Episode 578 - Werk Force Brewing
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
Amanda and Brandon Wright of Werk Force Brewing have been in business out in Plainfield for over a decade, but their story and influence goes far beyond that. We spend a good long time talking with the Wrights and sampling through a lineup of their excellent beers, from lagers to IPAs to barrel-aged stouts. Just some of the topics we cover include accepting the inevitability of flagship beers, leaving ABV off the label, creating a community-based space open for all, finding the right food partner, starting a family while opening a business, capturing just the right images for label designs,...
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Episode 577 - Hop Roundup: Winter ‘25
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
We love hoppy beers, and truthfully, we need to find an excuse to try more local releases that catch our attention. Introducing the Hop Roundup: a quarterly series of episodes focused on notable hoppy releases in a general timeframe. For this Winter 2025 edition, we have a brand new brewery with a resurgent style; a fresh year-round from local legends; a collab “reverse” continuation from a previous episode; a bigger take than we’ve seen on a highly-debated style; and a hopeful return for one of our favorite hops. But also, Ryan’s trying to help Craig through his jump scare fears; we...
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Episode 576 - The UT Show
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
We’re going behind the curtain for our 36th state show, as listener Jeremy hooked us up with five beers from Utah. The beers represent a pretty wide variety and offer a few real standouts as we try and make sense of some pretty…interesting beer laws. Also, there’s valuable jorts advice, heavy eye-contact cocktails, barrel-aged flashbacks, and a genuine French ending. Who says we need to keep things under 5 percent? Beers Reviewed UTOG Brewing Company [Ogden, UT] - Utah’s Only Happy Hour (American Light Lager) Talisman Brewing Company [Ogden, UT] - Uplifted (Scottish Export Ale)...
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Episode 575 - Deep Wood: Now and Later
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
To close out the 2024-2025 Deep Wood release lineup, Revolution somehow finds a way to do some new things with barleywine while retaining the spirit of their barrel program we’ve all come to know and love. It’s all about interesting woods here (and a little help from some friends) as we’ve hardly been so happy about experiencing the barleywobbles. Also, Craig’s sweet stock is in jeopardy, Ryan’s recovering from hosting his 10 year old’s birthday party, and we make some rankings promises that we actually keep (for once). It’s audio Sur Lie, because we’re definitely on the slop....
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Episode 574 - Supermoon Cellar Society
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
At a very reasonable price, Craig joined the exclusive Cellar Society for Milwaukee’s Supermoon Beer Company so we could get our hands on a full lineup of exclusive releases from one of our favorite breweries in the whole world. And this lineup still finds ways to surprise us - from style to barrel to the occasional unusual ingredient. It’s all just really really stellar. Also, Craig’s wife is developing mundane yet useful superpowers; Ryan’s ready for some more beer-inspired soaps; and we’re keeping a watch on the Costco cheese aisle for rare releases. Beers Reviewed Tabelbear...
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Episode 573 - 11 Year Blind: Old Faves
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
To recognize our 11th year of releasing this weekly podcast, we’re putting a new spin on our annual half-blind shows by…going old. We each divvied up the past years of the podcast and selected one favorite from a year until we ended up with seven to try and stump one another while we dig through our memories. Some represent fresh takes on old faves, and some are just old - which doesn’t necessarily mean bad. Also, we talk about a cult Chicago landmark in Craig’s neighborhood; Ryan no-scopes a few blind guesses; and Craig calls in a favor to make his secret blind theme work. Beers...
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Episode 572 - Singles in Your Area
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
In an ill-advised experiment almost 4 years in the making, this episode is our style exploration of the Belgian Single - sometimes called Patersbier, sometimes Enkel, and definitely rarely made stateside. Even most of the Trappist breweries keep them in house and rarely send them overseas. With a glacial pace of local Belgian single releases, we’ve held on to some American versions with hopes of one day finally completing our Monastic Cycle. So we took one fresh single - and four definitely way less fresh singles - to see how compatible we all could be. It’s certainly a learning...
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Episode 571 - Heavy Riff: Dear Agony
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
It took us almost a dozen years to catch on that Heavy Riff Brewing out of St. Louis is an absolute treasure, and we are more than happy to open a little vertical of their signature barrel-aged stout series, Dear Agony. Crafted from a lactose mistake, this rich and creamy imperial milk stout sees yearly release with multiple variants representing different barrel picks or adjuncts - and the only agony on this show comes from the beer’s name. Also, Ryan’s son has created a superhero with surprising powers; Craig is experiencing his 44th year molting; and neither of us can recall anything...
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Episode 570 - Riverlands Brewing Company
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
Pride of the Fox River and St. Charles, Illinois, Riverlands Brewing is approaching six years with a refreshed love of their own lagers, thanks to their U.S. Beer Open Championship gold-winning pilsner, Kayak. We sit down with co-founder and head brewer Eric Bramwell along with assistant brewer Brianna Levi to chat all things Riverlands - not limited to their horizontal tanks. Eric and Bri tell their stories about influential local brewers that helped them learn how to move from homebrewers to the commercial space and what inspires them to play with different ingredients and endlessly tinker...
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Episode 569 - Pulpit Rock
ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast
Back in August, we had the great fortune to drink through an entire lineup from Decorah, Iowa’s Pulpit Rock Brewing (thanks to listeners Benji and Suzanne) and this resulting episode is sounding great out of the cellar, thanks to some interview snippets with co-head brewer Bob Slack from the Great Taste of the Midwest. It doesn’t take long until we go a little nuts over nuts, but we also learn to appreciate long written-off desserts, rank the gorgeous can art, and stand in bewilderment over ice cream truck music. Bob Slack Interview (00:09:06 - 00:15:50) Beers Reviewed Whatever (West...
info_outlineLike some sort of softball-sized, hairy drupe falling from a tree to knock us on the head, within this lineup of four beers is a surprise that almost completely brings the show to a grinding halt. But otherwise, it’s a fun little exploration of our relationship with coconut as an adjunct in barrel-aged stouts, and there’s no suntan lotion to be found here. Also, 3 Floyds is normal now, Disney is entering ill-advised music territory, Head & Shoulders should sponsor this episode, and Ryan explains why the result of this show is like checking for a cockroach in your shoe. (It’ll all make sense, later, we swear.) Thanks again to Dan Roemer for help in procuring the Phase Three!
Beers Reviewed
3 Floyds Brewing - Cocomungo (Imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels w/ toasted coconut and maple syrup)
Hop Butcher for the World - Steel (Bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout w/ vanilla beans and coconut)
Phase Three Brewing - Eunoia Batch 2 (Barrel-aged imperial stout w/ coconut and Saigon cinnamon)
Half Acre Beer Company - Double Barrel 2x4 Benthic 2023 (Double bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout w/ toasted coconut, vanilla, and coffee)