Continuing our theme of farm-to-beer breweries, we head about 90 minutes south on I55 and Rt 47 to Emancipation Brewing situated just north of Fairbury and Forrest, literally on a farm and in an old dairy shed. Hopvine’s brewer, Ken McMullen is The Brit’s co-host of this visit with a young brewer who seems to know how to brew great beers, and uses local ingredients, some grown onsite.
Lincoln Slagel is our guest this week, and early one morning we sat down with him to chat about why he started a brewery, why he sited it in rural Illinois, and how he is trying to make sure the brewery becomes an important part of the community as well as appealing to craft beer aficionado looking for a nice drive in the country.
We talk how he likes to showcase local hops, for example Illinois-grown Comet hops, and Ken talks about hazy IPAs after tasting what Lincoln loosely calls his nod to hazy. We then hear about his craft beer epiphany, and this led to home brewing. Another topic up for discussion is how the water profile differs in this area and how it affects the beer flavor. But overall, there is a sense of community in the ‘friendly confines’ of the taproom that Lincoln enjoys, and certainly his patrons do as well…very refreshing!
The Brit’s microphone gave out, but luckily Lincoln is who we wanted to hear, so please bear with us!
Play the show from the PodBean player, or our player below…
