We’re just about halfway to FoBAB, so we are once again doing battle with the barrel featuring a roundup of beers we’ve been saving for this very episode. These four barrel-aged beers jostle around in our arbitrary rankings as we just luxuriate in their decadence for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Also, we explain why you (and Billy Corgan) just have to pay your hackers sometimes; Ryan’s got those Dairy Queen Blizzard flavor exclusives; and Craig gets called out for the snickerdoodle, again. More barrel-aged beers? We can never get enough. 

Beers Reviewed

Revolution Brewing Company - V.S.O. Gravedigger (Imperial Scotch Ale aged two years in bourbon barrels)

Old Irving Brewing Co./Phase Three Brewing - Barrel-Aged Migration 2023 (Bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout w/ coconut, vanilla, and Ecuadorian cocoa nibs)

Half Acre Beer Company - Catch Hell 2023 (Bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout w/ cinnamon and Madagascar vanilla)

Wax Wings Brewing Company - Mezcal Barrel-Aged Sweet Eddy (Imperial stout w/ vanilla, cacao nibs, and ancho chiles aged in Mezcal barrels)

Our quest to find the best flagship hazy IPA from Chicagoland breweries enters its fourth round, as we blindly sample through a fresh set of five to pick a winner that best fits our own personal preferences. And though our ability to guess blind beers is as bad as ever, our taste buds are finely tuned and finally ready to deliver a surprising upset on this episode. Also, we dream up some 80s-centric unexpected sports and celebrity pairings; we’re reaching for the purple stuff over the Sunny D; and we might just let a fly determine the overall winner of this whole dang competition.

Beers Reviewed Blindly

Begyle Brewing - No Tomorrow

DESTIHL Brewery - Deadhead: TourBus

Horse Thief Hollow Brewing Co. - Spoonful

Hopewell Brewing Co. - Lightbeam

Riverlands Brewing Co. - Dean Street

In our 31st installment of our decade-long State Show Series, we are sampling a hop-heavy lineup from North Carolina courtesy of listener Rodney Knox. We learn about these five breweries from across the state while appreciating how difficult they make the rankings segment, in more ways than one. Also, Craig shares tales of drive-thru beer stores; Ryan’s got a weird robot obsession, and we’re sold on the idea of the Sweltzer based on name alone. 

Beers Reviewed

Swells’a Brewing [Kill Devil Hills, NC] - Pea Island Parks Pilsner 

Southern Pines Brewing Company [Southern Pines, NC] - Man of Law (IPA)

Raleigh Brewing Company [Raleigh, NC] - Coffee Hidden Pipe (Coffee Porter)

Hopfly Brewing Company [Charlotte, NC] - Unity (IPA)

Foothills Brewing [Winston-Salem, NC] - Jade IPA

Though they’re maybe not the first brewery that comes to mind when you think of Kalamazoo, Michigan, Wax Wings Brewing (est. 2018) flourished during the pandemic with their fresh hazies and complex barrel-aged beers gaining a ton of word-of-mouth momentum that saw many a beer fan traveling just for the opportunity to take home some of their lineup. Count Craig as one of those folks, as he went to Kalamazoo to snag an interview with owner Rob Hopkins and bring back a fun (and boozy) lineup of fresh beers. The highlights here are about as good as anything we’ve had all year, and thanks to that the rankings are as joyfully inebriated as we’ve been in a while. Also, Craig’s got your Guide to Purchasing a Kazoo in Kalamazoo; Ryan’s gonna buy anything that’s “rustic”; and a certain someone has just discovered that “fruit leather” exists. (And thanks to listener Benji for one of the bottles!)

Interview with Rob Hopkins (00:08:08 - 00:26:20)

Beers Reviewed

Cut ‘Em All Down (Rustic American Ale)

Knows Not What It Means (Double IPA)

She The Queen (Triple IPA w/ Michigan wildflower honey)

The Saucefather (Imperial Stout w/ coconut, vanilla beans, and coffee aged in bourbon barrels)

Goodbye Mr. Sun (Barleywine aged in rye whiskey barrels, finished in tequila barrels)

A new set of five hop warriors enter the extremely flimsy ring for another blind tasting to lead us to our favorite Chicagoland flagship hazy IPA. This one features many more hops than just Citra and Mosaic, so it leads to the widest range of flavors yet. Will we agree on who moves to the championship, and will any beer make it on the bubble? Listen to find out that but also which brewery could potentially be profiting big from director K*vin Sm*th, why Craig’s making a heel turn, and how we’re implementing a simplified haze SRM scale to cut through all the fog. 

Beers Reviewed Blindly

Revolution Brewing - Hazy Hero

Around the Bend Beer Co. - Juice Trials

Penrose Brewing Company - Goofy Boots

Noon Whistle Brewing - Gummylicious

Ravinia Brewing - Isle of Lost Hops: Medusa’s Lagoon

If it wasn’t obvious from the totally easy to understand episode title, this show is a return for us to a whole lineup of barrel-aged beers from different breweries we love. We add a little blind twist to this one as all four are adjunct-free affairs: just delicious big stouts in world-class barrels. Also, Craig’s totally serious about the tater tots offer, Ryan has found The Cheesecake of Beers™, and we both have a lot of thoughts about ramen. 

Beers Reviewed

Mikerphone Brewing (w/ Beer on the Wall) - Pick of Destiny #10: Raw Power (Imperial Stout Ale Aged in a Single Weller Wheated Bourbon Barrel)

Central Waters Brewing Company - Twenty Five (Blended Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout)

WeldWerks Brewing Co. - Medianoche 2022 (Imperial Stout aged in Blanton's 15-year bourbon, Thomas H. Handy 6-year rye, E.H. Taylor 6-year bourbon, and Eagle Rare 10-year bourbon barrels)

Triptych Brewing - AJ’s Stout Vol. 1 2022 (Imperial Stout aged in Heaven Hill Parker Heritage Collection bourbon barrels)

Though still somewhat unknown around these parts, Cellar West Artisan Ales out of Lafayette, Colorado became known to us as an award-winning saison brewery. This episode further proves their proficiency with a variety of styles. Thanks to a porch box from founder and brewer Zach Nichols, we sample five cans of wildly drinkable and enjoyable beers as we calculate how many chapters it’ll take us to get some beers on local shelves. Also, Craig relives his Cellar West taproom visit from last fall, we consider the advantages of wine-flavored bubblegum, and Ryan wishes he was warned about the Woodman’s robot.  

Beers Reviewed

Silver Stream (Helles Lager)

Unfed Mind, Vol. 1 (Pale Ale w/ Simcoe and HBC 630)

Single Hop Saison - Emerald Spire

Bourbon Barrel Spinechiller (Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels)

Bourbon Barrel Ginger Clove Spinechiller (Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels w/ ginger & clove)

The second installment in our ongoing (and expanding) arbitrary competition to determine what we deem to be the best Chicagoland Flagship Hazy IPA continues with this murderer’s row of five eclectic and skilled breweries. There are many joyous smells and even a false lactose spotting, but at least there are no glasses of SkittleMilk on this show. See who’s moving on to the championship round, and who may find a second chance on the bubble.

Beers Reviewed Blindly

Open Outcry Brewing Company - Delirio

Alarmist Brewing - Le Jus

Phase Three Brewing - Pixel Density

Sketchbook Brewing Co. - Insufficient Clearance

Midwest Coast Brewing Co. - Elevator to Nowhere

Seemingly popping up on more local taplists than ever, smoked beers are moving past being a niche brewery-only oddity. We find five beers that enlist smoked malts in their production to give off a surprising variety of flavors - and a refreshing level of nuance. Also, we role play our own Chopped appearances, spend some time living in the aftertaste, and accept that this might be one of the best top-to-bottom lineups of beer we’ve done all year. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

Beers Reviewed

Alarmist Brewing - Bamberger (Rauchbier)

Maplewood Brewing Company - Over Fire Island (Smoked Porter)

Soundgrowler Brewing Co. - Burning Hill (Rauch Marzen)

Dovetail Brewery - Rauchdoppelbock

Art History Brewing - Good Night Bamberg (Rauchbier)

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Savoy, Illinois’ Triptych Brewing and their creative, artfully-crafted brews, and we’re toasting to them with four of their barrel-aged beers. We went into this one expecting quality beers, but the results far exceed what we could’ve imagined - and should have every Chicago big beer lover driving south for these specialty releases. Plus we’re reaching alcohol-by-volume heights we hardly ever see, so we’re soaring by rankings time. Also, Craig’s only green t-shirt gets him into trouble, Ryan reaps what he sows re:BCBS, and we get a little sad thinking about a lonely whale. 

Beers Reviewed

Batch 969 [collaboration w/ Foreign Exchange] (Barleywine aged in Amburana and bourbon barrels)

AJ’s Stout Vol. 2 [2022] (Blended barrel-aged imperial stout)

Dearest Anna (Barrel-aged imperial stout w/ Intelligentsia coffee and Tahitian vanilla)

52.5 Hz (Bourbon barrel-aged stout w/ pistachios and Ugandan vanilla beans)