ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast

It's been over a month since we last drank barrel-aged beers, so to reward our tremendous restraint we're throwing another MoBAB: a show that features more barrel-aged beers! In an unofficial "halfway to FoBAB" show, we sample four pretty distinctive styles and one collaboration pair built for blending. But also, we're speculating about the injection boutique, translating for velociraptors, struggling to understand some fruits, and establishing an elite safe word. Come and experience The Joy of MoBAB.

Beers Reviewed

Off Color Brewing - Pomegranate Fox (Foedre-fermented wild ale double barrel aged in imperial stout barrels refermented w/ pomegranate)

Milieu Fermentation - Bruce (Double barrel-aged Scotch ale)

Goose Island Beer Co. - Cordial Rye (Rye stout aged in red wine barrels w/ cherries, boysenberries, cocoa nibs, and black currants)

Old Irving Brewing Co. - Cordial Rye (Willett Bourbon Barrel-Aged Rye Wine Ale with blackberries)

Who says you need a lot of alcohol to have fun? Well, a lot of people, I'm sure. But this show sets out to prove beers that are under 4% alcohol by volume (ABV) can be surprisingly flavorful and ultimately satisfying. This "IPA sandwich" lineup is met with enthusiasm and a tighter grasp on sobriety than usual. Also, we really date the heck out of this show (recorded May 7th, 2025) by spending time discussing the Conclave Hot Stove before we knew the identity of the New Pope. Also, Craig needs a Trapper Keeper, Ryan admires a girthy grip, and we successfully predict the coming of Chicago Pope.

Beers Reviewed

Sundial Brewing & Blending - Tin Life (Table beer dry-hopped w/ Anchovy hops) - 3.5% ABV

Noon Whistle Brewing & Go Brewing - Step Brewers (Low Gravity IPA) - 3% ABV

Blind Corner Brewery - Sub4 Hazy IPA - 3.7% ABV

Riverland Brewing Company & G5 Brewing Company & Lallemand Brewing - Below the Deck (Hazy Session IPA) - 3.8% ABV

Suncatcher Brewing - Golden Ale - 3.5% ABV

In our second exploration of Czech styles made locally, we sample five Czech Dark Lagers - a style that has slowly grown into a dependable stand-by for many brewers. We get into what makes a beer like this that perfect balance of dark malt and clean lager drinkability while drinking more of these than we probably should. Also, we contemplate if we're too old for concerts being marketed directly at us, we fail to fully ban bad puns, we hit up the Hop-O-Rama, and there's a reason they never made an aroma box for virtual meetings.

Beers Reviewed

Samson (Budějovický měšťanský pivovar) - 1795 Original Czech Lager Dark

Art History Brewing - Varitace

Pollyanna Brewing - Czech Dark Lager

Maplewood Brewing - In Dark Trees

Roaring Table Brewing - Accordance

With this episode, we kick off our new ongoing blind tasting series with a focus on the IPAs that made craft beer what it is today. Periodically over the next few months, we'll be gathering up five IPAs that represent well-known, influential, or otherwise significant IPAs from all over, looking to find our pick for the overall best using a much more professional and organized scoring system than usual. This first one has a bit of an, uh, "unintentional reboot" feel to it - but the results truly rock us to our cores. But also, we have a surprising number of sandwich topics, Craig seeks the throne of the Grandmaster Cicerone, and we're both completely shocked by the absence of Citra.

Beers Reviewed Blindly (in order of appearance)

Cigar City Brewing - Jai Alai

Maine Beer Co. - Lunch

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery - 60 Minute IPA

Bell's Brewing - Two Hearted IPA

Surly Brewing - Furious IPA

The lighter beers produced in the Czech Republic have inspired a bevy of lighter lagers stateside, so we get as Bohemian as we can with five different beers - four from the Chicagoland area. We brush up on our definitions of Czech pilsners and Czech pale lagers while finding some surprising local examples. Plus, we're getting sucked into game ads due to some hazy bait, we make a pitch to fund our snack drone, and Craig may have killed off Cronch. We'll cover your Czech - if you agree to Czech this one out.

Beers Reviewed

Budějovický Budvar - Czechvar Original (Czech Pilsner)

Seldom Beer Co. - Belobog (Czech-Style Pale Lager)

Hopewell Brewing Co. - Tankbeer (Czech-Style Pale Lager)

Off Color Brewing - Tooth & Claw (Czech-Style Pale Lager)

Half Day Brewing Co. - Lincolnshire Lager (Czech-Style Pilsner)

For as long as we've been reviewing beers, Craig has struggled with perceiving the Mosaic hop's aroma and flavors to the point that we've diagnosed him with the first-ever case of Mosaic Blindness. So Ryan set out to cure (or torment) his friend by tracking down five all-Mosaic beers to learn what makes this complex hop just so dang elusive for Craig. Also, Ryan's got a game for eagle-eared radio listeners in new cities; Craig's excited he finally got accepted into MIT; and we think we should've incorporated a dry-hopped Neti pot in all this.

Beers Reviewed

Werk Force Brewing Company - Reverb (Hazy IPA)

Scorched Earth Brewing Co. - Sloppy Kisser (IPA)

Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. - Sosus (Double IPA)

Mikerphone Brewing - Super Special Sauce (New England-style Double IPA)

Penrose Brewing Company & Riverlands Brewing Company - Anniversary Boots (Hazy Double IPA)

During his recent trip to the Land of 10,000 Lagers™, Ryan snagged five Minneapolis-made clean and crispy beers from five different breweries to extend our lager love further north than ever before. We learn about some of these great (and medal-winning) Minneapolis spots in our lager quest, and there's a little more interesting equipment employed than usual for this one. Also, we find ourselves on a surprising (and disturbing) podcast ranking list, Ryan's ready to serve some time in the Ale Jail, we get an 8 year-old's burger rankings, and Craig is dead serious about bringing back that pizza beer.

Beers Reviewed

Modist Brewing Co. - Supra Deluxe (Japanese-style Rice Lager)

Arbeiter Brewing Company - HaHa Pils (German-style Pilsner)

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery - Dortmunder Local Export Lager

Wild Mind Ales (w/ Pizzeria Lola) - Keeper of the Flame (Copper Oven Helles Lager)

Utepils Brewing - Springbok (Heller Bock)

We're taking another style deep dive ABV-style with the pride of Munich: the Helles Lager. We try a German classic before exploring four local interpretations of the unfussy easy-drinking style, but as always, it's the variations that make it interesting. Also, Ryan is in desperate need of some Inception Pants, Craig won't even stand up for fewer than three decoctions, and we reminisce about cool record stores. And remember: puns don't provide pants.

Beers Reviewed

Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan - Weihenstephaner Helles

Dovetail Brewery - Helles

Kinslahger Brewing Company - Val's Helles

Church Street Brewing Company - Heavenly Helles

Werk Force Brewing Company - Hellerino

Adding non-essential components to a brew - ingredients sometimes referred to as adjuncts - can evoke strong dessert flavors and even a heavy dose of nostalgia. But does adding more and more adjuncts actually make a beer better? We test it out on this episode by drinking four barrel-aged stouts, with each successive beer adding one more flavor component over the previous. Premise! Also, Craig needs to know if he embarrassed himself in front of MJ Lenderman, we're recovering from a stacked week of March celebrations, and we go further with mint than we ever thought possible.

Beers Reviewed

Cruz Blanca Brewery - Rey Cuvée Vanilla 2024 (Blend of barrel-aged imperial stouts w/ vanilla)

Flipside Brewing - BA Decision Fatigue: Vanilla & Chocolate (Imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels with chocolate and vanilla)

Goose Island Beer Co. - Shamrock Stout (Bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout w/ cocoa nibs, vanilla, and peppermint)

Werk Force Brewing - Mint Chocolate Chip Sleepy Bear 2024 (Bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout w/ cacao nibs, vanilla, peppermint, and spearmint)

A decade ago, if a beer spent a few months in a single bourbon barrel, its release would cause fanfare amongst craft beer obsessives. These days, beers are blended from an increasing number of different barrels for extended periods of time, so we decided to sample beers that represent an increasing number of different barrels to see if more barrels actually means better results. To help us better understand the barrel side of the beer world, we talk to Ethan Schulenberg of Midwest Barrel Company, who provides a variety of barrels for a large number of American craft brewers. He explains the role of a "barrel broker" and how he helps brewers find the right vessel for aging, among many other topics. Also, Craig shouts out Revolution's clever event planning, we challenge our highest ABV beer record, and one of us is slowing turning into E.T. by the end.

Ethan Schulenberg Interview (00:06:49 - 00:45:26)

Beers Reviewed

Flipside Brewing - Barrel-Aged Decision Fatigue (Imperial Stout aged in Weller 12 barrels)

Mikerphone Brewing - Sweet Drams, vol. 2 (Triple Mash Imperial Stout aged 27 months in Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 15-Year barrels)

Half Acre Beer Co. - Triple Barrel Wilderness of History (Barleywine aged in Weller, Russell's Reserve, and Cognac barrels)

More Brewing Company - Roaming Elephant (Barleywine aged in Eagle Rare 10 year, Parker's Heritage 14 year, Elijah Craig 18 year, and Elijiah Craig 19 year barrels)