Quick, what's the best defense of that muggy, 40+ degree summer heat? Well, COLD BEER of course! We're back for Episode 28 and we're diving into our favorite beer series'. Let's get right after it; here's the episode breakdown:

(0:00) - The Intro, featuring a quick "beer doctor" appointment.

(4:15) - Mike samples a dual hop Hazy IPA called “Simcoe / Mosaic” from Canvas Brewing Company

(8:12) - Straight from his summer beer advent calendar, Drew unboxes and samples a Hazy IPA called “Bones and All” from Third Moon.

(11:33) - Drew not-so-subtly reveals his newly-minted National Softball Championship ring.

(15:38) - Alert the press! There's a brand new drop from Drew’s fictional Sarcastic Comedian Brewing Company called “Sorry, Germany.”

(20:56) - Drew’s very mature and responsible Beer Adventures.

(31:58) - Mike’s bordering-on-an-intervention Beer Adventures.

(48:00) - Sharing our favorite beer SERIES':

• 1. “Epoch Slushie” from Third Moon (49:39)
• 2. “Half & Half” from Blood Brothers (53:46)
• 3. “Autopop” from Blood Brothers (57:28)
• 4. “Gelato Sour” by Fine Balance (59:47)
• 5. “Bestowed” by Third Moon (1:02:09)
• 6. “Jelly King” by Bellwoods (1:04:16)
• 7. “Sour Otis” by Tide & Boar (1:07:03)

(54:25) - Mike whips out an impromptu second beer sample. “Hypnosis” from All My Friends.

(1:06:11) - Drew then busts out his own impromptu second beer sample. The “Chocolate Strawberry Gelato Sour” from Fine Balance.

(1:08:50) - Rapid Fire Beer Series Honorable Mentions.

CHEERS, and drink creatively friends!

Omg, where did the last two months go!? Truly embarrassing. But we’re back and ready to slide headfirst into some big, beautiful beer adventures. Lots of fun stories, shoutouts, samples, and laughs. Let’s run the breakdown:

• (1:43) - WE ARE BACK!
• (14:25) - Mike samples “Tropique” from Simple Malt Brasseurs in St. Eustache, Quebec (shout to Ludo and The Cannibals).
• (19:50) - Drew samples “Gateau Au Matcha” from Fine Balance (collab with Nano Cinco) in Kingston.
• (24:38) - Mike’s fictional brewery Broken Pancreas Beer Company finally returns with a long-awaited double release. “Cloud Cover” and “#SHEDANK” are now in make believe production!
• (33:24) - Drew’s Beer Adventures included finishing up a couple of wicked orders from Dominion City and Blood Brothers and some heavenly randoms.
• (44:30) - A little known, but glorious beer hack (shout out to Kasie and Andrew).
• (46:14) - Mike’s Beer Adventures included a whirlwind and peculiar trip to New Jersey (Village Idiot Brewery and Spellbound Brewing), a generously gifted mini-haul from Whalers in Rhode Island, an appreciation for our Canadian breweries, Easter, his birthday at Left Field, and pulling down 18 beers in 7 minutes in a quick LCBO run.
• (1:09:30) - Part two of Drew’s Beer Adventures included a sweet trip to Kingston to visit Fine Balance, Something in the Water, Kingston Brewing Company, and indirectly, Daft Brewing.

CHEERS FRIENDS!

Back in the saddle and tackling some tasty tidbits in this episode.

• (4:55) - Sampling of "Fruit Helmet" IPA from Bellwoods in Toronto (a collab with Evil Twin in New York City)
• (8:23) - Sampling of "Sud" Root Beer Stout from Farm League in Cambridge
• (13:03) - Mike’s Beer Adventures covering a juicy order from Sidewalk Beer Shop
• (22:40) - Drew’s Beer Adventures covering the I Heart Beer Festival in Ottawa and delicious orders from Blood Brothers and Dominion City
• (38:16) - A very strict warning to those very same Blood Brothers regarding their "Passion of the Spice" release
• (43:32) - A few unfortunate brewery closures :(
• (51:15) - One of the greatest discoveries ever with the Ontario Beer Delivery Index!
• (57:00) - A board game wrestling fans should cop right now called "Watch Wrestling, Get Drunk"
• (59:16) - Upcoming Beer Adventures

GUEST ALERT! Also, quick turnaround time alert. In Episode 25, we’re chatting with Craig Bond of Bond Brewing Company located in Orleans, Ontario. Our lively and informative discussion included:

(3:10) - Craig joining us in our episodic beer sampling tradition, as we sample brews from Stalwart Brewing, Counterpart Brewing, and Brasserie Dunham.

(6:07) - Beer advent calendars. Craig is in TWO of them!

(11:53) - Craig’s home brewing experience and success with his contest-winning Belgian Triple.

(17:42) - His silver medal-winning bitter beer at the World Beer Awards.

(20:03) - Design, artwork and branding of Bond Brewing.

(21:28) - The recent Steamwhistle event in Toronto.

(24:22) - Craig’s origin into beer-drinking and his transition into brewing.

(34:54) - Beer culture and the tight-knit beer community.

(38:36) - His favorite styles of beer.

(45:16) - People who have influenced or supported Craig’s professional brewing journey.

(53:13) - Any future expansion plans?

(58:26) - The upcoming I Heart Beer Festival in Ottawa

(1:01:49) - Any chance on a Pint Taken collaboration?

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Go check out Bond Brewing, and check out the Pint Taken on the social channels. Follow, Like, Subscribe, and drink beer! Thank you for listening, and CHEERS!

Get ready for the shenanigans! We kick off this joint by catching up on a few things that took place since the last episode, including Drew turning another digit on the odometer, Super Bowl LX activities, and sadly, the Canadian men and women’s Olympic hockey teams suffering crushing defeats at the hands of our southern neighbors.

Then to quench our thirst, we sample two new beers: “Donny Brook” from Cowbell (7:54) and “After Dark Oatmeal Stout” from Base Camp (9:46).

Onto BEER ADVENTURES (12:40) where we highlight some unique brews from a nice “finders keepers” situation, a special one from the Zombie series by Counterpart, the bomb ass Devil Went Down to Geary release from Blood Brothers, the return of Staycation (!) from Third Moon, a quick little run to the top of the CN Tower for a smooth lager by Railway City, and finally, the ultimate beer fridge-sorting experience (22:49).

Finally, we unapologetically recap all of the zany shenanigans from the I Heart Beer Festival that we both attended in Toronto. Yes, tremendous beers, food, and of course… people watching! (29:19)

Please Follow, like, subscribe, and comment! But most importantly, come join us for some beers and belly laughs. CHEERS!

As David Letterman used to say, “Welcome back to the progrum!” As we push through the dead of winter, there are two things that can remedy all of the cold and snow: A trusty flamethrower, and BEER! And not necessarily in that order.

In this episode, we shoutout Andrew’s friend and my hero Steve Yzerman's scorching Detroit Red Wings (3:27), sample the “Rizbal Mango Lassi,” part of the Hula Hoop series from Parsons Brewing (5:31), sample the uniquely rare “Slow Wave,” a collab between Blood Brothers and Paradise Grapevine Wine Shop (8:26), dip into Mike’s Beer Adventures (14:02), wade even further into Drew’s Beer Adventures (26:07), play a fun game where we deliver our "ratings" on many diverse beer-related items... are they overrated, underrated, or properly rated? (36:24), then we finally drop a quick preview of the upcoming I Heart Beer Festival in Toronto, which we will be attending together (1:03:14).

Cheers, and remember, stay warm and keep your beer even colder!

Happy New Beer to you and yours! The second attempt of our first episode of 2026 plays out like this:

• Chat about the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.
• Crack our first new brews: “West Coast Swing” from Left Field (8:09) and “Scenic Route” from Railway City. (9:53)
• Drew’s Beer Adventures, including a trip to Quebec City and a successful order from Dominion City in Ottawa. (13:12)
• Mike’s Beer Adventures, including some holiday get togethers and an order from Fine Balance in Kingston. (22:57)
• A surprise Polar Vortexians series release from Sarcastic Comedian Brewing Company. (32:50)
• Our NEW BEER'S RESOLUTIONS for 2026! (35:58)

Let's embrace those winter vibes (not like we have a choice, it's Canada!) for the beginning of Year/Season TWO! We sample a couple of beauties from Third Moon and delve into some fun recent Beer Adventures, before making way for The 2025 Pint Taken Craft Brewery Draft! Just like our second love, sports, we're each drafting five of our favorite breweries. Back and forth, no duplicates. Was a helluva discussion. Here's how the show shakes out:

(4:43) - Beer Sample: "Maple Pecan Bestowed"

(7:15) - Beer Sample: "Epoch Slushie - Extra Spicy Caesar"

(12:12) - Beer Adventures

(26:30) - The 2025 Pint Taken Craft Brewery Draft!

Thank you for the listens and support. Like, follow, subscribe and enjoy a cold one with us. Cheers!

ONE YEAR IN THE BOOKS!

Live from the Hallihan Craft Beer Laboratory, we celebrate one year of The Pint Taken Podcast by getting together and recording for the first time in person.

We cover tons of topics and some memories, including the potential expanding our beer "coverage" (7:29), some very successful Beer Adventures (9:15), reminiscing about moments from past episodes (27:12), digging into our beer data for the last year (35:11), things we’ve learned about beer (56:56), and finally, the things we’re looking forward to in 2026 (1:15:44).

THANK YOU for the following and support over the past year, we truly appreciate each and every one of you that joined us for the ride. Come hang with us in 2026 and beyond, and tell a friend. Look up The Pint Taken on whichever social media floats your boat (or all of them). Cheers!

The 4 unique beers that we split and sampled during the episode:

- "Patrick Bateman" from Blood Brothers (3:56)

- "The Cutback" also from Blood Brothers (31:49)

- "Strange Animal" from MERIT Brewing (50:58)

- "Epoch Slushie - Caesar" from Third Moon (1:10:28)

Hey look, it's November! First on the menu, it's quality over quantity in our latest Beer Adventures, where we tipped back some absolute bangers over the past couple of weeks (4:50).

We then welcome in our guest, beer connoisseur Brady Lacroix (20:42). With our three-man booth intact, we sample some brand new releases from Pint Taken favorites Blood Brothers and Third Moon (23:25). Then we unravel how Brady's craft beer journey began, how he "discovered" the Untappd app, and chat about some of his/our favorite beer styles and breweries (32:48). Finally, we go beyond beer and talk about Brady's insane vinyl collection (51:56) and of course, sports - the Blue Jays heartbreaker, the Expos, the Packers (!), our collective non-Leafs fandom, and some vintage goaltenders (57:43).

We wrap with some potential upcoming shenanigans, including an exciting ONE YEAR anniversary! (1:19:24).

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