Speaker 1: This is Beer in Front, part of the Odd Pods
Media Network and Beer Media Group. Sometimes the beer in
front of you is the best one yet. I'll talk
to different people around the beer world and get their
stories all about beer. That's Beer in Front, and it's
coming up now. Welcome to episode two hundred and thirty
four of Beer in Front. I'm your host, Dave's Alatorus
and Beer in Front is a proud odd Pods Media
Network member and charter member of the Beer Media Group.
I have a good show today. The Festival of Wood
and Barrel Aged Beer is this weekend. BABS gonna be
held on the twenty second and twenty third this Friday
and Saturday at the Credit Union One Arena right here
in Chicago. I am so stoked about this. This is
probably the highlight of my year. I love, love, love
this festival. All the great beers, all bearl aged, you
can't go wrong. This year, I wanted to do something
a little different. Usually I talked to Ray from the
Illinois Craft Brewers Guild, but I wanted to do something
a little different and talk to a couple breweries to
get their points of view and what they think about
this great festival. So I'm gonna talk to some people
at Old Irving and Solemn Oh. So we'll get a
little city, we'll get some suburbs action going here, and
we'll learn all about Fae Bab from these fine gentlemen.
And that's coming up. Usually try to put the show
out on Thursdays. Now this one I put out a
day early. Just wanted to give an extra day before
fax Bab. Next week is Thanksgiving, so I'm not going
to do a Thursday show. I'll put it out Friday,
and I'm going to talk to the folks at Blue
Ox Malt Company. So if you want to learn a
little bit more about malt, tune into that. That'll be
next Friday. I've talked about it on the show the
past couple of years. If you want to hear my
grandmother's stuffing story, wait until after the music when the
closing music plays at the end. If you've heard it
before and you don't want to hear it again, you
could just hit end. But if you do want to
hear it, wait until the close, and I will give
you my annual story about my grandmother and her stuffing.
Since this is going to be the last time I
talked to you before Thanksgiving. I hope you have a
great holiday. It is my favorite holiday of the year.
I'm very thankful that you listen to this, you watch
the silly video. So that's one of the reasons I'm
giving thanks in addition to my beautiful wife, my pain
in the ass dog, and my lovely mother. So but
thank you all very much for putting up with me
on a week two week basis. The Festival of Wood
and Bearly Age Beer is right around the corner. FOEBAD
will be held on November twenty second and twenty third
at the Credit Union One Arena right here in Chicago.
This year, on the preview, I wanted to change things up.
Not that I have anything against Ray. I love Ray
from the Brewers Guild, but I wanted to talk to
a couple different breweries and get things from their perspective. Today.
Right now, I'm an Old Irving Brewing which is at
forty four to nineteen West Montrose Avenue with Matthew Moldenhauer
and Trevor Rose Hamblin from Old Irving to talk about
what they're going to be serving up this year at foebat. Gentlemen,
thanks for inviting me back to the brewery of course.
Speaker 2: Man, it was always good to have you.
Speaker 1: Ah, good morning, fun to be back, Yeah, ten thirty
in the morning. Yeah. The barelage program here is second
to none in my opinion throughout the city. I love
everything you put out, from the Crampis series to other offerings.
What do you have in store for Full Bad this year?
Speaker 3: Well, this year we've got two entries. We've been messing
with a lot of our base recipe for Crampis over
the last years, lactose has kind of fallen out of favor.
The original idea behind Crampus Cookies was milk and cookies,
so lactose made sense as a milk style that was
barrel aged.
Speaker 2: But more and more people are starting.
Speaker 3: To shy away from anything with lactose. So we've been
kind of experimenting with our grain recipe trying to still
get that like unctuousness and sweetness and roundness that we
love about Crampis, but sans lactose. So one of our
first experiments with this was brand new beer that we
just put out called Cursed, which is one of our
entries this year. Very very simple bass. A lot of
roasted models are really hefty. Two roal malts, some beautiful
kind of caramelized malts, Caraffa Munich, things like that, fermented
with a very simple ale strain to leave a lot
of body and then the good helping of oats as
well to helum with that body. We then laid it
down in two distinct barrels. You've got the six year
Wild Turkey Bookers Bourbon and Wild Turkey Rye as well.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's a great one to start with
because we are going to be serving this at Fauxvab
And one of things that I love about this beer,
especially as being that first foray into not having lactoses
for me, is where you get the barrel characters starts
to really shine.
Speaker 1: On this one. Now, this has been out for a
little while, correct.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you can't actually find out where were sold out.
It was done right around our for eighth anniversary in
September here and aptly named this beard caused a lot
of problems being named cursed, but I think it has
a lot of a lot of help for us in
the future for what it's going to be bringing, especially
kind of as that first base of what we're doing
with Grampus Now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's like we go on.
Speaker 3: We love to do like the fun stuff, right, we
love infusing ad jump team, doing all this other stuff.
But I think as we kind of move through the processes,
I'm like, what kind of flavors can we use with
just natural brain ingredients? How do we get that chocolate?
How do we get kind of cherry? And we're kind
of we're putting all those pieces together and we've kind
of figured out so you'll notice that this has like
a lot of kind of reductive flavors like cherry and almond.
Speaker 2: It's pretty nutty.
Speaker 3: It almost starts like edging on like sherry or you know,
something like that, like a port some kind of fortified wine.
But it's it's pretty cool to see just you know,
just what beer berylin of some Time does.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I remember I bought this when it came out
and really loved it. But you know, now that you
poured a little bit of it, you definitely do get
just out of the aroma without tasting it. You get
that the Scottie almond notes with cherry. I mean it
smells really phenomena.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So it's kind of like, you know, I think
we love Barrelea's beer because it's just NonStop experimentation. Yeah,
and that's really where the fun part of brewing is, right.
Speaker 4: So yeah, and this beer is the first one, especially
for Bareleags beer spreeing a long time that I've gone
back to multiple times and week after week and trying
it with different people that I just love it where
I can keep drinking more than announce or two. The
complexity keeps pulling me back, but there's so much development
in the wood that I just want to keep drinking it.
I don't get that palette fatigue that I get with
some of the like really big adjunct did stouts.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so that was kind of like the first one
that we did and that I really wanted people to
kind of see what OIB can do without adjuncts or
entering this as part of the competition, okay, to see
how it fairs. I mean, this one, you know, we
didn't like do pre sales or anything on it. We
didn't hype it up, we.
Speaker 1: Didn't do anything like that.
Speaker 2: We just kind of like, hey, this is here, come
by and check it out.
Speaker 1: Well, that's what it was. You know, when I was
you know, come you know, I stopped after working, you know,
pick some stuff up. Yeah, so I think I was
coming in to grab a bees or something. I'm like, wait,
what's that in the cooler? Yeah? Oh add that to Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3: It was kind of fun to kind of drop those
once in a while without you know, a lot of fanfare, just.
Speaker 2: Drop them to what people think.
Speaker 3: And this kind of has led us down a path,
This specific recipe has let us down a path. So
I love stories, so this let us down a different
path with Crampis. So this was kind of the first
experiment Crampis that was brood right after this, and put
in Barrels was the second.
Speaker 2: I kind of I had learned some things had tasted.
Speaker 3: You know, the beer before barrel and I was like, okay,
I'm gonna tweak a couple of things, and then we
brewed last year's Crampis to be released this year, and
this year we're bringing back Champarado, which was.
Speaker 2: A fan favorite. We took it away last year.
Speaker 3: We took it away because you know, it's probably one
of my favorite variants that we do.
Speaker 1: But sometimes you take it.
Speaker 3: Away for a year and then you bring it back
and it's kind of it kind of like it's exciting again.
You know, and it's exciting to see what the Saigon cinnamon,
the three different types of chili's, the coconids we've been
using lately, these beautiful organic coconibs from Ghana and the
still by the way, handmade hand puriod Madagascar vanilla beans
that I make, and see how they all interact with
this kind of like new recipe and new barrels.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this year's barrels.
Speaker 3: For Crampus is mostly Russell's Reserve single barrel, which is
really exciting because I'm a big fan of Russell's Reserve.
I'm so excited to see how that expresses on the
Crampus this year.
Speaker 4: So well, speaking of which, I think that's a great
for into it of the base of what's going to
be Champarado.
Speaker 1: Here.
Speaker 4: This is the couve that Trevor and the Guy's de
barrel this morning and you know, not carved, but for
me it blew me away an hour ago when I
first tried it. Oh yeah, and I was convinced there
was other types of wine barrels and things in there
for me, the like black cherry, really rich dark berry notes.
Speaker 1: It's just yeah, I definitely get those wind notes from
this I mean, this tastes phenomen I can't wait to
try this when it's finished. Oh yeah, yeah, No, it's
the barrels expressive.
Speaker 3: I think because of the lactose not getting in way
of the story anymore. I think the barrel's allowed to
yell a little bit louder, which is kind of nice.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. The rest of the Crampis series that I
saw you post online now, is that available now or
is it like next week where the Vember Sale fourteen
fold live? All right, well, when this comes out, it'll
be available, so go pick them up. But the line
looks impressive. What else can people expect in the Crampist
series this year?
Speaker 3: Yeah, So, of course, as always, we're gonna have the og,
which is actually usually our favorite. It's I mean, it's
it's what Crampis was born as. It's a cookie recipe
in a beer so coconubs vanilla malts that kind of
reflect kind of like all the other ingredients like brown
sugar and the viscosity maybe from like your eggs is
from the oats. It was like, really, I was like
thinking of a cookie recipe, but I rose so OG's
coming back. It's gonna be really Uh then we have
our crampis that is just in the buff again, but
this year it's not gonna be in the buff. It's
not gonna be it'll be without adjuncts. But it's gonna
be two year aged, two different types of barrels. Okay,
So the first year was will it and then this
last one was Russell's reserve single, so a full two
years age. That's the only one that would still have
lactose in it this year because that was obviously last
year's drought. Yeah, but it's really cool to see what
it's done. We just tasted those yesterday and I'm like
beside myself with what an extra year did to crampus.
We've never done that before. So yeah, really really fun
experiment for us. Uh pirate crampish rum barrels. Ask Marty,
ask anybody, probably the half Acre guys to rum is
a enemy of the brewing world.
Speaker 2: Rum barrels. You know, they're they're chewed up and spit up.
Speaker 3: And I found some that were still in good shape
that my guys at Midwest Barrel were holding for me.
I was able to fill them. We're debarreling those like
right now today, and that's gonna be in used with
toasted coconut that I toasted off this morning. We have
those coconibs and vanilla, and so it's kind of like
going to be like a coconut rum flavor. And then
of course you also have your chumparado crampis as well.
And then another new thing that we're doing this year
because we have such a deep love for collaborating with
local beweries, we've developed a really nice relationship with the
guys from Nosis out of Indiana. Earlier this year, we
did a beer that was supposed to be both of
our barrel aged beers together and so, vibing off of
that flavor of Rocky Red.
Speaker 2: Ice Creamy decided, okay, let's go with us.
Speaker 3: They worked well non barrel age barrel age now, so
we're going for those same flavors. So you can expect
some nuttiness chocolate. You can also expect a little bit
of marshmallow in that one. Marshmallow worked out really well
for us last year. It was a lot of people's
favorite last year.
Speaker 1: So that was my favorite. Yeah, so we're kind of
visiting that a little bit again.
Speaker 3: So we're taking what has kind of worked for us
in the past and implementing it in new ways this year,
but even.
Speaker 1: Putting up barely age stuff since I think twenty seventeen.
How do you keep raising the bar because it seems
like every year it gets better and better.
Speaker 3: I appreciate that we try, you know, like I think,
as you get to know your ingredients, you get to
know the barrels. I got to give a huge shout
out to Marty from Rev just in you know, being
able to share information with him. He's kind of like,
for me, like the guru of barrels, you know. And
I remember first seeing him come into one of our releases.
Speaker 2: He had sitting at the bar and.
Speaker 3: I I'm not I don't get I don't get shell
shocked off and you know, or get like giddy. But
it was my first time being able to really sit
down and talk with him. And now we have like
a regular, you know relationship. But the guy, you know,
guys like him doing it better than anyone else, is
like who I like have to give a lot of
credit to because they've they've helped guide me a lot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Marty, I mean I was there a couple months
ago talking to him about you know, their series coming out,
and it's just like, I mean, this guy's forgotten more
about wood and I'll ever know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's real, Sae, So you know, yeah, it's you know,
you gotta you always gotta tip the hat to what
came before you.
Speaker 2: Nothing comes from nothing, right Yeah. And of course, you know,
being right down the road.
Speaker 3: Now with our new production facility from the guys who
started at all Goose Island, you know, who always have
something barelyaghed around, and I get to jam with those guys.
Speaker 1: That's always amazing.
Speaker 3: And I've got direct access to those guys and I've
developed really great friendships with them.
Speaker 2: So like literally everyone who does great bereage beer has
really helped guide me, you know, like in everyone over
at Goose Island has been amazing. Sean from Phase three,
I've done collaborations with him, David Zebel.
Speaker 3: And more like.
Speaker 2: These are all the heavy hitters.
Speaker 3: These are guys you want to be surrounded by, right,
and they're all great at what they do.
Speaker 1: So nobody here seems to be like an asshole. Everybody's
like willing to share information and it's not cut throat. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that's really part of what makes the
industry in Chicago's special and why Phoebab is here and
what we're doing is because when Trevor learns about these things,
people come and ask him about hazes. And for us,
I don't think it's ever this aspect of, oh, if
we make a hazy, we're afraid of someone else making
it better. No, if someone else makes it better, then
Trevor gets to keep learning, and then we get to
make it better, and then our whole area gets better.
It's why Chicago has some of the best beer in
the world is because there has a free flow of ideas.
There's brewers that come in on Friday afternoons and just
sit and chat and talk and it's no one keeping
secrets but everyone kind of raising that tide and making
things better.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Everyone seems to help each other. And yeah it's
great for great for us, Great for me the drinker
that I could you know, come in on any day
after work and pick up something. It's like world class.
It's you know, phenomenal for me. The consumer and people
that listen that are just you know, beer geeks who
just want great beer.
Speaker 2: It's amazing.
Speaker 3: I mean, we have so many get raised and I
think that ever last thing it is there is also
like a silent competition between all of us where we
will have to congratulate each other when each one wins,
but we want that win.
Speaker 2: Too, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: Like, and it's cool, like, yeah, we're doing a collaboration
pretty soon here kind of a mixture of our popular
barrel age beers with Workforce brand New who makes a
phenomenal Barely stuff. So I mean, it's it's that kind
of camaraderie that gets us all kind of raising the
bar all the time.
Speaker 1: When you're doing your lineup for Crampus, so you haven't
in your head for what's going to happen the next year.
Do you have an idea of what's going to be
the full Bear release or you kind of just play
it by year with how things develop throughout the course
of the year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think when we get excited and I kind
of gauge it off of like what we're excited about
at the time and what we think is going to
be really great.
Speaker 1: It is tough.
Speaker 3: It's kind of a guessing game because you know, I
can taste these barrels months out before full Bat, but
you know they can develop before you get there. With Curs,
at least we knew it was a good bear edged beer.
We thought this is a good one to put forth.
We think it has a real chance. And then it's
also something you want to showcase because it's a little
bit different than crampis. We usually we bring two different
types of crampus. This year, I really wanted to bring
something a little different and yeah, but I just know
champarado is popular.
Speaker 2: I hope people like it.
Speaker 3: I'm really excited to see how people react to it
now that the recipe's a little bit different too.
Speaker 4: So yeah, well, I also think especially for you with
trumparado chili's and beer, I've had so many bad beers
not done well. And one of the things that I
love about your background expertise is that balance of flavor
when you use really big ingredients, even like our cinnamon prost.
I was tasting out at event last night and most
people are always just taken them back by how you
can balance things, and to me that that is your
background of how you have that balance and where so
many breweries and people they either go way too big
or not enough and to hit that like nice little
band balance where you get the chili, you get the
ancho or waho and you get that little bit of spice,
but it doesn't dominate the beer. Yeah, but it's still
there in its present. Is a very fine line.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for better or worse, We too try to hit
that balance. You know, a lot of people don't want it,
Like a lot of people want to be smacked over
the head with the ingredients.
Speaker 2: But I also like to make drinkable beer.
Speaker 3: So yeah, it's like I might not get the highest
in tap ratings, but you're not gonna be fucking taxed
after a couple of SIPs.
Speaker 1: It's not like, you know, having a hot ones competition
when you're drinking beer. No one wants in on whatever
that number nine or number ten what is?
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I mean and on top of that, like
chilis and stuff like that, it's how you prepare them,
you know. Obviously the seeds hold a lot of the capsation,
you know. And I used to make a molley at
Moto back of the day, and I'm using the exact
same chilis I used to use in that mole and
I remember frying them in the whole process. And that's
one I kind of knew I love beer actually, because
that low and slow, long ass process of making mole
or making breads or things like that. Really was like
of the same kind of mentality of making beers. A
lot of patience, a lot of time, a lot of technique.
So that's kind of the time. The chomparado, well, it's
kind of beloved. Yeah, I mean, chili's are so good.
And when you said, like if they're done right, like
I remember, I think Pipeworks had one years ago and
you didn't know it was chili in there until like
the aftertaste. So when you're sipping it, it's like, man,
I'm getting wild cherry, I'm getting all of this and
then at the end you're like, oh, there there's the heat.
But yeah, yeah, when it's faunt right, it's so good. Yeah,
and almost adds like yeah, that little bit of burn
adds like another dimension to the whole drinking experience.
Speaker 2: It's really freaking cool.
Speaker 3: And chili has been like you said, it could be
a wild cherry, it could be raising that. There's so
many things that chilies can be other than just hot. Yeah,
they can add so much other flavors.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I actually just opened up twenty twenty one
champarada this past week and it was still holding up
like you still got the spice, you got the cinnamon,
everything was still holding up there and just had a
beautiful touch of sweetness.
Speaker 1: So it was great. I was very impressive. I've still
holding up that much with those kind of flavors. That's good.
The Illinois Brewers GIL does such a great job with
Phoebab and all of the events like Beer Underglass. They
help to provide brewing scholarships deserving recipients as well. Is
all they do for crap breweries and consumers here in
the state, outside of obviously the travel cost savings. How
do events here in Illinois differ than you know, going
to like a Great American Beer Festival or whatever. Is
there more? I don't know. I want to say pressure,
but since it's a hometown festival, is there more? Yeah?
Maybe it is like pressure to produce and do well.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think the big difference is even
just who's coming to our events.
Speaker 1: When we go to Great American Beer Fest and when
we went.
Speaker 4: Up to the Great Taste of the Midwest out in Madison,
we don't have nearly as many people who know us
right off the bat, and so it is really cool
because you can put something like a crampus who's never
heard from you before and blow their mind. Being in Chicago,
there's not as many people that are going to Phoebab
that haven't heard of us, and so it is really
kind of cool that we then get to be kind
of the hometown advantage, and it does I think it
puts a little pressure on us to make sure that
we are putting our best foot forward. I think that's
why cursed when we all tried it. I think that
was one of the reasons that we're submitting is like
every single person in our brewtine was like, this beer
is really good, and we're like, okay, it's not the
adjunct it it's not the bit crazy, but it showcases
the barrels so beautifully. And having that body that it
was like, that's what we need to start off with.
Speaker 3: So awesome having a guild that has such an amazing event.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think we have arguably like the best,
probably the best guilds in the United States right now.
Speaker 3: I mean we're all together as one. You know, Rave
over there, he's awesome at like, you know, kind of
lifting this all up, making sure we're involved playing the
political game. And then to also have such an amazing festival,
which is so many badass berries from all over the
country come together where you get to taste all these
beers is an amazing experience.
Speaker 2: And holy hell is it humbling.
Speaker 3: I go there thinking I got a pretty good product,
and then I will chase like five.
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh yeah, I'm done.
Speaker 5: You know, You're like, holy shit, these guys are really
really good, you know, so there might be a little
bit of an advantage, but I don't know, man, there's
just so much good stuff out there where these guys,
you know, they're just they're bringing their best of the best,
and everyone's getting better beer.
Speaker 2: It's not just us. So it's it's it's really cool,
it is.
Speaker 1: It is fun to be humbled.
Speaker 4: That was We got to do the Rare Beer Fest
for a second time this year, and we were putting
next to Side Project at beer Stott Jeez, and we're
opening up and we have our fireside Crampus. It's our
highest unrated beer that we've ever had. I'm like, we
are gonna blow people's minds. And all of a sudden,
there's a line of like thirty people for Side Project
and Sim's like, calming me down. I'm like, oh right,
we are not the big dogs here right now, but
it is still beautiful to be invited those kind of things.
And we even had the guys that were sitting drinking
beer stot looking down us, like, hey, they're down there.
Speaker 1: That's cool.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 1: Old Irving Brewing is not just a bear Leeg brewery.
Their Hazy Ipa Beezer is taking home gold at the
Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup. The kolsh
Deella is a Great American Beer Festival Metal recipient. In
my opinion, their Cushy Sour series is among the best
around as well. What do you guys, what's next on
the horizon for Old Irving?
Speaker 3: I think probably right now it's a lot of like growth.
We're kind of growing into our new shoes a little
bit over a while nut at our production facility, we're
gonna start looking at some new formats, finding ways to
get beer to the consumers in many different ways, and
trying to just maintain quality as high as possible. You've
probably noticed more recently some like cooler one offs. You
can always expect those from us. We kind of went
on a real real kick during October with a lot
of different bands. Our final band collab that's coming up
is with Front two four two Okay, being you know,
the the city of industrial music is pretty cool to
be able to do it with one of the guys,
the guys who started it in nineteen eighty four, essentially
with this industrial music. But you know, we get hot
on things like that, so you can expect a lot
more stuff like that from us. You're probably gonna see
some more taproom exclusives, some stuff that maybe doesn't go
to market that'll be like more fun and experimental. We've
expanded our team and we've got some real amazing brewers
on our team. Cole Hamri, Max Sturbance, who was previously
with Omegga Ye, Slabs and Rabid before that, has great
relationships with Breize around the city. Ethan Summer, who joins
us from Alarmist, probably one of the hardest working dudes
I know. And all these guys come with creative things,
and I want to make sure that we cultivate and
secure a culture of creativity here at OIB. So I'm
excited to see what they're gonna do. Yeah, you know,
I've had I get to play, I get to have fun,
but I also want others to participate in that fun
because you know, Max is always finding new and cool hops.
Speaker 2: I've never freakin heard of it. I'm like, sureless by it.
Let's yeah, we get crazy with it.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: So I'm excited to see what these guys come up
with in twenty twenty five, because they're gonna be able
to spread the wings a little bit more as we
focus on larger production at Walnut.
Speaker 1: The production facility of Walnut. And now you mentioned Matthew
before we started recording that you've been brewing there for
about five months. Now, have you noticed a difference or
getting like dialed in with the new equipment? Even it
might be the same, but every piece of equipment adds
its own idiosyncrasies.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's not. It's just certainly not the same. It's
a very different system. So the one we have here
is a two vessel fifteen barrel system at the pub,
that's what we're used to, that's what we know. We
know the efficiencies, we know how it works, we know
exactly we've dialed in all of our recipes and we
have a great base on the new one. You know,
we we're learning a lot, so you know, the first
bruise that came out one exactly writer. Yields were low,
But we're dialing and trying things. And we actually recently
had two beezers. One that came out from the Pub
that's always very consistent, that tastes great, and then we
had a beezer that came out of Walnut and we
did a blind and we all actually picked the Walnut
beezer is our favorite. So we're getting we're getting really
dialed in there. It's you know, we've never had a
mill before.
Speaker 1: Now we have a mill. Oh wow.
Speaker 3: So it's like another piece of equipment that kind of
throws a little bit of a new experience into the
makes as well. So yeah, man, we're always learning, and
it's pretty cool to see the guys kind of making
their tweaks and and just really trying to keep things
exactly how people imagine them, or maybe even making them better.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I think that's one of the biggest things. And I
think one of the things that you're going to be
focusing a lot with me this year is as we grow,
we want to make sure that what people come to
expect a beezer is exactly beez are exactly and that's
been such a huge focus and what we get to do.
You know, this past week, luckily everything that was going
out to market was like two days old this week,
and we're like keeping it nice and fresh and for
what people want. And I think as we grow, it's
that concern of quality to make sure that what people
have come to expect Beezer and Della Sentinel and Dogie
is exactly what they're getting. And then we get to
play a lot more at the pub and so it
is that I think probably like one hundred and ten
percent more energy that Driver's going to really have focus
on making sure when you have two different systems, how
do you make sure that what people have at the
pub is exactly what people are getting out at a
hair people are getting at Salt Shed.
Speaker 1: Making sure that that quality is just top notch.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Matthew does our scheduling for all Bruce, because
he knows what they need at our distributor's warehouse and
kind of what the market needs and everything else like that.
He's got a very specific growth in mind. So the
freshness is massively important. You overproduce all of a sudden,
you get stuff soon in warehouse. Matthew is like he's
a big nerd. Okay, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. He's
a magic the gathering guy.
Speaker 6: He's really good at strategy and so the way he's
able to set up and make sure that, like you know,
we're not getting out of date codes on things like
Beezer and our hoppier beers, he stays right on top
of that making sure that the freshest beer possible is
going out.
Speaker 3: So beginning to end, we're gonna be dialing everything into
the next degree to make sure that everyone's getting the
best drinking experience they possibly can from WIB.
Speaker 2: You know, we've come pretty far in a time when
craft beer is maybe a little bit struggling, and I
think it's because of you know, just our dedication to
that quality, not putting the cart in front of the horse,
yeah and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1: Yeah, everything is just so hyper local now that I'm
sure the market's very totally different from when you opened
in twenty sixty.
Speaker 2: Very yeah, very so.
Speaker 1: Not only is the beer here at Old Irving world class,
their food is just as good. The front of house
staff is great. I'm still kissed I missed out on
the Ruben aggroll weekend. I saw that. I'm like, wait,
I'm not gonna be in town this week. Who deserves
the credit for all of the amazing food that you got?
Speaker 2: Chef Alex, he is awesome.
Speaker 3: He used to be our soux chef on me like
years ago, and our our executive chef at the time
had left and we weren't sure if we were gonna.
Speaker 2: Reach out or what was gonna go on. And I've
just watched this.
Speaker 3: Man grow and evolve, and he gets more and more
creative every week, runs a tight kitchen, massively consistent food.
I had to have to say that the credit really
goes to him, And you know, obviously like me and
Jeff have to always give like the final stamp of
approval here as owners. But like it's it's just a
fun gammy, like was final saying, we get to taste
his awesome food every week before it goes on the menu.
Speaker 2: He's able to.
Speaker 3: Make the burger of the week, a wing of the week,
plus specials on the weekend, plus an already pretty big
like regular menu, not to mention of the month. Well,
and he's always thinking about the next thing. So, like
I said, cultivating a culture creativity here. That extends to
all branches, whether that's the brewers, the bartenders, the chefs.
We want to make sure that everyone's being heard there.
Then you streaming people with respect and dignity and making
sure that everyone's cool.
Speaker 4: Yeah, because everyone, you know, I mean, one of my
favorite things about the chef is he's always asking what
kind of food competitions are out there because he was
and so you guys just want to sell most burger challenge.
Tell him a little bit about that. That was awesome, Yeah,
that was cool.
Speaker 3: He we actually collaborated that one, uh and that specific
burger thing. We kind of like bounce some ideas back
and forth and then meet him and another cook from
our kitchen threw down.
Speaker 1: I saw him all if.
Speaker 3: We were invited by our friend Charlotte, who I'm guessing
you know who works with Solomoth now is kind of
the director of ops. But she uh yeah, we went
out and uh, we were against like the best burger
makers out there, and somehow, some way, the people's choice
decided we were we're were worthy, and we got the very.
Speaker 2: Cool Solemnoth Wrestling belt. Oh yeah, and chef was super proud.
Speaker 1: And he should be.
Speaker 3: I mean he makes great stuff. You know, he pours
over his food, he puts a lot of passion to it,
and you always seem to post it on social media.
When I'm going on lunch at work and having like PBJ,
I'm like, oh shit, yeah, you need to go there
after what I.
Speaker 2: Believe they call that a thirst trap. Yeah, we're a
thirst trap brewery.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what we do. Well, guys, I thank you
so much. Once again, if you're at Phobab, you got
to pick up Cursed. I'm sipping this right now. It's excellent. Guys,
thank you so much. I'm sure I'll see you next
week at Phobab.
Speaker 4: Looking forward to it. And just one the last edition
to Phobab. We're also co sponsoring the Logger Lounge, so
I phob if you need a little reprieve from all
of the big bereleage souths, we'll have Doji our West
Coast pilsner, which is great too. Yeah, one of my
first all favorites, and we just saw that's gonna be
a perfect beer that's a little bit lower abb and
just helps your palatee out a little bit after drinking
all this stuff.
Speaker 1: That was a nice welcome change last year going up there.
I'm like, it's still gonna be upstairs this year. Okay, cool? Yeah, yeah,
but no, yeah, definitely pick up the doji. The doji
is really good. That's part of the year round now
it is. Okay, yep, yep, that's one of our core
now all right, excellent, Well, guys, thank you so much.
I know you're busy debarreling. Saw me. Let you get
back to work and we'll see you guys at Phobabs.
Speaker 2: Sounds good.
Speaker 1: Thanks there God. Solom Oath Brewery has been putting out
great beer since twenty twelve. Their original location in Naperville
is at sixteen sixty one Quincy Avenue, and their Chicago
Still Life location is it twenty nine to nineteen West Armitage.
They've been collecting foe Bab hardware since twenty twelve and
took home the best in Show last year at fae
Bab for Hayden hands Oaked valde Or in the Wild
Beer Brett category. Joining me now is John Barley, the
president of solom Oath. Mister Barley, thank you so much
for talking today. Thank you so much, David, appreciate having us.
How do you top best in Show? John? You set
the bar pretty high last year.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's always it's always an honor, especially with the
quality of the beers and the uniqueness of the beers
that come to phoebeb every year. To take home a
metal like that, you know, certainly something we hope for
and dream about, but we know how difficult it is
to make its way through that. So you know, as
far as topping that, I don't know that we can.
We can only helpe to match it again and keep
you know, more importantly, keep Chicago and keep Chicago Land
represented with best in Show.
Speaker 1: We like that aspect of it as well. Absolutely, Now
you also want a Great American Beer Festival medal for
your coal shlu back in twenty sixteen. Is winning a
medal in a competition like either GABF or phoebab Is
it like a blessing or almost a curse? Like how
are you going to top it?
Speaker 7: No, it's it's always an honor to be you know,
the rigorous standards that a lot of these judging competitions
go through, and the qualities of the of the beers
that we're up against from all over the world. You know,
it's it's always quite an honor. It's also a validation.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 7: I remember friends of mine ure brewers also earlier on
in my career, when you know, when we would win
a medal, it was always uh taught to me that,
you know, the medals aren't for us, as much as
it may seem like that. It's it's validation for the
you know, the fans that we have and the people
that come to our breweries all the time, and the
people that buy our beers off the shelves. It's validation
for them, the ones that support us every single day
that they're making the right decision too, you know, support
and keep something whether it be local or just a
world class beer that's available to them. And you know
that's always, uh, that's always a privilege that that we
don't take lightly.
Speaker 1: So I like that.
Speaker 7: I like that kind of ethos and and you know,
we try to carry that forward. And you know, it's
an honor to be you know, kind of under a
spotlight by and chosen buy some some uh fellow brewers
that do some of the judging and and you know,
some of the best palettes on a planet.
Speaker 1: And you know, for us.
Speaker 7: It's uh, it's it's just a really cool it's a
really cool opportunity to be able to share that with
with our supporting group.
Speaker 1: What are you going to be serving for? Like people
like myself that are in attendance in FOLBEB this year.
Speaker 7: So we've got we've got some different entries that are
going in that I can't name specifically, but you know,
some some familiar but you know, one of the beers
that we're really excited about is a part of the
Logger Lounge, which is a collaboration that we're doing a
lagger collaboration that we're releasing.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 7: I think we're packaging on Friday of this week, so
we're just gearing up in time for next week. It's
a it's a collaboration we're working on with with Relish,
which is an independent clothing brand here in Chicago and
uh that's called good Old Green Leaf of Death and
are Uh we're doing a unique approach to a lagger
with a little bit more of a modern hot profile
and that'll be available in the Lagger Lounge, which is
also you know, an awesome opportunity for anyone that is
attending to give their palettes a break from the bourbon
barrel age wash and the barley wines and the big, big,
big beers and take a break with something kind of
light and crispy. So you know, we're excited to share
that with everybody as well.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to trying that. Yeah. I loved the
Logger Lounge last year because yeah, after a while, it's like, yeah,
I get I got to cleanse this palette a bit. Yeah.
Speaker 7: Yeah. Charlotte Converse is a big part of that. She's
a she's a part of the crew here at Salomov,
and she volunteers her time to go over there and
help run that every single year. So you know, it's
it's something that's near and dear to us, and and
you know, it's really a cool experience for the people
to come in and just do something different other than
the barrel aged beers too, and highlight a lot of
fresh a little fresh laggers that are that are awesome
and local or from people coming in from outside.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I thought that was cool last year. I
wasn't sure like what the crowd would be like up there,
but it was packed a couple times I ran up there.
At first, you weren't sure like it figured out. Maybe
everyone's just gonna make sure they could hit all the
breweries they want to go to and sample the barrel
aged stuff. But now that Logger lounge was packed last year.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know, I think the Guild always does amazing
ways to keep this entire event fresh and keep everybody engaged.
And you know, against spotlight local beer and beer from that,
they were able to attract with this event from all
over the world. And you know, it's just another level
of experience for Pitteons to come in and do something different.
Speaker 1: I would think that an event like a barrel aged event,
it's different than your typical awards competition. When you're planning
ahead for event like Faubad, is that more of a
long game where you yourself the team over at solimn
Oath you kind of have to see how the batches
develop over time.
Speaker 7: Yeah. Absolutely, And you know, we we might have barrel
age projects that we're excited about for this competition that
aren't ready on the timeline of when we're able to
bring it in right, so you know, through our process
and you know we're we've got barrel age projects going
year round all the time. We have we have a
group for us that Solemn Oath call the Old Order
and the New Order which is like our barrel Aged
Beer Society, uh for for our group, for Aper Villain
and for Chicago locations and and you know, so we've
got projects that we're dropping NonStop throughout the year. So
we're tasting barrels, you know, every few weeks, we're pulling
nails and tasting barrels. And we've got projects that we
think are ready or we need to get into package,
or we need another six months on and just kind
of go from there. But you know, absolutely we you know,
we continue to design beers that are specific We've we
we are receiving a fresh batch of barrels today. We've
got fifteen bourbon and combination of bourbon and rye barrels
that are coming in today that are just a big stout,
big Russian imperial stout that we brewed specifically for barrel
aging that you know will be part of some of
the blends call it at the earliest this time next year, right,
not necessarily into even individual beers, although we do design
individual beers for barrel aging, but we'll also have some
different things going or you know, we have the same
beer for example, for this project going into three different
kinds of bourbon barrels, two different kinds of rye barrels,
a couple of little specialty ones that we wanted to
mess with and see what happens with those two, and
you know, we'll blend some of them together, blend different
bourbons that we like to create a profile overall for
a beer that we really digging or into. So yeah,
I mean we're constantly planning, constantly experimenting and trying new elements,
trying to recapture some magic that we loved from previous
beers that we've either done straight up or blended. But
you know, this whole process and the barrelasion process is
a unique one. You know for us as earths. These
are a lot more time prohibitive and you know, very
very specialized and patience and you know that's what makes
something like Phobavs so exciting because these are some of
the best beers from some of the most talented people,
chosen by these you know, toppers from all over the
world and it comes right here into Chicago, and you know,
that's just a really cool element of it. This is
the best of their best and the ones that they're
extremely excited about, not just the fresh beers that we
make on a daily basis, right, Yeah, it was so
amazing just tasting so many differentferent types of beers.
Speaker 1: I remember last year I forget the brewery, so please
I apologize to them, but they had a barely aged
pickle beer that I was a little apprehensive, but that
was actually quite good. And tasting beers with the different
woods involved, it was just phenomenal. Yeah.
Speaker 7: No one thing I like about Phoebap too, especially you know,
you kind of even ask from a planning standpoint for
us as brewers, but you know for planning as patrons
or as people attending, you know, they're trying to wrap
their heads around it. You know, one thing I really
like about Foebap is, you know, given the fact that
you know, some people just maybe aren't that into beers,
so they're not into IPAs, or they're not into loggers
or anything like that, like the profiles of the beers
that come through with different wine barrel aged elements, with
bourbon barrel aged elements. You know, this is a pretty conducent.
You know, it's a little intimidating I think for less
savvy craft beer people. But you know, if you were
going to bring someone that is primarily a wine drinker
to a beer event like this is the one because
you know they're gonna they're gonna have a lot of
familiar flavor profiles from you know, French oak and you
know cabernet, barrel aged Russian Imperial stouts as opposed to
you know, like here's the freshest hop that tastes like
a different kind of nectarine, right, Like, I think, I
think this is walt intimidating at its at its face,
this is the This is also a great event for
for novices to the craft beer community.
Speaker 1: When you're coming up with a recipe, is it different
when you're doing something for like say a barrel age
stout as opposed to a non barrel age where you're
developing a recipe that maybe the wood is doing more
of the heavy lifting.
Speaker 7: Yeah, absolutely, you know, I think, uh, you know, we
we we designed beers specifically with some sort of time frame,
a lot of time and mind, but we'll also design uh,
you know, a larger, high ABV based out that's designed
to be blended with other more exotic woods or something
like that, so that there's a base of reliability that
doesn't push it too far one way or the other.
But absolutely, you know, we we we definitely take that
into mind. You know, for example, especially in like a
a in a world with a lot of adjuncts when
it comes to stouts in the the last three and
five years have really shown us, you know, like a
lot of those kind of elements, will design a beer
a specific way to maybe add a fresh adjunct to
it at the end prior to package after it sat
for two years. Right like you know, we're not We're
not taking coffee and flushing it into a into a
barrel and let that oxidize for two years, where you know,
there's different process pieces and different elements to it that
that we are designing specifically for that barrel aged experience.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, now I've noticed it. Maybe it's just my perception,
but maybe seven eight years ago there were more adjuncts
where now I think a lot of the releases are
just showcasing the different woods. Is that something that you
see as well?
Speaker 7: You see a lot you know with the barrel aged stuff. Yes,
you do see a lot more blending, a lot more,
a lot more breweries blending and getting into the art
of blending, which is a skill in in and of itself.
I do think stouts in general, you still see a
lot of a lot of adjunct did elements to it,
you know, from the pastry stout universe, and I think
some of that bleeds into barrel aged beers too. But
you know, I think there's a cycle to all of it.
And you know, I think, you know, even with us
winning Bested Show last year for Valda orr like, not
that we didn't think it was a world class beer,
but you know, you talk to any customer or you
talk to any brewer and the wild and retber you know,
Surge was ten years years ago, right like, and here
we are at the most prestigious barrel age beer festival
in the world, winning best in Show with with a
with a Brett beer, right And you know, I think
some things just hit at the right moment and they're
packaged at the right time. And you know, for competition,
everything pushing in the right direction. It's a lot of
it's a timing thing. And you know, the palettes of
the judges that have been selected that have you know,
that are chosen to do the highest level of it.
And I think I just think there's a there's a
there's a time ark to it, and you know, people
are going to keep pushing innovation. But you know, a
lot of the barrel aged elements are you know, a
lot of the skill sets that we're really trying to
shine through with a festival like this are skills that
are hundreds of years old, very European inspired pieces, you know,
especially with the wild beers that have been coming through
for for generations. So I think turning new people onto
new things, there's always going to be a time for that.
But you know, it's just exciting to see an eclectic
group of beers all in one place from hundreds of
breweries from all over the world. I just think it's
a cool experience to have here in our city.
Speaker 1: Now you're more than just a barrell age brewery. It's Solomo,
as I mentioned, lou is one of your beers. You
also have a popular Seltzer under the City Water brand.
Well hid in Hand continues to just knock it out
of the park, including two of my favorites. New Rows.
Whoever came up with the beer named after the Damned
please give my sincere thank you to the seventy seven
is another one that I usually grab all the time.
The tea there they need to be commended. They keep
putting out great beer after great beer. Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 7: Yeah, we you know, we pride ourselves, especially being within
this industry. It's it's a it's always a question.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 7: People often ask me when and I'll meet them for
the first time or something like that, like you know,
what's your favorite beer, what's your favorite brewery? You know,
I really drink even when I'm traveling or when I'm
looking around. And our group is a really good example
of this. But making great beers about having great process
and having standards and rigorous standards of what we do
to make high quality beer beyond that personal style preference,
right like, if I know a brewery that I'm going
to visit, if I know their processes are clean, then
make world class beers. Which beer I'm going to have
from them is really just a personal choice. And you
know that's how we like to approach it. A solemn oath.
We should be able to make every single beer that
ever reaches your hands at a world class level. That's
the standard that we set and you know, our team
knocks it out of the park with that, and you
know we continue to fight that and continue to push
for that level of success every single day, which is
you know, really is you know the pressure we put
on ourselves to keep that standard.
Speaker 1: They said, everyone that I've had has been fantastic. But
another beer that I loved you put out earlier this
year in the spring, was a project called Vibes Since
nineteen twenty, which was brewed for International Women's Day. How
did that project come about?
Speaker 7: That is spearheaded by Charlotte Converse. Want to mention that
Archie's our director of hospitality and Operations here at Salem,
and excuse me, she spearhitded that project as something that
she wanted to get behind. Started talking about it last
year at one point and then yeah, we're actually getting
geared up for the next phase of that. They're bearing
to brew that in December for a February release. They're
going to be doing a logger this year. More details
on that to come, but yeah, Charlotte wanted to create
an opportunity for women and some other underrepresented groups in
the brewing community and the hospitality community to have a
chance to come in to learn from each other, to
feel the support and understand some different aspects of the industry.
Maybe something that you know, even you know, part of
that project is like people that work at bars and
restaurants and with the hospitality front, they might have had
an experience or be exposed to beer operations and how
we make beer or something like that, even though they're
a key component to this with them selling it out
in the front lines every day. And you know, with her,
she just really works hard and does an excellent job
at creating this community that creates an opportunity for some
people to learn from each other. And that's really you
know how I view what it's about. And you know,
we're excited for the next phase of it coming in
coming in Q one of twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: That's awesome. I mean I remember reading about it on
your website and just had like an all star cast
of people that were involved in the project. And I'm
glad to see this is going to be, you know,
an annual thing. So that's awesome. Yep, yep, yeah, ye.
Speaker 7: Hundreds of brewers and hundreds of different restaurant groups and
you know, it's just so cool. And you know it's
also amazing is you know with our supply chain, like
every single supplier that we have from hops to you know,
bsg's a part of it. Every year We've got Haas
has been a part of it. It's you know, Hopsteiner,
all these all these groups that support us and that
we work with and partnership making quality beer products every day.
It didn't take a second request. Everybody jumped at this
opportunity to support something as cool and unique as what
Charlotte and the Vibes project has.
Speaker 1: Been building it.
Speaker 7: And you know a lot more to come, and I'll
I'll let the people that are running that aspect of
it break the news on what the twenty twenty five
plan is.
Speaker 1: But some cool suffering the works, I can tell you
that I'm looking forward to it. So yeah, so next spring,
check out Vibes since nineteen twenty that's a great beer.
Speaker 7: Called Bones from the Heartland.
Speaker 1: Vibes from the Heartland. All right, very good, very good.
I can mention of the intro that you have two
locations in Illinois, the original one that's in Naperville and
the newer one that opened up a couple of years
ago on Armitage here in the city. How are the
two different from each other?
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's it's been amazing to have, you know, being
a suburban brewery or suburban based brewery to bridge into
the city with you know, an experience and an authentic
voice of what we've been able to do. You know,
in Aperville, it's it's very much you know, we have
a large production facility thirty thousand square feet and you know,
large fats everywhere, and you know, it's it. We opened
up at twenty twelve, so it feels and looks like
very much of that era, like a like a small
bar tapped into a concrete box right like just backed
into the corner of it. And in Chicago we've got
a much more unique experience. It's more of like a
dive bar with some European influence. We've got an amazing
staff at both locations. But you know, for for for
our Chicago our Local Square location, it's uh, you know,
a lot softer, it's a lot it's more of a
neighborhood spot, which we take a lot of pride in
as well. And you know, I think we're always so
confident with with with the tap rooms that if people
come in check us out, that they're going to become
fans and suborders of Solemn Oath and in and hand,
and you know that that rings true with both of
our locations, so you've got different drinking habits. The suburbs
are much more I p a focused, and I can
tell you that any logger that we tap in the
city is the one that's going to go for a
second and third. So it's uh, that part of it's
been pretty interesting to figure out and navigate with our
fresh beers and how we want to approach stuff. But
you know, we're always looking for just a cool experience
and you know, doing something different and bringing people beer
in a very solemn oath way, and both of our
locations knock it out of the park with that. More importantly,
the people that are handing you the beer over the bar.
You know, I always joke that I can't I can't.
We can teach people to make beer, we can teach
people to sell beer, but I can't teach people not
to be a jerk, right, yeah, Well, the quality of
the people is what we put, you know, what we
put right alongside the quality of the beer. And and
you know that's really what brings it to life, is
the is the people that are that are there experience
it and presenting it to you. So you know, I'm
proud of the teams that we have at both locations,
and and you know, we just we just keep growing,
keep going, and and you know, keep creating new experience,
your experiences for people. Well, because you know, one one thing,
one element I really love about just our industry in general,
is the fact that we go through you know, whether
it be work in marketing, or you're working in the
front of house, or you're working on the back end
making a beer, or you're helping on the pack line,
or you know, our distributors and our drivers and our
wholesaler and all that sort of thing, and you know,
all of us, at the end of the day, we
have this like tangible thing that no matter what area
of the building you're working in, it's a physical product.
And we all have our unique ways that we could
screw it up along the way if somebody doesn't you know,
we can through a perfect beer. We can sell our
a perfect beer. And if packaging goes wild, the packaging
has a rough day, we now have a way that
we mess it out. You know, everybody's got their own
opportunity along that path. But you know, at the end
of the day, when we can hand that someone hand
someone a beer at brass and bar or reach someone
at a grocery store shelf. You know, we make a
product that people celebrate awesome things in their lives with
or with their feet up after a hard day and
take a moment to themselves, give them give themselves a break.
You know, we we we don't take that responsibility lightly.
And you know how we make our beers, how we
roach our people in our own spaces. We're looking through
that lens of trying to engage with that person and
either help them celebrate or help them get through what
they're getting through. And you know, that's that's our job
in all of this, and I like to think that
our team takes that approach as well.
Speaker 1: I'll be at the city location probably in about an
hour after we hang up here. I just missed going
to the Naperville one. I know last year I stopped
over at Gobrewing to talk to Joe there and this
was like late in the afternoon, and I'm just thinking,
I'll rush hour driving back from Naperville is going to
be rough. But one of these days I'll have to
make it back out there and check out the Naperville
location on Quincy. Yep.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean if if you're in the Logn Square
area or if you're ever at our city location, if
you if you time it right, it's forty five minutes,
so it's not far.
Speaker 1: I got it. Well, this was a little longer. Coming
back was like two hours. I'm like, oh, I'm glad
I didn't stop, or maybe I should have just to
waste a little time so I'm not stuck in Naperville traffic.
Speaker 7: Yeah, for those for those listening, that is not the
time to frame on the weekends, Okay, pop out a
lot easier on the weekends and companying out and hit
a couple of broers in the area.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this was a Friday afternoon. It was poor planning
on my parts. Yeah, all right, once again, you got
to check out solim Oath. They have two locations in Naperville.
It's at sixteen sixty one Quincy Avenue. The Chicago location
is it twenty nine nineteen West Armitage. John. I really
appreciate you coming on and talking about this. I'm looking
forward to popping over to the city location in a
little bit and I will see you in a couple
of weeks at Faebab.
Speaker 7: All right, Yeah, looking forward to seeing everyone at phoebab
and appreciate the time and thank for having us.
Speaker 1: All right, thanks again, John, take care all right. The
beer that I'm going to have right now comes from
Old Irving. This was the Dojie that we were talking
about during the interview. This is a West Coast pilsner,
five point seven percent alcohol. They use Citra Amarillo and
Citra hops. I'm a huge fan of this. I've had
this before. I think I even did a video on this.
So but I'm a big fan of doji, So let's
crack it open. Doji's a really nice, light, pale color,
good couple fingers of foam hair, smells great. You get
all that big floral hop a roma here. I don't
know if I'm getting fruit in this, but to me,
like the aromas hitting me is more floral. But I
really do think it smells great, and that's just so good.
It's like the best of everything. So if you like
a nice crispy lagger, this is a pillsner. It's got
a nice clean finish to it. But those hops hit
you right up front. So if you're a fan of
Citra am Maillo and Citra, you're gonna lie this. So
I really do think this is the best of both
worlds crushable beer. I'm a huge fan of Doji. They
mentioned on the interview that this is a year round,
so you could pick this up everywhere. You could pick
it up at the brewery or I'm not sure about
the grocery stores. I think the only things that I've
seen at like my grocery stores at least have been
the Beezer and maybe some of the cushy sour. But
I'm sure you could pick this up at your bingies,
your bottle shops. But Doji's a great beer. So if
you see this West Coast pilsner, Doji from Old Irving Brewing,
put this one in the carts, all right. The beer
that I'm gonna have now is from Hidden Hand. This
is their meadow Lark. This is a food or aged
pale lagger. They use spacific Northwest tops here, according to
the cana, has a soft oak reminder that everything is
better with the pale lagger, So who am I to
argue with that? This is going to clock in at
four point seven percent alcohol. Let's crack open Metal Lark.
Metal Lark has a nice beautiful color here, good couple
fingers have fullham good creamy look to this here. I
like the aroma a lot. I mean it just smells fantastic.
You get everything out of this aroma. It smells phenomenal.
That's delicious. That is so good. The fooder aging, you
get really slight barrel wood notes to this. I think
it really adds well to this beer. I mean it
just tastes delicious, really good finish to this. Hops are there.
You get a little of the hops at the end.
I mean, this is just spectacular. This is a phenomenal beer. Yeah,
there's nothing I could find wrong with this. This is
just absolutely spectacular. If you're in the Chicagoland area and
you see metal lark around you, you need to pick
this one up, put it in the cart. I don't
know if you're in an Aperville area or Chicago and
you're in the tap rooms, you can get it there,
or hopefully you could find this at you know, reputable
bottle shops around the area. But this is so good,
I need to just shut up and have a couple
more SIPs. So stand by. Yeah, that's really good. Like
you get those wood notes in there, you get the
hop notes. You definitely get some of the malt there,
but nothing is overpowering. It all is like perfectly balanced.
This is just an absolutely outstanding beer. If you see
metal lark or you, you got to put it in
the cart. Beautiful artwork on the can, nice black can
with a yellow gold bird on here, it's phenomenal. Put
it in the cart. Run, don't walk, just go grab
you some meadow lark. All right, that's going to wrap
things up for this edition of Beer in Front. I
thank you very much for listening, and I want to
thank once again the gentleman over at Old Irving and
Solemn Oath for talking about faebab. If you're going to
be there on Saturday, look for me. I will be
there and I hope to see you.
Speaker 2: Then.
Speaker 1: Next week is Thanksgiving, so I won't have a show
until then until the day afterwards. So I hope you
and yours have a great Thanksgiving. If you want to
hear the stuffing story, stay tuned at the end of this.
Have a great week, have a great holiday, and remember
sometimes the beer in front of you is the best one.
Hats all right. So here's my annual stuffing story. So
my parents were divorced some years I went to my
dad's side of the family. Some years I went to
my mom's. But when I was at my mother's side
of the family, my grandmother when she cooked every year
without fail. And now you know where I get this
foul mouth from my grandmother is making the turkey and
the stuffing and everything else without fail. Every year my
grandmother got the fucking stuffing's too dry. And it never was.
The stuffing was never dry. It was always great. Even
if it was I don't think it was stove top,
but it was whatever came from Dominix, which was the
grocery story went to as a family. But the stuffing
was never dry. It was always great, And every year
would be like, Nana, the stuffing's fine, it's perfect. A
lot of fucking stuffing's too dry. So after a couple
of years, we're gonna bust balls. So you know, my
grandmother's asking how everything was a lot of fucking stuffings
too dry, Nana, And then she'd get even more pissed.
So whatever you're doing for Thanksgiving, I hope you're stuffing
is nice and moist.