The Brit and Yankee Craft Beer Podcast

This week head up to Mundelein IL to visit with Tony Bena, co-founder and head brewer at Tonality Brewing Company. One of the newest breweries in the Chicagoland area, they opened last November with a solid, classic taplist and a full restaurant menu. Tony chats with The Brit and co-host Ken McMullen (Fox Republic Brewing) while they sample some of his brews, including what could be called his 'ea...

We've reached our 400th show and we've put together a retrospective of some of our milestones along the way. It's thanks to all our listeners who keep us recording each episode, and thanks to all the brewers who have given their time to talk to us. Plus thanks to all my co-hosts along the way, especially the 'original' Yankee, Lingo! We've drunk a bunch of brews on our journey, and the last 17 yea...

Since 2021, Lisle has been home to Bubblehouse Brewing, and when we asked the craft beer community in the Chicago area where we should visit for our next interview, the Bubblehouse 'popped' up as a favorite. The Brit and co-host Ken McMullen (Fox Republic Brewing brewmaster) headed over there and sat down with Jon Miller, Head Brewer and co-Founder, to discover more about this very popular brewery...

In this episode we venture back up to Lake County and the village of Lake Villa, where we visit with Harbor Brewing Company Founder Kyle Wenzel, and Head Brewer Adam Brose. HBC has been around for over 5 years and has built a large following in their taproom, plus the biergarten located at Winthrop Harbor where you can find awesome beer and views of Lake Michigan. With over 24 taps, these guys see...

This year, The Brit has asked a panel of brewers and chums to help him taste, chat about, and arbitrarily pass judgement on a range of barley wines. We have gathered them from across the USA, plus we have a couple that come from the UK, home of the barley wine style. Joining The Brit are, from Art History Brewing Tom Rau, Ed and Mike Seaman from Broken Brix, Chuck Fort from Church Street Brewing,...

It was during Covid in December of 2020 when we first checked in via Zoom with Josh Grubbs at Black Lung Brewing. Since then he has opened his primary brewery and taproom in Round Lake Beach, and has expanded to a satellite taproom in Fox Lake beside beautiful Lake Nippersink. After our short recording hiatus, we wanted to restart our podcast episodes with a success story. We find out more on thei...

We are back in the pub studio for this episode, which will be the last one until the end of January, as we are taking a short hiatus. We do have an all-star cast in the house with co-host Ken McMullen from Fox Republic Brewing, co-host Chuck Fort from Church Street Brewing, plus the head brewer from Church Street, Sean Gregor. And in this is a bumper edition we have a 6-pack of seasonal brews to t...

The greater Chicagoland area hosts many of Illinois craft breweries, but there are plenty of downstate options to visit and enjoy. In this episode The Brit, and co-host Ken McMullen of Fox Republic, travel to Kankakee IL to visit  founder and brewer Matt Strysik, who together with his wife Emily, co-own Knack Brewing located alongside the Kankakee River. This is a grass roots operation but Matt is...

This episode we start the podcast with an apology! We have overlooked BBGB for over 5 years, and now we are here to sample the brews and realize we definitely missed out on some good ones! Brewmaster Bob Salzman has turned around the brewery side of this gastropub, and is producing some well-made classic styles. We talk to him about the unique features of Hardware, the restaurant, and what it is l...

If you are a homebrewer or a professional you have likely heard of Brülosophy, a website where they take the art of homebrewing beer to a new level with recipes, methods and their exciting 'Exbeeriments', which scientifically test our palates and push the boundaries of our perceptions of beer. As one of the main contributors to the site, Steve Thanos conducts these Exbeeriments, and in this episod...

Glen Ellyn IL is only a 15 minute drive from the pub studio and yet we have yet to visit their brewpub, Two Hound Red! So we have rectified that in this episode and we sit down with brewer Steve Woertendyke, just ahead of their Oktoberfest celebration, so we can intentionally sample the Oktoberfest offerings. Very impressed with the Marzen and the Smoked Marzen, plus the full liter steins are all...

Our Labor Day weekend edition is a first for the podcast team as we visit the one and only non-alcoholic craft brewery in Illinois, Go Brewing. We sit down with Joe Chura, one of the co-founders and the President of GBC, and James Bigler, their head brewer. So at this weekend's barbecues, why not offer your designated drivers and non-drinkers an alternative, and perhaps your craft beer afficienado...

After last weeks visit to Fox Republic, the newest Chicagoland brewery, we head out to one that opened about a week before, Sundial Brewing and Blending. Located in the old Flesk Brewing space in the Icehouse Mall in Barrington, IL, co-owners Mike DeMalpartida and lan Swanson welcome The Brit and co-host Ken McMullen into the taproom to find out what they are all about. After tasting the first sam...

This week my normal co-host, Ken McMullen is on the other side of the mic as he is the interviewee, and we are visiting his new brewery project, Fox Republic Brewing. Joining him is his brewer, the VERY tall, Sam Walstaff, and The Brit chats to both of them about their newly opened watering hole. We are sampling their brews, including the range of Tequila Seltzers, their collabs, and their own-bre...

McHenry County in northern Illinois, is home to several great craft breweries, all of which you can check out on the McHenry Co. Craft Beverage Trail. This week we are visiting one of the two located in Woodstock IL, Kishwaukee Brewing, who recently won a silver medal for their Bufflehead Brown Ale at the 2023 World Beer Cup. Kishwaukee Brewing Co., is the pride of founders and owners, Dan and Car...

We jump in the car and head south to Route 66 in Wilmington, IL., where located on an island between the Kankakee River and the Mill Race channel is Old School Brewing. Paul 'Pauly' Bidne is the head brewer there, and we chat with him about his brewery which can literally be described as an 'old school' tap room/brewery producing great beers and full of friendly people and lively chat! Pauly is on...

Friends of the podcast and owners of Broken Brix Fermentation Emporium, Ed and Sue Seaman, took a trip to Iceland and came back with craft beer galore, which they wanted to share with the podcast team! So, in this episode we get to taste some craft styles that are brewed with glacial water, and hear a little about their adventures in Viking country, including their 3-night attendance at the Wilco...

It's a special edition this episode and while out in Denver CO., The Brit took an opportunity to visit with a unique brewery known for their outstanding real ales. Hogshead 54 Brewery has 7 engines and produces a range of British ales, second to none. Robert Bell is the brewer out there, and he sat down with us to talk about how he brews, what he brews, and who is drinking these beers. It's a fasc...

We're back with and audio podcast this week, and recording down in the Brit and Yankee Pub studio. The Brit's co-host is Ken McMullen from Hopvine Brewing, and together they welcome Chuck Grote of Wood Fired Pizza fame. Chuck is probably one of the most well-known food truck vendors in Chicagoland's western suburbs, but not many people know that he also has recipes for brewing excellent beers, and...

It's a long overdue visit to the Lombard taproom, and a chat with Afterthought Brewing's owner/brewer, Mike Thorpe. Mike's passion for the saison style is front and center in the award-winning ales he produces, and The Brit and co-host Ken McMullen, get to taste some of his best examples. If you can't visit Belgian, then head to Afterthought where you can try some of the most simple to most comple...

For our St. Patrick's Day show, we are at the newest addition to the Chicago brewing scene, 206 Brewing Company and we talk with owner/brewer/retired firefighter Bill King. When we showed up, the nano brewpub had just opened for the day, so you may get a little background noise, but hey, it's all pub ambiance! We hear from Bill about why he wanted to embark on this project and how he plans to make...

We return to the pub for this show and welcome an illustrious panel of FOBAB volunteers and brewers, who all bring past FOBAB winner beers. This show was suggested by long-time volunteer, Kevin Herbst, and he is joined by Ken McMullen from Hopvine Brewing, John Bittermann, and co-owner of Art History Brewing, Tom Rau, plus your host Phil 'The Brit' Clark. We find out why the Illinois Craft Brewers...

We have been waiting a long time to chat with this brewer, and recently David Files from Energy City Brewing entertained The Brit and co-host Chuck Fort at his Batavia taproom. We found out that ECB is not all about fruit beers and that there are many more great styles available! Listen in to find out how David and his wife Heidi have taken their brewery from a small location, open once a month, t...

This week we visit with an old chum of the podcast, Erik Pizer, who has opened Flipside Brewing in Tinley Park. This brewpub is fast becoming the local to hang out at, and we talk about his beers, his great food, and why he decided to go with this business model. The Brit and co-host Ken McMullen are treated to some very good and balanced brews, plus some of the best fried cheese curds around. Com...

A couple of weeks after celebrating their 7th Anniversary, brewers/owners Dan Camp and Jason Janes talk with the podcast team in a retrospective episode. We have been tracking them since their opening, which incidentally saw some 1100 people attend, checked in with them 1 year later in show 215, and featured them in our series of 'live' recordings featuring breweries along the I-55 corridor. Most...