Episode 624 - Barrel-Aged Hop Butcher
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
Compared to the pace at which Hop Butcher releases IPAs, their barrel-aged offerings might as well be Halley’s Comet. But when they do release a big beer aged in barrels, it’s absolutely worth tracking down, just like the four beers on this episode. We continue our Barrel-Aged Winter with these Hop Butcher for the World beers that saw limited release from their taproom over the last year or so and try not to get yelled at by bourbon Facebook groups in the process. Also, we consider walking a mile in condiment shoes; Craig somehow still has faith in ice cream beers; and Ryan’s on the...
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Episode 623 - Hop Roundup: Premium Hops
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
We settle for no less than the best when it comes to choosing beers for our semi-regular hop roundups, and these five locals more than rise to the occasion. With our white gloves on, we’re sampling some of the finest hops known to man, and sometimes we’re surprised where we find the bitterness (or don’t). Also, Craig needs grocery store advice, we touch on a brewery location rumor, Ryan’s got some hot tips on curds (and nugs), and we both know now that we should’ve gone thick cut. Beers Reviewed Saint Errant Brewing - Lonely Negatives (West Coast IPA) Maplewood Brewing Company &...
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Episode 622 - Amburana Aged
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
Aging beer or spirits in the wood from the Amburana cearensis tree native to South America can add noticeable cinnamon spice and vanilla - and brewers have been more than happy to experiment when they can find (and afford) a barrel. But FDA regulations keep Amburana-aged beers in some sort of weird limbo for competitions, so we tap our good friend and guest expert Neil Fisher from Colorado’s WeldWerks to drop in and school us on this Amburana-factoid. Then for the rest of the show, we just get our socks completely blown through our shoes by this lineup of 4 beers of various ages. Plus, Craig...
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Episode 621 - Let The Fun Be Gin
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
For the first time in Barrel-Aged December history, we have a whole show of gin barrel-aged beers - and we’ll tell you why that’s something of a rarity. With an all-star lineup of breweries, nothing here is a letdown - but there are still plenty of flavor surprises to be had. Also, we’re drawing up some jukebox strategies given unforeseen circumstances; we’re ready to bring back the horse blanket; and we’re letting the gin make us more poetic. And then there’s the introduction of GinBot 3000, the worst character we’ve ever created. Beers Reviewed Afterthought Brewing -...
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Episode 620 - FoBAB Winners 2025
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
We’re hot on the case of the Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers 2025’s best medal recipients (that we have access to), and we’ll solve the mystery of whether or not the gold medal winner in this bunch will actually top our rankings. For this year’s roundup of decorated beers, we run the Specialty/Experimental category and throw in a bonus beefy adjunct stout for fun. But also, we’re wondering what we can learn from the Lyric Opera Detectives to become Dicks at FoBAB; we run through all sorts of FoBAB By-The-Numbers breakdowns from this year’ results; we recap some Fantasy FoBAB...
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Episode 619 - Decembeers
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
Taking a break from our usual Barrel-Aged December, we round up five festive beers that’ll help make the holidays go down a lot easier. We span styles to appreciate the mostly-local lineup and their different seasonal inspirations while narrowing down our picks for what to bring to that work holiday party or extended family gathering. Also, we’re learning language from musicians, we find a beer more rare than King Henry II, Ryan’s inventing the next red hot beer gift, and Craig becomes a sometimes-seasonal Beer’d Al. Beers Reviewed Goldfinger Brewing - Winter Beer (Rye Lager) Art...
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Episode 618 - Deepest Woodest
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
Two things are absolutely certain when it comes to Revolution’s yearly Deep Wood releases: one is that all the beers are going to be slightly varying levels of excellent, and the second is that we will find any excuse to drink them for the podcast. For this round of releases, a few old favorites return alongside the steadiest barleywine currently released, plus a new variant enters the fold as one of the best we’ve had yet. But also, we explore some surprising examples of the younger generation’s borrowed nostalgia; we enter the fantasy factory for future Deep Wood releases; and our...
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Episode 617 - Bourbon County 2025
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
Just in time for another Black Friday, we sat down with our good friend Ryan Tracy at his Beer on the Wall shop out in Elmhurst to sample through this year’s somewhat uninspiring (but very well made) Goose Island Bourbon County Stout lineup. We ponder what’s missing this year while also recognizing where the barrels are doing the heavy lifting, the impressive use of nuts (now that we’re fully in the NutZone), and a surprising lean towards more subtlety than expected. Also, Craig is almost literally exuding Red Vines, we finally are pandering to the 10 year olds, Ryan is a surprising...
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Episode 616 - 1840 ‘Til Infinity
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
This episode is a tribute to the great 1840 Brewing out of Milwaukee and a celebration of the beers and memories they made during their years of operation. If you can help the Vetter family during this period of unimaginable grief, please consider donating to the GoFundMe that has been established in Stephanie’s memory: Beers Tasted Saaziwaka (Table Beer w/ Saaz and Riwaka hops) TBD (Dry-hopped Saison) Muumuu (Milk Stout) Sea Foam [2020] (Sour Ale w/ pineapple, passion fruit, blue spirulina, and lactose)
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Episode 615 - IPA All-Stars Blind Rd. 5
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
The latest installment in our journey to discover America’s best IPA, we’re going coast-to-coast for a pretty special lineup that’ll help us further define what makes an IPA both an “all star” and, uh, “very good.” We’re getting pretty good at this guessing thing, and we might have the first IPA in this series that loses points in the appearance category. Also, we are pushing hard for an all Pure Moods stage at Riot Fest, we are haunted by that ridiculous thumb, and we want to know if a slice from Sbarro will fit in a Jnco jean pocket. Beers Reviewed Blindly ...
info_outlineNo matter what your strategy is at the fest, it’s almost impossible to avoid FoBAB FOMO. We were lucky to attend the 19th edition of FoBAB, but we also felt like we missed out on trying some of the exciting medal winners - until now. For our second Barrel-Aged December show, there are five medal winners from 2021 across various styles on this episode that confirm, hey, yeah, maybe the judges know what they’re doing. We also brainstorm some local beer gift box ideas, find Craig roaming the island of misfit candy, and audition to #FineTuneFoBAB.
Beers Reviewed
The Hopewell Brewing Co. - Arrow of Time [Blend 002] (Oak-aged Wild Ale) - Silver in Wild Mixed Culture Beer (Acidic) Sours
Black Horizon Brewing Co. - Gin Barrel-Aged Stand and Deliver (Gin Barrel-Aged Golden Strong Ale) - Bronze in Other Pale Beer
Milwaukee Brewing Company - Barrel-Aged Barleywine - Bronze in Barleywine/Wheatwine
Short Fuse Brewing Company - Bourbon Barrel-Aged Precious Little Treats (Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels w/ vanilla beans) - Silver in Specialty Strong Porter/Stout
Werk Force Brewing Company - Double Barrel Sleepy Bear (Double Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout w/ milk sugar, cacao nibs, and vanilla)