We finally got down to Romeoville for a mid-week recording of our Corridor 55 podcast recordings, and we sat down with Metal Monkey owner/brewers Dan Camp and Jason Janes. They selected their choices for our categories of beers and we talked past, present and future with these metal rock stars of the brewing world.

Joining me as co-host this time round was series producer and craft beer promoter, Kevin Herbst, and we enjoyed an evening of brewery chat with the lads. We also sampled our Chain Beer to link to the next brewery in our series, Werk Force, but alas Brandon Wright could not be with us. But not to worry, Kevin came up with the beer from there and we get Dan and Jason to sample and provide their comments on that brew.

Get ready for some heavy doom metal interludes from The Skull, plus the Inspiration Beer floors The Brit and he is at a loss for words as to if he loves or hates it!

Sorry the sound quality is not as crisp as we’d like but we had some onsite technical issues!

The beers we sampled were –
Flagship Beer: 
Fonkey Mucker, Chocalate Peanut Butter Imperial Stout, ABV 8.8%
Showcase Beer:
Till The Sun Turns Black, Green Tea IPA. 6.6% ABV, collaboration with  The Skull
Inspiration Beer:
Rick, Dill Pickle Sour Gose, 4.2% ABV
Chain Beer:
Werk Force Brewing, Plainfield IL
Sleepy Bear, German Chocolate Cake Russian Imperial Stout, 9.6% ABV

Musical Interludes:
The Skull, The Endless Road Turns Dark – 2018
The Skull – Trapped Inside My Mind  – 2014
Rick and Morty Theme

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We’ve been off on our vacation for a couple of weeks, but we’re back with a bumper show, and we’ve gathered together a rather special panel of brewers and consumers on this edition of the pubcast.

We have Ken McMullen, hosting our podcast at Hopvine, with Marc Wilson from Oswego, Chuck Fort from Church Street, and Brandon Wright from WerkForce, plus Pollyanna’s VP of Operations Ed Malnar, Kevin Herbst, and last but not least the original Yankee, Mike ‘Lingo’ Lingafelter.

We’re talking about the implications of recently passed HB 4897 (what!) that affects our Illinois brewing industry, and we hear what this really means to breweries and brewpubs. As we chat, we’re tasting beers from Tennessee that Ken collected during his May trip to the Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville, in May this year.  We also touch on 360 tabs, ICBG, craft beer demographics and politicians, IMBIBE, Brewer’s Association (BA), the price of beer, adjuncts, and much, much more.

It’s a bumper edition and an evening of ‘raw’ brewer talk, and backroom chat, so listen in and here from the guys who make the beer we love! And because Brandon and Ken love bluegrass, we’re playing segues from that genre!

Brews Tasted:
Hopvine, Bodacious Blonde Infusion, 5.9% ABV
Symposium beer for CBC Mockingbird Maibock, ABV 7.2%
Yazoo Brewing, Saison du Bois, ABV  5.7%
Blackstone Brewing, St. Charles Porter, ABV 5.8%
Wiseacre Brewing, Gotta Get Up To Get Down, Coffee Milk Stout, ABV  5%
Quaff On! Brewing,  Busted Knuckle, Ale, ABV 7.2%
Strawberry Blonde, American Blonde Ale, ABV 4.2%
Against The Grain, The Brown Note, Brown Ale,  ABV 5%

Bluegrass Music Segues:
The Joydrops, Not Drunk
Black Twig Pickers, Bushey Fork of John’s Creek
​Shake That Little Foot, Turkey in the Straw
Sam Hill, Tennesee Mine
M Shanghai String Band, Same Old Moon

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In this edition, friends of the show, Tim and Tom Stephenson bring over a selection  of cellar beers from their vast collection. We wanted to have them select a variety of styles but also include comparison years from a single vertical.

I called in a few ex-John’s Tavern punters, Jon Harlson and John Karwoski, with The Yankee, Lingo joining us mid-recording.  We embark on a trip through time, and what did we learn?  Were the beers worth keeping? Is there a finite time-frame within which you should crack it open and enjoy?

We do get a variety of opinions on the beer from no carbonation to cardboard, to disappointing and weak, to freaking over-the-top. Listen in and then take note that beers are meant to be drunk in a finite period, so don’t over-cellar and the ‘best by’ dates are meant to be adhered to in most cases!  And we culminate the show with one of the strongest beers we have tasted, and to quote John K, “…it will make your nose hairs curl!”

Beers Reviewed:
New Holland Brewing
Envious, 2010, Ale brewed with pear juice with raspberries added, aged in oak – 7.5% ABV

Left Hand Brewing Co
Imperial Stout 2007 Aged in Oak Barrels – 10.4% ABV
Imperial Stout 2009, Aged in Brandy Barrels – 10.2% ABV

Firestone Walker
Double DBA, Barrel aged Imperial special bitter, 2012 – 12% ABV
Velvet Merkin, Barrel aged Oatmeal Stout, 2013 – 8.5% ABV

Brewdog
Tactical Nuclear Penguin, Uber Imperial Stout, 2009, 32% ABV

Our summary, Left Hand IP 2009 seems to have aged the best, with a second place vote for the Penguin!

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This week, The Brit, Phil Clark, and The Yankee, Mike ‘Lingo’ Lingafelter, take a trip to Crete IL, and meet up with head brewer Steve Kamp from Evil Horse Brewing. We sat down in the expansive taproom with both Steve and his wife, Amy, to talk about Evil Horse, Steve’s background, and the historic building the brewery is located in.

We taste a sample of their brews that Steve selected, but The Brit had a special request to include one that is on the B & Y top ten brews to try, and we hear the correct pronunciation of the name. After our interview, we also enjoyed a pint of their American porter, Paxon the Ponyless, and we agree with Steve that chocolate notes are noticeable, but it proves to be a great all-year-round beer!

So, if you are looking for a nice destination brewery, with solid, mostly traditional style beers, you should head over to Evil Horse, and you won’t be disappointed!

Beers Reviewed:
Balmoral, Best Bitter (ESB), ABV 4%, 40 IBU
Sgt. Reckless, APA, ABV 5.5%, 45 IBU
Eyjafjallajökull, Russian Imperial Stout, ABV 12%, 98 IBU
Seggebruch, German-style Pilsner, ABV 5.6%, 44 IBU

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