1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:08,199 This is Beer in Front, part of the Odd Pods Media Network. Sometimes 2 00:00:08,199 --> 00:00:11,759 the beer in front of you is the best one yet. I'll talk about 3 00:00:11,759 --> 00:00:17,280 some old school beers that maybe you've forgotten about, some new beers that have 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,879 the potential to be a classic. I'll also talk to various people around the 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:28,079 beer world and get their stories all about beer. That's Beer in Front and 6 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:37,640 it's coming up now. Welcome to the November seventh edition, episode one hundred 7 00:00:37,679 --> 00:00:42,240 and eighty five of Beer in Front. I'm your host, Dave z Alatorres, 8 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:47,159 and Beer in Front is a proud Odd Pods Media Network member. Last 9 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:52,520 weekend, the Festival of Barrel Aged Beer was held here in Chicago at the 10 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:58,240 Credit One Arena. This was my first FOBAB and what a great experience. 11 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:03,880 There were so many great beers to try, plus the awards ceremony. Fau 12 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:08,799 Bab is a must visit for anyone who calls themselves a beer enthusiast. You 13 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:14,040 have to go to fae Bab. Thanks to my back flaring up, I 14 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:17,920 had to tap out on the last hour. However, I'm going to be 15 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:22,599 doing this again year after year. The Beer in Front this week will be 16 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:27,879 the Great Lakes bourbon barrel aged Christmas ale. They poured this at the festival, 17 00:01:29,239 --> 00:01:32,560 and when I saw it at my liquor store, I didn't have a 18 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:36,120 cart, but I grabbed it. Hey, this is Russ, this is 19 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,480 Kyle, this is Michelle from the Infectious Groove podcast. Join us every Monday 20 00:01:40,519 --> 00:01:42,920 for the most fun you can have with a music podcast. The Infectious Scroof 21 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,000 podcast uses a positive and fun approaches. We take time every week to share 22 00:01:48,079 --> 00:01:52,400 our Jamie jams, then dig into a thought provoking topic discussing all decades and 23 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,519 genres of music. You can find the Infectious Groove Podcast on all major podcasts 24 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:00,159 platforms, or you can head to infectiouscroofpodcast dot com to find us there and 25 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,760 subscribe. We might have a controversial opinion here or there, but we always 26 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,439 have fun with it. I'm sure I'll say something dumb. Subscribe to the 27 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:13,199 Infectious Groove Podcast, part of the Odd Pods media network. A couple other 28 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:19,879 things outside of beer. Ruby's birthday was this week, so we went to 29 00:02:20,039 --> 00:02:28,240 the Aroma workshop and you could make your own perfumes, clones, body lotions, 30 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:32,039 things like that. That was a lot of fun and I now have 31 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:38,560 my own signature scent which is called in the Cart. But if you're in 32 00:02:38,599 --> 00:02:44,199 the Chicago area and looking for something to do, I would hit up Aroma 33 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:50,280 Workshop. I thought that was a really fun time. You get to smell 34 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,800 all these different sens and then combine the ones you like to make a scent 35 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,840 of your own. So if you see me out and about, you know, 36 00:02:59,759 --> 00:03:05,000 have a with because it's in the cart. Also, my god, 37 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:10,240 she went to this place called the Taste of Heaven and brought some desserts back. 38 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,120 If you go there, it's on Clark Street. You gotta get the 39 00:03:15,159 --> 00:03:23,400 banana pudding. Holy shit, that was probably the best dessert I've ever had, 40 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:29,599 So you gotta get you the banana pudding. And of course now I 41 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:34,680 have the Southern culture from the Skid's song in my head every time I think 42 00:03:34,719 --> 00:03:39,000 of this delicious banana pudding. But just a couple other things to do in 43 00:03:39,039 --> 00:03:50,360 the Chicago area outside of beer. In beer News, Blake's hard Cider is 44 00:03:50,439 --> 00:03:55,560 merging with Austin Eastsider. I only had the Austin once. I thought it 45 00:03:55,639 --> 00:04:00,800 was excellent, So hopefully we'll be able to get that here in the Chicagoland 46 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:05,840 area. Now Molsen Core's is making money they raised their full year growth from 47 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:12,280 an estimated gain of twenty three to twenty six percent to thirty two to thirty 48 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,759 six percent. I hope you have stock at Molson Coret. Bell's Brewery is 49 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:23,560 having its annual Eccentric Day on December first. This will be the thirty second 50 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:30,480 Eccentric Day and the Kalamazoo Breweries teaming up with five other Midwestern breweries on some 51 00:04:30,639 --> 00:04:35,879 collaborations. These will only be available on tap at Bell's and some are limited 52 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:43,360 to go at the Bell's general store. Firestone Walker announced the twenty seventh anniversary 53 00:04:43,399 --> 00:04:46,800 aile that's going to come out soon to all of their markets. This will 54 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,600 be a blend of five different ales aged in bourbon barrels. There was a 55 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:59,000 really cool article on crafter dot com on breweries having game nights such as Majong 56 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:04,800 and being to increase local participation, especially with folks who might not visit a 57 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,920 brewery tap room. Check out crafter dot com. I thought that was a 58 00:05:08,959 --> 00:05:13,439 really cool article. Bear Republic is coming out with Racer seven. It's a 59 00:05:13,519 --> 00:05:17,639 HAZYIPA. It's going to be in that stovepipe nineteen ounce can and this is 60 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:24,160 I guess the hazy version of Racer five. Finally, in Chicago, Revolution 61 00:05:24,319 --> 00:05:30,199 and Half Acre are teaming up for On and On Part three. According to 62 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:32,839 the label that I saw over on my Beer Buzz, this will be a 63 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:39,560 double barrel age stout. If it's anything like the pass versions, this is 64 00:05:39,639 --> 00:05:49,240 going to be absolutely fantastic. As I mentioned in the open, the festival 65 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:55,000 the Barrel Age Beer was held here in Chicago a couple days ago. This 66 00:05:55,199 --> 00:06:00,560 was hands down the best festival I've been to. In addition to hundreds of 67 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:05,720 barrel aged beers to sample, they had the Logger Lounge where you could cleanse 68 00:06:05,759 --> 00:06:13,759 your palette, and a hop water lounge featuring Revolutions super Zero. I thought 69 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,319 the event layout was great on the floor of the arena as well as the 70 00:06:17,399 --> 00:06:25,959 concourse, and Goose Island had their train car outside pouring Bourbon County brands out. 71 00:06:26,319 --> 00:06:30,680 Even for the popular breweries. I didn't think the lines were bad at 72 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,800 all like I was expecting, and I've been to some other festivals where lines 73 00:06:34,879 --> 00:06:40,040 for the popular beers are just hideous. You're gonna spend more time in line 74 00:06:40,079 --> 00:06:45,680 getting gas at Costco than I did for Best in Show winners, more in 75 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,959 hidden hand at the festival, so I thought the layout and how they had 76 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:55,759 everything spread out was excellent. Another thing I liked. You didn't see anyone 77 00:06:55,839 --> 00:07:00,279 that was hammered or obnoxious. I had not, I mentioned earlier, leave 78 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:03,279 an hour early because my back was jacked up, so maybe at the end 79 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:09,399 there were. However, everyone I saw was just enjoying themselves. They were 80 00:07:09,399 --> 00:07:14,680 well behaved, just enjoying the festivities and sampling great beer. I really thought 81 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:18,439 that was cool. The Illinois craft Brewers Guild puts out a great festival. 82 00:07:18,839 --> 00:07:24,800 Why the other ones they do beer Underglass and Friday night flights. Faux Bab 83 00:07:24,879 --> 00:07:29,839 is something you should definitely attend if you're in the Illinois area. A couple 84 00:07:29,879 --> 00:07:31,759 of the beers I want to talk about that I really loved. I had 85 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:36,199 one from Ike and Oak. They're in Woodridge, Illinois. They had this 86 00:07:36,519 --> 00:07:43,800 coconut macaroon. Wow, it was that great. I had one from Superstition 87 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:48,079 Metery. They're in Prescott, Arizona. They had one that was rye barrel 88 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,519 aged that just I thought was phenomenal. I had to go back and get 89 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:56,680 a second of that. Another one I had to go back for Ale Smith 90 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:01,399 out of San Diego. Their speedway stouts phenomenal. But they had a Mexican 91 00:08:01,519 --> 00:08:09,240 hot chocolate version. Oh my god, that was just absolutely fantastic. Now, 92 00:08:09,399 --> 00:08:13,680 when Raced Out from the Guild was on the show a couple of weeks 93 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:18,279 ago, he mentioned trying things you might not ever do or get a chance 94 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:22,279 to. So I took him up on it and I had the from de 95 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:28,040 Still they had a dill pickle goza. I thought that was really good. 96 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:33,039 If you follow me on like Instagram and YouTube, I did a quick, 97 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:37,039 like forty five second review of that. I thought that was excellent. There 98 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:45,559 was also one from Off Color which was a mescalaged beer for tacos that was 99 00:08:45,799 --> 00:08:50,519 just killer as well. That one an award and it was well deserved. 100 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:58,600 Hey, this is Greviman Brisket Podcast. Join us every Monday where we talk 101 00:08:58,639 --> 00:09:03,960 about the latest trends in barbie, interviews with world top pitmasters, celebrity cooks 102 00:09:03,039 --> 00:09:07,440 oh like we Man from Jackass, and musicians like rich O'sool. So check 103 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,159 us out. We do beer reviews, barbecue fails, so many fires do 104 00:09:11,279 --> 00:09:13,759 a lot of people just burn their houses down for no reason. We also 105 00:09:13,759 --> 00:09:18,039 talked about cocaine, hippos versus Besgators learn how to make some tailgate gravy altercations 106 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,759 with Texas Rangers people throw on recent peanut butter cups. Yeah. So check 107 00:09:22,799 --> 00:09:26,080 out Grab the Risk at dot com for podcast info, viral social media post, 108 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:30,279 and so much more. All Right, the beer in front of me 109 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:35,360 is one that I had at Fox Bab and I liked it so much I 110 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:39,240 went out and picked up a four pack of this. This is the bearrel 111 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:46,919 aged Christmas Ale from Great Lakes Brewing Company out of Cleveland. There was another 112 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:48,960 one that I had then I talked about it on the Beers that I had 113 00:09:50,759 --> 00:09:56,759 from Off Collar, their mescal aged beer for tacos, and I couldn't find 114 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:01,720 that, So I will find out of my travels and I'll have that on 115 00:10:01,759 --> 00:10:05,799 a future episode. But this one from Great Lakes I really loved. I 116 00:10:05,879 --> 00:10:09,440 talk about Great Lakes on the show a lot. I'm just a big fan 117 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:11,759 of that brewery and the beers they put out. I know I've talked about 118 00:10:11,799 --> 00:10:16,519 Christmas Ale in the past couple of years, so when I saw a fauxbad 119 00:10:16,519 --> 00:10:20,679 that they had a barrel age version, I had to try it really really 120 00:10:20,879 --> 00:10:24,039 liked it. And then when I saw it on the four packs I had 121 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:28,120 to pick it up. So unlike a lot of barrel aged beers, this 122 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:35,240 is only eight percent alcohol, so it's not your fourteen to fifteen percent stouts 123 00:10:35,279 --> 00:10:41,159 that'll knock you on your rear. End. The Christmas Ale it's had spices, 124 00:10:41,279 --> 00:10:46,440 honey, and it's always one of my favorite beers around the holiday season. 125 00:10:46,519 --> 00:10:50,799 So enough of me rambling on about this and let's crack open the Great 126 00:10:50,879 --> 00:11:03,440 Lakes barrel aged Christmas Ale. It's a beautiful color, really nice, dark 127 00:11:05,639 --> 00:11:11,440 reddish brown, good couple fingers of foam. I don't get a lot of 128 00:11:11,519 --> 00:11:13,919 bourbon notes out of the aroma. I just get the Great Lakes Christmas Ale. 129 00:11:15,799 --> 00:11:22,799 Oh that is so good. You get all of the flavors from the 130 00:11:22,039 --> 00:11:30,440 original Christmas Ale and then you get like the bourbon notes, you know, 131 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:35,840 picking up the back end of it. It's really good. The bourbon notes 132 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:39,919 aren't very strong, you get a little of it at the back end, 133 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:45,879 but I think it's a nice compliment to the Christmas Ale. So this is 134 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:50,879 definitely something that I'm going to be picking up every year, or whenever they 135 00:11:50,919 --> 00:11:54,279 release it, I'm gonna put it in the carts. I think it's that 136 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,600 good. You could pick it up everywhere the Great Lakes distributes. I picked 137 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:03,440 it up at my local chain liquor store, Bennie's here in Chicago. It's 138 00:12:03,519 --> 00:12:07,240 excellent. So if you see the barrel aged Christmas ale, you have to 139 00:12:07,519 --> 00:12:16,840 put it in the cart. I mentioned on the show a couple weeks ago, 140 00:12:18,159 --> 00:12:22,200 when I had Julia Herzon from the American Home Brewers Association, I brewed 141 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:28,320 a beer. I brewed a pale Ale, and no fault of anybody but 142 00:12:28,519 --> 00:12:33,480 my own. I thought it was good. It was decent, but it 143 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:39,600 was nothing that I would like rave about or hand out to people. I'm 144 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:45,399 sure there was something that I did wrong because it's been so long since I 145 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:48,960 brewed a beer. So I'm going to dial in the recipe a little bit 146 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:54,679 more. I know there's a couple things that I know now that I didn't 147 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,080 know a couple months ago, So I'm going to have another crack at this. 148 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:03,399 But I thought the pale Al was it was good, it was decent, 149 00:13:03,399 --> 00:13:07,720 but there was something missing there. And I don't know if I kept 150 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,159 it too long in the fermentor you know. I had some issues with my 151 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:15,360 back, physical issues that kind of prohibited me from doing some things, so 152 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:20,360 that probably had something to do with it. But I think I know now 153 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:26,000 what I didn't know then, and the next version of this is going to 154 00:13:26,039 --> 00:13:30,320 be a lot better, and I'm going to talk more in detail about that. 155 00:13:31,759 --> 00:13:35,240 All right, that's going to wrap things up for this edition of Beer 156 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:39,399 in Front. I thank you very much for listening. If you need to 157 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:43,960 get a hold of me, you could email me Dave at beerinfront dot com 158 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:50,360 or find me on all the social media channels at Beer in Front. I 159 00:13:50,399 --> 00:13:54,080 want to thank again the Illinois craft Brewers Guild for setting me up with the 160 00:13:54,240 --> 00:14:00,000 media pass to go to Faux Bab. I had such a great time. 161 00:14:00,039 --> 00:14:05,720 I thank you guys so much for hooking me up with this. Whether I 162 00:14:05,759 --> 00:14:09,200 get a pass or not, I'm going from now on so you could find 163 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:15,159 my mug at fau Bab every year. Have a great week everyone, I 164 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,960 will talk to you next week on Beer in Front, and remember sometimes the 165 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,679 beer in front of you is the best one yet.