The Brit and Yankee Craft Beer Podcast

It's our final part of the 4th Annual Barleywine classic, and we head to Riverlands Brewing Company for an experiment in keeping beer, which with all due apologies to Riggs Beer Company as it did not stand the test of time. Luckily, the beer was so good we want it fresh now! Then it's off to Church Street Brewing , and we have the full B&Y team back together for a couple of tastings, one from...

We head to two more breweries for part 2 of our 4th Annual Barleywine Classic, to get the brewers to taste and comment on the brews we have selected. This time it's Alex Drayer from D and G Brewing who gets to try a barrel-aged offering from The Forge Brewhouse , who he did a collaboration with last year. Then it's back to Milk Money Brewing , where we present a 'mystery' barleywine to Erik Pizer,...

The Brit loves a good Barleywine, and since 2017, we've held an annual get-together to taste and chat about this classic style. Over each year, Barleywines are collected from any brewery that has one, with no particular connection other than we try to focus on Illinois. Our the last celebration was held back in January 2020 at Riverlands Brewing, and little did we know then that it might be a whil...

In this show, we are welcoming back to the pub our pinch-hitter co-host, Chuck Fort, who is head brewer for Church Street Brewing in Itasca, IL. Illinois has opened up for restricted capacity so we take advantage of this and get Chuck into the pub to help taste and chat with an old friend of the pubcast. Back in October 2019 we first talked with Kevin Abbott, VP of Operations for Boca Raton's Belg...

Our first pod/vid-cast of the year is an extended interview with FOBAB medal winner Larry Hough from Soundgrowler Brewing Co. in Tinley Park. We recorded this just after Thanksgiving but reserved it for release in the New Year. Love his beers, and we find out all about them in this Zoom-recording. We'll also put this out as an audio edition!  Cheers!

Just like corner taverns, small craft breweries are key communal locations for some neighborhoods, even more so in these days of social distancing and closed bars. Side Lot Brewery in Wauconda IL is one of these craft breweries, who under the guidance of owner/brewer Phil Castello, continues to produce a variety of great style offerings, and has adapted their outside beer garden for safe consumpti...

This week we are providing an alternative to election coverage with our edition discussing winter beer styles that we are drinking. Recorded via Zoom and joining The Brit on the tasting panel are 3 head brewers and 3 Covid hair styles! Providing their choices for brews they like to drink as we head into the colder months are co-host Ken McMullen from Hopvine Brewing, occasional co-host Chuck Fort...

This edition takes us out to Byron, IL (virtually) and a brewery situated along the Rock River. Hairy Cow Brewing has been open for just over 2 years, and partner/head brewer out there is Jon Lambert. Jon joins The Brit, Phil Clark, and his co-host, Ken McMullen from Hopvine Brewing on a Zoom call to chat about Hairy Cow, and sample some of his brews. We find out what exactly Hairy Cows are, Jon’s...

We have an exciting, exclusive edition this time round and another video/audio edition. There's a new brewery in Downers Grove that is getting ready to open at the end of July (as of the release of this video the date is July 31st). Goldfinger Brewing is a lager-only brewery owned and operated by Tom and Alison Beckmann, and their brews are already causing a stir locally, and selling out kegs befo...

Church Street Brewing in Itasca had long been a friend of the podcast almost since it’s inception nearly 6 years ago. We have been lucky enough to have Chuck Fort, their head brewer, come onboard as one of the podcast co-hosts and we’ve had many recording sessions at the Brit & Yankee studios…up until March of 2020! Then the Covid-19 virus hit, and we had to lockdown along with the rest of the...

This episode marks a change to our lock-down status as of Friday, May 29, Illinois has opened up for outside dining, including service in brewery patios and beer gardens. So, the crew at the Brit and Yankee decided we should change our name from Hops At Home to Hops Outside in celebration of better times to come! We also made this edition a video-cast AND extended out our interview for an audio po...

It's our annual bumper BIG Barleywine show, where the beers are BIG, the guests are larger than life, and the podcast is a marathon! Lingo joins me as co-host #1, and Ken McMullen from Hopvine is co-host #2, but also is one of the 5 brewers we have on hand joining The Brit on this yearly trip into a classic style. Last year, we were recording show 300. This year we record to coincide with the rele...

"We head downstate to the university town of Champaign IL, and there we find 3 Blind Pigs...actually there are 4 locations, but there are 3 owners and brewers that we chatted with! The Brit teamed up with Ken McMullen to visit with another ex-Brit, owner Chris Knight, to find out about starting an English pub in Illinois, and then a production brewery. Brewpub brewer Brett Updyke joins us, and the...

"We are back from our vacation and we've brought beer! The Brit drove out to New York state via Canada, and returned through the Midwest, picking up some selections of brews along the way. In this show, TJ and Chuck from Church Street Brewing join Illinois beer historian John Bittermann down in the pub studios and we sample a 6-pack of brews from Indiana and Ohio. Plus TJ has some exciting career...

"Our last show for a couple of weeks as the Landlord is headed out on vacation, but it's a great interview with the team behind Huntley's new brewery, Sew Hop'd. Last Sunday was pretty warm, but we sat on their patio, sipping their brews and chatting to Katie Hofmann, Scott Busam, and Doug Vandewalker. The brewery is setup in half of the Union Sewing Machine building, and that theme follows throug...

"A different show this week as we use the wonders of technology to bring together two of the three lads behind the online beer journal, The Hop Review. It's also the first time we have a certified Cicerone on the show! With my co-host, Ken McMullen in Naperville, Tom White in Grand Rapids, Jack Muldowney in Chicago, and The Brit in the pub studios, it's a fascinating conversation as we interview t...

"We are back to our usual weekly schedule with this edition, and The Brit headed out to East Dundee to visit with the Two Chris's at Black and Gray Brewing. Only 3 months old, this brewery and taproom surprised us with their great location, and the quality of the brews. Chris Kennedy is the owner/brewer and brewer Chris Contesso completes the team, who are producing classic styles on a small 2-bar...

"This is the final report from BUG, and we finish up our week with a visit from Dan Rosenberg of MyGrain Brewing, Sean Curry from Sketchbook, and Dan Floyd from Goose Island. The Brit loses his co-hosts in the melee of people, but everyone has had a great time, and we all get home safely! We hope you all had a good time during this CCBW, and got out to visit a new brewery. Cheers!"

"Day 5 finds The Brit chatting with Marc Wilson from Oswego and a sneak peak of their Anniversary brew, fellow Spurs supporter Dave Marck from Riverlands, and Dave Files from Energy City."

"The fun continues with Day 4 of our BUG interviews. It's Wil from Open Outcry, Paul from Noon whistle, and Dan from Metal Monkey. By now the crowd is getting bigger and the samples are starting to show as The Brit tries to maintain an air of decorum...but hey, it's a beer festival and public transportation is readily available!"

"It's quick listen today for Day 3 of our BUG reports, and this time we are chatting to James from Flesk, Chet from Tribes, and Dan fron Around The Bend. Amazingly, The Brit finds a milkshake he likes, where there is a balance of fruit and hops!"

"The inaugural event for Chicago Craft Beer Week is the Beer Under Glass festival, held at the Garfield Conservatory. The Brit headed out there and was joined by co-hosts Ken McMullen and Chuck Fort, and waved the mike in the direction of several brewers. We are releasing an episode a day throughout CCBW, and we start with an extended chat with craft beer impresario, Pete 'Pedro' Crowley from Haym...

"A little different beverage is the focus of our show this week as we visit with cider-maker Ed Seaman over at Broken Brix in St. Charles IL. Originally the home brew shop and still is, Ed has expanded to being a licensed cidery and winery, plus he has a tap room where you can taste not only his offerings, but awesome craft beer as well. We find out all about cider making and taste a few samples o...

"It's a trip down to Joliet and MyGrain Brewing for a great chat with head brewer Dan Rosenberg. An impressive building, an impressive food menu, and best of all, a VERY impressive tap list with something for any taste. We chatted with Dan on his roots, his brewing approach, and sampled some of his great beers. With their first anniversary coming up we also got a post-recording sneak preview of th...

"We're back after a short vacation, and in this podcast we welcome someone else who has been on vacation, Illinois beer historian and glass collector, John Bittermann. But John visits breweries on his vacation, and this time he has brought back brews from some of his stops, plus he tells us about those downstate breweries we don't always get to go to. Chuck Fort and TJ Bachorz from Church Street,...