand Cru, Imperial Red Ale, 10% ABV

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This week’s show was recorded before The Brit headed out to GABF 2019, and features an extensive interview with Kevin Abbott who is the VP of Operations for Barrel of Monks Brewery in Boca Raton, Florida.  Kevin has a long pedigree in brewing, both for Due South Brewing and Funky Buddha, and now works at one of the top Belgian-inspired breweries in the country, and the only one Florida. We at the podcast rank them very highly, and are anxiously awaiting expansion of their distribution outside of Florida, so that more people can enjoy these classic styles. A recent merger with Odd Breed Wild Ales expands their range both geographically and in styles, and Kevin touches on how this came to pass.

Kevin came in town to do a collaboration brew with Church Street, a Belgian dubbel that will be available as a one-off brew. This show contains audio segments recorded at a variety of different locations, and culminates in the next episode with a tasting of BoM beers that Kevin lugged with him on the plane! Head brewer at Church Street and podcast co-host, Chuck Fort, joins us for the tasting. And making a cameo appearance is Ed Malnar, VP of Operations at Pollyanna Brewing.

Hear about the process of collaboration and how these guys go about making this one-off beer. This is a fascinating conversation with a professional who knows his beer, but especially the Belgian-styles! We’d like to thank Kevin for all the time he spent with us – next stop Boca Raton!

P.S. Kevin also is a podcaster – check out his show, Missed Spots!

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The home-brewers of today might be the professionals of tomorrow, so this week The Brit is experiencing something different – beer judging!

Marc Wilson, head brewer at Oswego Brewing invited The Brit and other “celebrity” judges (his words not mine!) to help review the entries for the Oswego Brew at the Bridge home-brew competition. The final grand winner of this competition gets to brew a full batch of their beer which will then be available at the Oswego tap-room.

Joining Marc and myself were Gillerson’s Grubbery owner, Dan Emerson, Flight bottle-shop and taproom owner Tony Weeks, Emancipation Brewing‘s owner/brewer Lincoln Slagel, OBC’s tap-room manager Aaaron Royston, and last but not least, Hopvine’s brewer and part-time co-host of the podcast, Ken McMullen.

Dividing up into teams, each with a professional to guide us, we sampled the nearly 50 entries and used a home-brew judging form to pass on our ratings and thoughts on each brew. From this, the winners of each category were selected who then went on to the final judging that took place at the festival on Saturday.

And the winner is…Tony Daniels from PALE, with his Trappist Single called Thirsty Abbott. Congratulations to Tony and we had a lot of fun judging, and were impressed with the overall quality of all the entries!  Cheers!

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Yup, it’s that time of year again when we assemble a panel of ‘experts’ to review some of the brews readily available on the shelves this season, both from Illinois and beyond. On hand to pass arbitrary judgement we have beer-guru and ex-cohost, Mark Naski, Hopvine brewmaster Ken McMullen, beer historian and glass collector John Bittermann, and PALE homebrew member John Lawlor.
Note: this show was recorded ahead of CLB’s Oktoberfest celebration, and ahead of The Brit’s retirement. CLB is done, and The Brit is free!

We always have a calibration beer and this time round Mark has brought something original from the state of Idaho, Bear Island Brewing‘s Imperial Idaho Potato Ale! Mark tells us the story of how it came about, and the military connection to the beer and brewery.

Our Oktoberfest brews were randomly selected, and randomly selected for tasting by the panel picking a number, then tasting and commenting on the beer, followed by a reveal. At the end we’ll pick our favorites and not so favorites. And if you don’t agree, well, send us an email!

The pub chat hits many topics such as; why classic styles are making a comeback, what starting and finishing gravity means, what is Plato, what is honey malt, which German festival to attend, we dare to question a brew from Brooklyn Brewery and what we’d say if we met Garrett Oliver, and what storing a beer in the car does to it (apologies to Lucky Monk!).

We have an extra beer for our wrap-up, brought by Mark from Ram in Boise. It’s an award winner from 2018 GABF!

Beers Sampled and Timings:

• 00:00 – 13:00 Bear Island Brewing, Boise ID., Idaho Potato Ale, Imperial IPA, 9.0% ABV
• 13:00 – 22:00 Church Street Brewing, Itasca IL., Itascafest, Marzen-style ale,  5.1% ABV
• 22:00 – 29:45 Sierra Nevada Brewing / Bitburger, Chico CA., Oktoberfest, Festbier, 6.0% ABV
• 29:45 – 38:00 Crystal Lake Brewing, Crystal Lake IL., Oktoberfest,  Marzen-style lager, 5.5% ABV
• 38:00 – 48:00 Brooklyn Brewing, Brooklyn NY., Oktoberfest,  Marzen lager, 5.5% ABV
• 48:00 – 59:00 Oswego Brewing, Oswego IL, Oktoberfest, Marzen-style, 5.7% ABV
• 59:00 – 68:00 Lucky Monk Brewery and Restaurant, South Barrington, IL., Oktoberfest, 6.0% ABV
• 68:00 – end    Ram Brewing Company, Boise ID., Oktoberfest Bier, Marzen-style, 5.5% ABV

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