ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast

For the last few years, Revolution Brewing has tried convincing us that barrel-aged stouts and barleywines can indeed be enjoyed on 90-plus degree days - and gosh darnit, they make a convincing case. On this episode, we dive into the first three 12-ounce Deep Wood beers for the release season and find some very pleasant surprises. We also let things get a bit wavier than usual as we have our first on-air THC beverage, which instantly switches on Craig’s snack detectors. Also, we try to make sense on an anachronistic pizza place; Craig’s chugging sixteen percenters at C2E2; and Ryan reluctantly befriends his local Pop Tart guy to get those rare drops. The beers are as good as two guys playing three guitars. Beverages Reviewed Reverb Splash: Black Cherry Lime (THC & CBD drink w/ fruit juice) Thundertaker (Imperial Rye Stout aged in bourbon barrels) Strawberry Jacket (Barleywine Ale aged in bourbon barrels w/ strawberries) XV - Fifteen Year Beer (Blend of Barleywine Ale & Ryewine double barrel-aged in bourbon barrels w/ cherries)  

Miskatonic has been a western suburban outpost for great beer with an extremely loyal following for a decade now - and it’s due time they get the recognition they deserve. We sit down in Darien with head brewer Cory Davidson and production brewer Mik Dempsey to talk all things Miskatonic, including how they approach brewing such a wide variety of styles with laser-like focus, how branding updates help reflect the beers themselves, what obscure styles they’d like to brew one day, and how they find collaboration partners in both the brewing and music worlds. Also, we talk about contract brewing through their full production brewery, making seltzers for the first time, and both Cory and Mik’s picks for their essential Chicagoland six packs.

Matt Gallagher has been instrumental to Chicago’s craft beer scene for almost two decades as a co-founder of Half Acre, but it’s his new brewery Suncatcher that has had us hooked from the very first visit. Suncatcher Brewing is a relatively unique concept in this time, as they are essentially a bar that serves their own streamlined and immaculate classic craft styles right from the tank with absolutely no designs on packaging or distribution - you have to be there to experience it. We talk with Matt about how this project came to him in a dream before being forced into a years-long hibernation, long before their fall 2024 opening. We also talk about how he found the perfect space, who was instrumental in getting the brewery off the ground, and what influences his stunning recipes. In addition, there’s some loving on pale ale, jumping into hop piles, adjusting to collaborations, opening up to low-gravity wood-aging - and us learning Matt’s picks for his Chicagoland essential six pack.

In our ongoing series that seeks to find the best IPA we can get our hands on, we keep this one  a bit more regional with five long-beloved and well-decorated beers from Indiana and Ohio. We taste one Hoosier beer and four Buckeye brews blindly using our much more focused scoring method - and we may just have our very first perfect score on this episode. Also, Craig’s Ohio trip leads him to question weed deals; we add some new terms to our beer descriptor lexicon; and Ryan invents the million-dollar idea of a Walking Deep Dish Pizza.™* It’s getting pretty propulsive around here.  Beers Reviewed Blindly The Brew Kettle - White Rajah Upland Brewing Company - Dragonfly IPA Great Lakes Brewing Co. - Commodore Perry Rhinegeist Brewery - Truth Fat Head’s Brewery - Head Hunter * = trademark pending  

During a particularly sweltering summer, no beer style has come through in the clutch as much as the lime lager. The sheer number of available options is a testament to the ultimate refreshing combo - and with these, there’s no need to shove a questionably dirty lime wedge down your longneck. We have five mostly-local lagers of varying styles that all contain lime - and it’s not long before we’re dreaming of food pairings. Also, Ryan gets stuck in nightmarish balloon duty; Craig is still angry about being promised only a “hint” of lime in his tortilla chips; and we consider becoming the first sommeliers for microplastics. Beers Reviewed Pipeworks Brewing Company - Cold Crispy Lime (Rice lager w/ Key lime juice) Werk Force Brewing - Lima (American lager w/ fresh lime juice) Flipside Brewing w/ The Open Bottle - Frogger Lager (Helles lager w/ lime) Cruz Blanca - Chelada: Lime + Sea Salt (Mexican lager w/ fresh lime juice and sea salt) Old Nation Brewing Co. - Tranquilas (Mexican lager w/ lime)  

It seems like it’s been far too long since we’ve extended a hearty “hello” to some new breweries in Chicagoland, so we’re psyched to gather five that have opened locations or started releasing beer into the world relatively recently. We learn about some new-to-us breweries and a few that have been long in the works here, and there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the future of beer locally. But also, Craig is training for the new Speed Showering event at the Olympics; Ryan is reliving his teenage years in Homewood; and we rely on some surprising sources for our background information. Beers Reviewed Brutalist Brewing Cooperative - Industry Plant (American Lager) Somos Monos Cervecería - Chica Fresa (Strawberry Blonde Ale) Homewood Brewing Company - H.B.C.: Head Beer In Charge (American Pale Ale) Monochrome Brewing w/ More Brewing - South East Side (Hazy Double IPA) Foreign Exchange - Between Two Parallels (Imperial Stout conditioned on Madagascar vanilla, Tahitian vanilla, and marshmallow)  

Although he might use the term “silly little beers,” Mike Schallau’s is/was brewing is making some of the most thoughtful and impressive saisons anywhere in the country right here in Chicago. We travelled up to his Ravenswood brewery and taproom to talk about those beers and how he transitioned his nearly six year-old brewing project from using other people’s spaces to his own in the last year and how that’s allowed him to dive deeper into the wide range of interesting ingredients and experiments he’s become known for. We get into the idiosyncrasies of saison from the outside perception of the drinkers of the style, to changing people’s perceptions of Brettanomyces, why people are more important than the concept of “terroir,” and how he develops his impressive restaurant and brewery collaborations. But also, there’s some throwback talk to his Pipeworks days, a long tangent on Fantôme, a dive into the prison hooch subreddit, some risky urban foraging, and Mike’s picks for his essential Chicagoland 6-pack.  Beers Sampled Will Be Always Zag Long Thai Double Rainbow (collaboration with Half Acre)  

Newly adopted as its own category for this year’s GABF competition, the West Coast Pilsner has the hoppy influence of its namesake locale while also retaining much of what makes German Pilsners so repeatedly drinkable. We gather five locally-made examples from some of Illinois’ top names in hops, and they help us build a case for the style’s existence. Also, Craig has a new BFF through his new obsession; Ryan doesn’t want to let go of his beloved goo pillow; and we outline exactly when it’s okay to put cheese on a hot dog.  Beers Reviewed Hop Butcher for the World - Francheezie Brothership Brewing - Retrograde Maplewood Brewing - My Cousin Binny, Vol. 4 Phase Three Brewing - Geo Old Irving Brewing - Doji  

In just 5 years, Goldfinger Brewing Company has made Downers Grove, Illinois a true destination for lager-lovers and much of that is to the credit of founder, co-owner, and head brewer Tom Beckmann’s tireless quest to make the most interesting lagers you’ll ever drink. Tom sits with us for a while to sample through some new and upcoming beers while discussing why telling the stories of his lagers is a key part to reshaping the perception of the category. We also talk about his recent Polish medal for a Polish-style beer, how his first brewing jobs set him up to start his own business, what moves a brewery into the “CollabZone”, which brewers he admires the most, and what specialty serving events could be in Goldfinger’s future. Plus, get the exclusive on his first Citra and Mosaic beer, and marvel at the fact that I don’t think we ever said the word “decoction” once. (No lies told here.) Check out Goldfinger’s Fifth Lagerversary on July 18th, 19th, and 20th! Beers Sampled Grodziskie Summer Beer Sparkling Lager  

In our second of our quarterly “random hoppy things” episodes wherein we gather notable hop-driven drinks from local breweries, we have a murderers’ row lineup to lead us into the warmer months - and we even include one non-beer. The high quality of the beverages leads to steadily sloppier discussions of Craig’s first Magic: The Gathering tournament, Ryan’s transition into erotic craft beer fiction novelist, our desire for unique taproom experiences, and the assembly of a Hop Conclave to give these experimental varieties an identity. It’s girthy - yet grippable, so grab an earful of this.   Beers Reviewed Hop Butcher for the World - Tropical Hop Water for the World (Sparkling Hop Water) Werk Force Brewing - Formerly Light (Session IPA) Suncatcher Brewing - MI Pale Ale (American Pale Ale) Mikerphone Brewing & Saint Errant Brewing - Pale Pauper 2025 (American Pale Ale) Half Acre Beer Company & Firestone Walker Brewing - Daisy Cutter Union (West Coast IPA)  

In our continuing quest to find the best legacy IPA (that also happens to be widely available), we blindly taste and rate a set of five here that represent four from the West Coast and one extremely familiar local. Are we grading more harshly on this episode than last? And what blind surprise catches us the most off guard? All this will be answered, along with how we can more effectively lie about having seen movies, and why Craig’s Mosaic blindness is going to flip the whole episode on its head.  Beers Reviewed Blindly Sierra Nevada Brewing - Torpedo Extra IPA Revolution Brewing - Anti-Hero IPA Lagunitas Brewing - IPA Deschutes Brewing - Fresh-Squeezed IPA Firestone Walker Brewing - Union Jack IPA  

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