Sometimes the show is about what we don’t drink, and on this one, we have No IPAs. It’s really just a cute name for a random beer show we recorded while already drunk late on a Friday. There are five beers from a few locals and a few others, and at least for some, we’re happy we didn’t say “No” to them. And hopefully you won’t refuse us as we sloppily pitch movies, scrutinize our own similes, and visit Pen Island. We also find one of the best deals in beer currently. There’s also about four minu...
May 18, 2016•1 hr 13 min
Other Half Brewing is the latest small East Coast operation churning out heavily-hopped (and hyped) beers that are increasingly in demand. We scrutinize five of these Brooklyn-born ales on this show, trying to determine if their growing reputation is well-deserved. And because it’s us, we also do some “NBA Jam” trivia, drink Sea Monkeys, ruminate on JNCO jeans, and stick our fingers in beer. We also respond to a few listeners and acknowledge our almost aggressive lack of hipness. Boom shakalaka....
May 11, 2016•1 hr 20 min
At the foot of the Appalachian mountains just outside of Asheville, Fonta Flora embraces local ingredients while honoring the history of a flooded sharecropping community. For some reason, reviewing four of their beers brings out our feisty side - and the most violent reaction to a beer we’ve ever had. We hope you also want to hear about Spanish Yoda, Craig’s cartoon hands, a little spooning, Byron Allen, sharecropping, and Nazi Fanta. The apology list might be long on this one. But at least mos...
May 04, 2016•1 hr 1 min
Another Dark Lord Day approaches, so we review a vertical of 3 Floyds’ signature special release with a little help from the Chicago Tribune’s beer columnist Josh Noel. Should you ever age a Dark Lord? Is it really just a decent beer? Are the variants worth it? The answers will probably not shock you. But we do our best to contribute to the conversation by talking about the changes to the fest itself, this year’s variants, and 3 Floyds’ place in local beer culture. There’s also some Goose Island...
Apr 27, 2016•1 hr 26 min
Nothing is certain and all of life is a lie. We drink five Midwestern barrel-aged stouts without knowing what they are to test their true quality and our very confidence in ourselves. And it is discovered that we, in fact, are terrible. But major surprises abound as we mostly play a new game we should call “Is This Bourbon County?” And we learn that spotting a fresh stout in a sea of aged beers is not as easy as one would expect. There’s also stuff about Everclear, pro-wrestling, Wu-Tang, the “C...
Apr 20, 2016•1 hr 2 min
We’re all too eager to try more from Boston’s Trillium Brewing Company as we were positively gobsmacked by their beers last time. This time around, we have MC Johnsen from Worth 1000 Beers to help us review these five offerings and steer us into some serious streams of consciousness. We talk a bit about Trillium’s expanded production and second location, saison brewing, and hop blindness. For the digressions on this one, we go deep on candy (of course), feeling cheese, bad accents, ranch-flavore...
Apr 13, 2016•1 hr 13 min
Check. Check. Is this thing on? Everybody wants some Mikerphone Brewing, and we find out exactly why on this episode. With a mixed 4-track of Mike Pallen’s beers, we have our asses rocked by a few of the best beers we’ve had in a long, long time. We share an update on Mikerphone’s new location, and discuss New England style IPAs, beers as musical instruments, and the fault of first impressions in craft beer. But then there’s some disgusting stuff about buckets, Gloria Estefan, Halloween masks, a...
Apr 06, 2016•1 hr 12 min
Somewhat quietly, Jerry Nelson from Une Année has been making some of the best sour beers in Chicago - or anywhere, frankly. On this show, we review the first five beers from the Le Seul series of wild ales and fall in love with the solera method. We also talk about Une Année’s recent news, share some info on the souring process from Jerry, and discuss the challenges of a sour beer membership program. Also, Craig’s voice is eating itself, Ryan gives Chris from Transient Artisan Ales tips on nami...
Mar 30, 2016•1 hr 12 min
Two Michigan breweries enter Illinois; only one will be declared victorious. Well, not really, as we’re sure that both Short’s Brewing and Odd Side Ales will make a lot of new fans in Illinois. We pit six of these Michigan export beers head-to-head on this episode - and the real winner is good taste. But also, we take asides on Craig’s Street Fighter knowledge, offensive beer names, Johnny Cage the Elephant, and that time Ryan almost witnessed Sugar Ray die. (Long live Sugar Ray!) And yes, there...
Mar 23, 2016•1 hr 8 min
We disengage our clutches and rev up our car metaphors for a whole show dedicated to the Speedway Stout from AleSmith. Mike Zoller from PorchDrinking joins us to taste five versions of this coffee-fueled, high-octane stout, and it’s a damn good thing we’re not actually driving. We talk about aging coffee beers, infected beers, and barrel-aging’s impact on ABV. But we also discuss Wacky Races, recoil from political talk, step on Craig’s pole, and try not to offend any volcanoes. And someone gets ...
Mar 16, 2016•1 hr 13 min
Episode 111 - Stoneface Brewing Co. Since 2014, the people of Stoneface Brewing Co. have been focused on churning out a small variety of high quality brews. We drink five from the New Hampshire brewery, and there’s nary a complaint to be made about these great beers. But the diversions we take are more, uh, graphic than ever. Expect to hear about a Mozzapocalypse, perfect rimjobs, the genius of Neil Breen, eating babies, Nick Nolte’s Sea Captain period, and Craig’s sexual proclivities. It’s actu...
Mar 09, 2016•1 hr 2 min
To celebrate the opening of their new bottle shop, Off Color has released a few unique beers that we combine with two other shelf selections for review on this episode. And because Craig spent the day acquiring cideries at the Cider Summit, we try to keep it brief and on topic - which fails quickly. There’s a little talk of food color byproducts, two new Craig characters (John Apple and French Stupid), Ryan’s trouble in the produce aisle, a reappearance from the orgy tarp, and a solid eight minu...
Mar 02, 2016•51 min
We enter unfamiliar territory on this one by doing our first-ever cider show. Kim Leshinski of Hail to the Ale and MC Johnsen of Worth 1000 Beers join us to educate us on these fermented apple beverages. You’ll learn a lot about how ciders are made, apple varieties, local cider sources (including Broken Nose Cider), heirloom apples, and “the long pour.” We go from “cider stupid” to just plain stupid at times, as the diversions here are frequent and give Craig a good core workout. And Ryan is mad...
Feb 24, 2016•1 hr 27 min
Straight out of the cellar and into your earholes, five Side Project beers are on the table for this one as Steph from The Girl and Her Beer joins us to review these ridiculous works of liquid art. It’s not news that Cory King makes badass 100% barrel-aged beers, but you can live vicariously through us as we experience them. There’s also a musical side projects game, blending talk, a wall of acetone, origins of blue raspberry candy, ideas on how to make wax better, and a gusher we won’t soon for...
Feb 17, 2016•1 hr 14 min
From the caves and laboratories of New Glarus, these four beers undergo our own “research and development” - by which we mean we “review” them and get surprisingly “drunk.” But the beers are of the usual New Glarus quality, so it gives us a lot to talk about: if Barney Rubble smells worse than a band-aid; what a “funk blanket” is and how to use it to get out of your Cicerone exam; and whether or not Craig has ever eaten celery. We also give some tips on beers with Belgian yeast and read an absur...
Feb 10, 2016•1 hr 3 min
We dipped into our vault this week to bring you our little tribute to working together. All five beers on this show were the product of collaboration featuring at least one local brewery (or liquor store) and a brewing buddy. Recorded back in August, this episode just got buried in our release schedule, but we’re proud to finally bring it to you so you can hear our trite discussions of the Aggro-Crag, smelly toys, One Direction, supple buttcheeks, and our idea for a naughty collaboration beer. A...
Feb 03, 2016•1 hr 5 min
It’s about to get all rustic up in here with four tart beers from Casey Brewing and Blending. Troy Casey subscribes to the Old World philosophy of brewing by using local Colorado ingredients and 100% oak fermentation to create these masterful brews. We subscribe to the ABV philosophy of getting completely off-topic from our beer reviews to create a fever-dream of a podcast. In addition to our take on these finely-crafted ales, there’s bits about Craig’s garbage mouth, overzesting your lemons, sp...
Jan 27, 2016•57 min
To clumsily pay tribute the only way we know how, we drink some beers to honor David Bowie that have some tangential relationship to his career. And though we don’t attempt to give Bowie a proper send off, the beers turn out really damn good and silliness abounds. We talk Monster cereals, sing some Cher, fear “target character drift”, defend Elisabeth Shue’s honor, and recall Quantum Leap. And there’s more conclusive evidence that Craig is our greatest living beer poet. Thank you, David Bowie. B...
Jan 20, 2016•1 hr 3 min
It’s a mother-loving good time on this episode as we drink six different beers from Springfield, Missouri’s own Mother’s Brewing Company (Thanks Jeb and Eden!). And just like our own mothers, these beers fill us with warm feelings and happiness and alcohol. So we also rattle on about resolutions, crappy candy, hard root beer, TV moms, and Craig’s eHarmony profile. One beer brings out the 15 year-old in both of us (take a wild guess), and then there’s a little coffee talk - no big whoop. Ryan Win...
Jan 13, 2016•55 min
Who says a little danger can’t be a lot of fun? Well on this show, we drink five random beers we had around and give them the ol’ arbitrary review treatment. Ryan shares his complete pitch for Yet Another Stakeout , the prospective third film in the Stakeout Trilogy. And for some godforsaken reason, the whole show is soundtracked by the music of Steven Seagal. It’s like we’re challenging you not to listen - so thanks if you do! Craig Anchorage Brewing Company - A Deal With The Devil (Cognac Barr...
Jan 06, 2016•1 hr 2 min
It’s sweaters and stouts season again, and we bask in the warmth of five dark beers on this episode. We also look back on the year in beer by reminiscing on some of our favorites beers and events of 2015. There’s a lot of love for local favorites like Middle Brow, Temperance, Transient, Imperial Oak, Spiteful, Pipeworks, Pollyanna, and Une Annee; but some of the best beers of the year came from out East thanks to Tree House, Trillium, and Voodoo. Also experience a magically truncated rant on bot...
Dec 30, 2015•1 hr 25 min
For the big 100, we threw a little holiday party and invited our friends - and to our delight, they came bearing gifts of beer! On the show, we drink with them and give our usual reviews while catching up with them and taking many topical detours. Joining us are Kim Leshinski (Hail to the Ale), Ken Getty (from CHAOS Homebrew Club), Nick Burica (of Middle Brow Beer Co.), Chris Betts (of Transient Artisan Ales), Marie Cummins (Down the Hatch beer blog), Dennis Lee (of The Pizzle), MC Johnsen (Wort...
Dec 23, 2015•1 hr 32 min
On this episode, we sit in the sticky lap of luxury and sip on some premium barrel-aged offerings from Spiteful Brewing. We review four beers: two of which rightfully won gold medals at FOBAB, and one that leaves us speechless (and hallucinating). In addition to all the beer and brewery talk, we audit Craig’s purchases, preview Ryan’s “Goonies 2” script, and drink some semi-legal absinthe. It’s gross. But it’s all worth it in the end, trust us. Craig Barrel-Aged Malevolence Chocolate Caliente Ba...
Dec 16, 2015•57 min
2015 might as well be deemed “The Year Pipeworks Came to Cans”, because as this show proves, it’s one of the best things to happen to Chicago beer in a while. We review the five currently available canned beers from Pipeworks because we were too impatient to wait for the sixth. Additionally, we unveil a new game (temporarily) titled “Beer Carnac,” and it goes off better than expected. We also give advice about Beer of the Month clubs, Ryan joins the “Smells Creamy” movement, and Craig is terribl...
Dec 09, 2015•1 hr 12 min
No tents were pitched in the making of this episode as we review the 2015 lineup of Goose Island’s signature special release stout. And we went extravagant on this one, pairing all six Bourbon County beers with special chocolates and the scandalous commentary of one Dennis Lee from The Pizzle. Find out if we think if these were worth waiting in line for on a cold Black Friday morning. In addition to our unique take on these most-desired beers, you’ll get to sup upon our sordid stew of nail polis...
Dec 02, 2015•1 hr 25 min
For our brief, annual sabbatical, we drink ten different craft sodas while recapping our experience at this year’s Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers. We attempt to review the sodas, with five produced locally, but spend a lot of time reliving our favorite FoBAB moments. Our highlights include beers from Perennial, Off Color, 2nd Shift, Goose Island Clybourn Brewpub, Spiteful, Brickstone, The Lost Abbey, Metropolitan, Moody Tongue, August Schell, Half Acre, Temperance, Hardywood, and more. B...
Nov 25, 2015•1 hr 24 min
On Craig’s day off, he went due south to central and southern Illinois to check out their burgeoning beer scene. He brought back five beers for us to review, and we’re all over them like Abe Lincoln on a steamin’ stack of corn cakes. Amidst the beer talk, we touch on such provincial topics as adhesive, hand growlering, the Kennedys, spray shields, penguin movies, Charleston Chews, service ducks, and Paul Walker. And stay tuned to the end when we pay tribute to the late Jonathan Taylor Thomas. We...
Nov 18, 2015•1 hr 9 min
Man, it’s a hot one. We try five West Coast beers that have started popping up on Chicagoland shelves to determine if they’re worth your all-important dollar with our arbitrary reviews. Learn about these new entries to the Chicago market while we pay tribute to a song that defined a generation. Plus, we rant about beer pricing, brewery buyouts, the Better Business Bureau, the Rule 34 of beer, doing the Haka, and using “Mambo #5” for terrorism. We’ll be your Drunken Holiday Uncle. Or else forget ...
Nov 11, 2015•1 hr 20 min
Listener Keef Debonzo sent us a box of treats from Wicked Weed Brewing, and we sat down on Halloween night to taste ‘em. We’re downright giddy to find out that this Asheville brewery is doing just about everything right. To add to the wickedness of this show, we play our favorite game, Beers Against Humanity, and it elicits talk about Cialis, Nickelback, orgies, Def Leppard, and more. We also talk craft beer Halloween costumes, shelf life on hoppy beers, herbaciousness, and naming your brewery. ...
Nov 04, 2015•1 hr 14 min
For this episode, we blend with the Johnsens - MC and Matt - for this special trip on the Gueuze Crueuze™. We taste-tour five Belgian gueuzes and attempt to rank them, which is mixed in with some lambic education, brewery history, Belgium travel stories, and more diversions than usual. Here’s a small sampling of non-beer topics: Nazi ghosts, Eddie Bauer, peanut butter tapeworms, wine bongs, home coolshipping, DMX, pipe-aging, Magic Eye puzzles, Belgian motorcycle gangs, and dangerous roadside Li...
Oct 28, 2015•1 hr 23 min
