Best ABV Chicago Podcasts (2026)

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Episode 622 - Amburana Aged 1:26:44

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6h ago1:26:44

1:26:44

Aging beer or spirits in the wood from the Amburana cearensis tree native to South America can add noticeable cinnamon spice and vanilla - and brewers have been more than happy to experiment when they can find (and afford) a barrel. But FDA regulations keep Amburana-aged beers in some sort of weird limbo for competitions, so we tap our good friend …

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Episode 621 - Let The Fun Be Gin 1:27:13

6d ago1:27:13

1:27:13

For the first time in Barrel-Aged December history, we have a whole show of gin barrel-aged beers - and we'll tell you why that's something of a rarity. With an all-star lineup of breweries, nothing here is a letdown - but there are still plenty of flavor surprises to be had. Also, we're drawing up some jukebox strategies given unforeseen circumsta…

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Episode 620 - FoBAB Winners 2025 1:29:53

16d ago1:29:53

1:29:53

We're hot on the case of the Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers 2025's best medal recipients (that we have access to), and we'll solve the mystery of whether or not the gold medal winner in this bunch will actually top our rankings. For this year's roundup of decorated beers, we run the Specialty/Experimental category and throw in a bonus beefy…

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Episode 619 - Decembeers 1:27:37

23d ago1:27:37

1:27:37

Taking a break from our usual Barrel-Aged December, we round up five festive beers that'll help make the holidays go down a lot easier. We span styles to appreciate the mostly-local lineup and their different seasonal inspirations while narrowing down our picks for what to bring to that work holiday party or extended family gathering. Also, we're l…

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Episode 618 - Deepest Woodest 1:18:59

30d ago1:18:59

1:18:59

Two things are absolutely certain when it comes to Revolution's yearly Deep Wood releases: one is that all the beers are going to be slightly varying levels of excellent, and the second is that we will find any excuse to drink them for the podcast. For this round of releases, a few old favorites return alongside the steadiest barleywine currently r…

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Episode 617 - Bourbon County 2025 1:53:33

1M ago1:53:33

1:53:33

Just in time for another Black Friday, we sat down with our good friend Ryan Tracy at his Beer on the Wall shop out in Elmhurst to sample through this year's somewhat uninspiring (but very well made) Goose Island Bourbon County Stout lineup. We ponder what's missing this year while also recognizing where the barrels are doing the heavy lifting, the…

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Episode 616 - 1840 'Til Infinity 59:16

1M ago59:16

59:16

This episode is a tribute to the great 1840 Brewing out of Milwaukee and a celebration of the beers and memories they made during their years of operation. If you can help the Vetter family during this period of unimaginable grief, please consider donating to the GoFundMe that has been established in Stephanie's memory: https://gofund.me/b54fb2f25 …

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Episode 615 - IPA All-Stars Blind Rd. 5 1:16:01

2M ago1:16:01

1:16:01

The latest installment in our journey to discover America's best IPA, we're going coast-to-coast for a pretty special lineup that'll help us further define what makes an IPA both an "all star" and, uh, "very good." We're getting pretty good at this guessing thing, and we might have the first IPA in this series that loses points in the appearance ca…

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Episode 614 - Pitt Fall 1:18:36

2M ago1:18:36

1:18:36

At the tail end of summer, we recorded this little gem when we knew we'd need it most to help keep us thinking warm thoughts as the temperature falls faster than the leaves. When our friend Aaron Keefner was in town, he dropped a heavy case of Pittsburgh goodies on us, and we use this episode to sip through an exciting lineup of lagers and hops. Al…

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Episode 613 - Deth Proof 1:07:36

2M ago1:07:36

1:07:36

The barrel storm that is Revolution's Deep Wood series rages on throughout the Fall and Winter months, so we're catching up on the last release of their Deth's Tar stout and its variants - and this year's batch is better than they've ever been. We try to place these in the context of past years' releases and try not to overanalyze the calculated ma…

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Episode 612 - Torture Test 9: Circles of Adjunct Hell 1:33:01

2M ago1:33:01

1:33:01

Unnecessarily crammed with junk, this year's spooky six-pack is an adjunct party that no one ever wanted to be invited to, as we're on to our ninth iteration of the infamous Torture Test. We both try to outdo one another by attacking our flavor weaknesses - or just finding straight-up old catastrophes of beers that were probably never good in the f…

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Episode 611 - FoBABlin': 7th Barrel Heaven 1:41:04

3M ago1:41:04

1:41:04

In our annual leadup to Chicago's best beer fest, we're talking all about the Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers as it is set to return early in November this year. Along with drinking and reviewing four barrel-aged beers from a few FoBAB regulars (and one new to the fest), we look over the new and returning breweries, share our picks for brewe…

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Episode 610 - GABF 2025 2:21:28

3M ago2:21:28

2:21:28

Denver is the closest to Heaven that we'll ever be, and we don't want to go home right now. Broadcasting amongst the Rocky Mountains (from our very cushy hotel room), we file our annual report on America's largest beer festival and competition: the Great American Beer Festival. We open three Colorado beers over two nights and relive our extended we…

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Episode 609 - Triptych Quadriptych 1:18:39

3M ago1:18:39

1:18:39

One of Illinois' best breweries rarely makes it up to Chicagoland shelves, so when Craig had a chance to go down to Savoy for a visit to Triptych Brewing, he loaded up for our fourth featured show in our history. We have five beers that represent what Triptych does best: from immaculate lagers to hop-driven ales to a roasty delight, this show does …

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Episode 608 - IPA All Stars Blind, Rd. 4 1:23:59

3M ago1:23:59

1:23:59

In our seemingly endless quest to find the best long-made IPA that America has to offer, we are a little all over the map on this one with a mix of Wisconsin and Western U.S. offerings to run through the blind scoresheet wringer. It's a study in contrasts, as each clear IPA brings a little something different to the table - and then one just blatan…

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Episode 607 - Road to GABF 2025 1:53:55

4M ago1:53:55

1:53:55

Our favorite time of year approaches again, but we can't set off for Denver without doing a ridiculous amount of prep work and research. So to celebrate the oncoming Great American Beer Festival for 2025, we drink four GABF-adjacent beers while sharing our picks for what to drink from local breweries, our most dependable steady hands, the ever-exci…

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Episode 606 - Earth-Friendly Beers 1:22:41

4M ago1:22:41

1:22:41

Just like most good things in life, the beers we so love can be quite taxing on the planet before even getting to our glasses. But some breweries are taking the lead on exploring more sustainable practices, whether it's using regenerative grains, organic ingredients, or even solar-powered farms. The five beers on this show represent different ways …

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Episode 605 - Festbier v. Märzen 1:29:51

4M ago1:29:51

1:29:51

There are many essential ingredients for a successful Oktoberfest celebration, but none is more important than the beer. But which style is going to fill your massive stein: the younger, bright Festbier or the old-school, bready Märzen? We found four breweries making both styles to have a side-by-side of each to help determine our personal preferen…

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Episode 604 - Suburbaversary 1:33:23

4M ago1:33:23

1:33:23

The last few months have seen a steady number of big anniversary parties from suburban breweries - and some even released a beer to commemorate it. This show consists of 5 different beers brewed to mark an anniversary, all by brewers who work out of the suburbs of Chicago. We also face some style-based fears, greet the new Mayor of the Beach, devel…

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Episode 603 - Pittsburgh vs. Chicago: Blind Hazy Throwdown (with Aaron Keefner) 1:42:37

5M ago1:42:37

1:42:37

When one of our oldest friends and beer industry vet, Aaron Keefner, came back into town from his adopted city of Pittsburgh, we knew we were going to have to throw down - with a blind hazy IPA tasting, of course! We each chose three of the top examples of hazy beers from our respective cities and enlisted the help of the excellent staff at Beer on…

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Episode 602 - Rev Heat Wave 1:16:07

5M ago1:16:07

1:16:07

For the last few years, Revolution Brewing has tried convincing us that barrel-aged stouts and barleywines can indeed be enjoyed on 90-plus degree days - and gosh darnit, they make a convincing case. On this episode, we dive into the first three 12-ounce Deep Wood beers for the release season and find some very pleasant surprises. We also let thing…

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Episode 601 - Miskatonic Brewing (with Cory Davidson and Mik Dempsey) 1:59:31

5M ago1:59:31

1:59:31

Miskatonic has been a western suburban outpost for great beer with an extremely loyal following for a decade now - and it's due time they get the recognition they deserve. We sit down in Darien with head brewer Cory Davidson and production brewer Mik Dempsey to talk all things Miskatonic, including how they approach brewing such a wide variety of s…

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Episode 600 - Suncatcher Brewing (with Matt Gallagher) 1:33:46

5M ago1:33:46

1:33:46

Matt Gallagher has been instrumental to Chicago's craft beer scene for almost two decades as a co-founder of Half Acre, but it's his new brewery Suncatcher that has had us hooked from the very first visit. Suncatcher Brewing is a relatively unique concept in this time, as they are essentially a bar that serves their own streamlined and immaculate c…

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Episode 599 - IPA All-Stars Blind, Rd. 3 1:10:26

5M ago1:10:26

1:10:26

In our ongoing series that seeks to find the best IPA we can get our hands on, we keep this one a bit more regional with five long-beloved and well-decorated beers from Indiana and Ohio. We taste one Hoosier beer and four Buckeye brews blindly using our much more focused scoring method - and we may just have our very first perfect score on this epi…

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Episode 598 - Lime Lagers 1:18:59

6M ago1:18:59

1:18:59

During a particularly sweltering summer, no beer style has come through in the clutch as much as the lime lager. The sheer number of available options is a testament to the ultimate refreshing combo - and with these, there's no need to shove a questionably dirty lime wedge down your longneck. We have five mostly-local lagers of varying styles that …

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Episode 597 - An Overdue Welcome 1:20:21

6M ago1:20:21

1:20:21

It seems like it's been far too long since we've extended a hearty "hello" to some new breweries in Chicagoland, so we're psyched to gather five that have opened locations or started releasing beer into the world relatively recently. We learn about some new-to-us breweries and a few that have been long in the works here, and there are plenty of rea…

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Episode 596 - is/was brewing (with Mike Schallau) 2:00:49

6M ago2:00:49

2:00:49

Although he might use the term "silly little beers," Mike Schallau's is/was brewing is making some of the most thoughtful and impressive saisons anywhere in the country right here in Chicago. We travelled up to his Ravenswood brewery and taproom to talk about those beers and how he transitioned his nearly six year-old brewing project from using oth…

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Episode 595 - West Coast Pilsners 1:14:48

6M ago1:14:48

1:14:48

Newly adopted as its own category for this year's GABF competition, the West Coast Pilsner has the hoppy influence of its namesake locale while also retaining much of what makes German Pilsners so repeatedly drinkable. We gather five locally-made examples from some of Illinois' top names in hops, and they help us build a case for the style's existe…

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Episode 594 - Goldfinger Brewing (with Tom Beckmann) 1:41:13

7M ago1:41:13

1:41:13

In just 5 years, Goldfinger Brewing Company has made Downers Grove, Illinois a true destination for lager-lovers and much of that is to the credit of founder, co-owner, and head brewer Tom Beckmann's tireless quest to make the most interesting lagers you'll ever drink. Tom sits with us for a while to sample through some new and upcoming beers while…

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Episode 593 - Hop Roundup: Heating Up 1:14:05

7M ago1:14:05

1:14:05

In our second of our quarterly "random hoppy things" episodes wherein we gather notable hop-driven drinks from local breweries, we have a murderers' row lineup to lead us into the warmer months - and we even include one non-beer. The high quality of the beverages leads to steadily sloppier discussions of Craig's first Magic: The Gathering tournamen…

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Episode 592 - IPA All-Stars Blind, Round 2 1:10:17

7M ago1:10:17

1:10:17

In our continuing quest to find the best legacy IPA (that also happens to be widely available), we blindly taste and rate a set of five here that represent four from the West Coast and one extremely familiar local. Are we grading more harshly on this episode than last? And what blind surprise catches us the most off guard? All this will be answered…

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Episode 591 - MoBAB 5: Barrels Alive! 1:14:58

7M ago1:14:58

1:14:58

It's been over a month since we last drank barrel-aged beers, so to reward our tremendous restraint we're throwing another MoBAB: a show that features more barrel-aged beers! In an unofficial "halfway to FoBAB" show, we sample four pretty distinctive styles and one collaboration pair built for blending. But also, we're speculating about the injecti…

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Episode 590 - How Low Can You Go? 1:14:37

8M ago1:14:37

1:14:37

Who says you need a lot of alcohol to have fun? Well, a lot of people, I'm sure. But this show sets out to prove beers that are under 4% alcohol by volume (ABV) can be surprisingly flavorful and ultimately satisfying. This "IPA sandwich" lineup is met with enthusiasm and a tighter grasp on sobriety than usual. Also, we really date the heck out of t…

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Episode 589 - Czech Dark Lagers 1:10:17

8M ago1:10:17

1:10:17

In our second exploration of Czech styles made locally, we sample five Czech Dark Lagers - a style that has slowly grown into a dependable stand-by for many brewers. We get into what makes a beer like this that perfect balance of dark malt and clean lager drinkability while drinking more of these than we probably should. Also, we contemplate if we'…

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Episode 588 - IPA All-Stars Blind, Round 1 1:08:44

8M ago1:08:44

1:08:44

With this episode, we kick off our new ongoing blind tasting series with a focus on the IPAs that made craft beer what it is today. Periodically over the next few months, we'll be gathering up five IPAs that represent well-known, influential, or otherwise significant IPAs from all over, looking to find our pick for the overall best using a much mor…

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Episode 587 - Czech Light Lagers 1:13:44

8M ago1:13:44

1:13:44

The lighter beers produced in the Czech Republic have inspired a bevy of lighter lagers stateside, so we get as Bohemian as we can with five different beers - four from the Chicagoland area. We brush up on our definitions of Czech pilsners and Czech pale lagers while finding some surprising local examples. Plus, we're getting sucked into game ads d…

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Episode 586 - Mosaic Immersion Therapy 1:13:07

8M ago1:13:07

1:13:07

For as long as we've been reviewing beers, Craig has struggled with perceiving the Mosaic hop's aroma and flavors to the point that we've diagnosed him with the first-ever case of Mosaic Blindness. So Ryan set out to cure (or torment) his friend by tracking down five all-Mosaic beers to learn what makes this complex hop just so dang elusive for Cra…

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Episode 585 - Minneapolis Lagers 1:12:37

9M ago1:12:37

1:12:37

During his recent trip to the Land of 10,000 Lagers™, Ryan snagged five Minneapolis-made clean and crispy beers from five different breweries to extend our lager love further north than ever before. We learn about some of these great (and medal-winning) Minneapolis spots in our lager quest, and there's a little more interesting equipment employed t…

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Episode 584 - Helles Lagers 1:13:50

9M ago1:13:50

1:13:50

We're taking another style deep dive ABV-style with the pride of Munich: the Helles Lager. We try a German classic before exploring four local interpretations of the unfussy easy-drinking style, but as always, it's the variations that make it interesting. Also, Ryan is in desperate need of some Inception Pants, Craig won't even stand up for fewer t…

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Episode 583 - A Progression of Adjuncts 1:16:19

9M ago1:16:19

1:16:19

Adding non-essential components to a brew - ingredients sometimes referred to as adjuncts - can evoke strong dessert flavors and even a heavy dose of nostalgia. But does adding more and more adjuncts actually make a beer better? We test it out on this episode by drinking four barrel-aged stouts, with each successive beer adding one more flavor comp…

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Episode 582 - A Progression of Barrels 1:48:02

9M ago1:48:02

1:48:02

A decade ago, if a beer spent a few months in a single bourbon barrel, its release would cause fanfare amongst craft beer obsessives. These days, beers are blended from an increasing number of different barrels for extended periods of time, so we decided to sample beers that represent an increasing number of different barrels to see if more barrels…

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Episode 581 - Doppelbocks 1:17:55

10M ago1:17:55

1:17:55

Whether you're preparing for a fast or a feast, Doppelbocks are the German-born strong lagers you need if "liquid bread" is what you seek. We explore this style with one German version and four from Chicagoland to fine tune our expectations and enhance our overall appreciation of this malty wonder. Also, Craig gives sound advice to help Ryan naviga…

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Episode 580 - Cellar West, Chapter 3 1:09:43

10M ago1:09:43

1:09:43

It's been about two years since we last checked in with one of our favorite small breweries in America, and this lineup of five from Lafayette, Colorado's Cellar West is a real flavor ride. We talk about the medal-winning beers sent courtesy of founder Zach Nichols while trying to narrow down which we'd most like off of their cask engine. Also, Rya…

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Episode 579 - Local & Historical 1:27:52

10M ago1:27:52

1:27:52

We get unreasonably excited when local breweries make historical and international styles that are infrequently brewed, so we jumped at the opportunity to bring five examples together. These suburban Chicago beers serve as tributes to centuries of brewing across three different countries, and we couldn't be happier about the results. We dive into t…

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Episode 578 - Werk Force Brewing 2:31:06

10M ago2:31:06

2:31:06

Amanda and Brandon Wright of Werk Force Brewing have been in business out in Plainfield for over a decade, but their story and influence goes far beyond that. We spend a good long time talking with the Wrights and sampling through a lineup of their excellent beers, from lagers to IPAs to barrel-aged stouts. Just some of the topics we cover include …

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Episode 577 - Hop Roundup: Winter '25 1:09:58

11M ago1:09:58

1:09:58

We love hoppy beers, and truthfully, we need to find an excuse to try more local releases that catch our attention. Introducing the Hop Roundup: a quarterly series of episodes focused on notable hoppy releases in a general timeframe. For this Winter 2025 edition, we have a brand new brewery with a resurgent style; a fresh year-round from local lege…

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Episode 576 - The UT Show 1:18:42

11M ago1:18:42

1:18:42

We're going behind the curtain for our 36th state show, as listener Jeremy hooked us up with five beers from Utah. The beers represent a pretty wide variety and offer a few real standouts as we try and make sense of some pretty…interesting beer laws. Also, there's valuable jorts advice, heavy eye-contact cocktails, barrel-aged flashbacks, and a gen…

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Episode 575 - Deep Wood: Now and Later 1:16:46

11M ago1:16:46

1:16:46

To close out the 2024-2025 Deep Wood release lineup, Revolution somehow finds a way to do some new things with barleywine while retaining the spirit of their barrel program we've all come to know and love. It's all about interesting woods here (and a little help from some friends) as we've hardly been so happy about experiencing the barleywobbles. …

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Episode 574 - Supermoon Cellar Society 1:12:36

11M ago1:12:36

1:12:36

At a very reasonable price, Craig joined the exclusive Cellar Society for Milwaukee's Supermoon Beer Company so we could get our hands on a full lineup of exclusive releases from one of our favorite breweries in the whole world. And this lineup still finds ways to surprise us - from style to barrel to the occasional unusual ingredient. It's all jus…

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Episode 573 - 11 Year Blind: Old Faves 1:42:27

11M ago1:42:27

1:42:27

To recognize our 11th year of releasing this weekly podcast, we're putting a new spin on our annual half-blind shows by…going old. We each divvied up the past years of the podcast and selected one favorite from a year until we ended up with seven to try and stump one another while we dig through our memories. Some represent fresh takes on old faves…