Transcript
Speaker: What's the haps on the hops? Got yeast, that's peace. This the molten hour where we talk about our drink and tell you what we think every other week. And if we get drunk, well, we might slur our speech. Got the gift of gab, the friends who wish you had. Join us for a drink, join us for a laugh. Time is never wasted when you're getting wasted. The molten hour here, people, people, take your places.
Speaker: People think that's a good plan.
Speaker: Welcome to The Malting Hour. I am one of your hosts. joined always with Brandon Winninger. Whatever. How are you? Pretty good. See you later. Bye. And to my left is...
Speaker: And... Jake Nelson from Horst the Fowler Brewing Company. And to his left. Kevin Carey from B. Galbraith, Chicago, Illinois. You don't necessarily have to speak into the microphone. It'll pick it up. um see that's the one time where I do wish we were a video podcast because that was great but thank you guys for joining us here in our malting hour studios northwest side of chicago um
Speaker: We're, this episode is, we're going to talk about FOBAD 2026. which we were always very excited about. And fortunately, I cannot go this year, so I'm pretty bummed. So this is my, I planned a trip with my girlfriend without looking at the date. Classic. Yeah. You know, Antioch in November.
Speaker: It's got a hot tub. There you go. tiny house band there you go and B -Y -O -F -O -B -E -B. Yeah, exactly. Which I plan on doing. you be i We even discussed, like, if there's a Metra, you could hop in, go to Fobab. That's true. Yeah, if you're gone for a couple hours. Leave your girlfriend in the hot tub with barrel -aged beers. She actually would be totally fine with that. If there was, like, a bottle of bourbon there in the hot tub, she'd be like...
Speaker: See you when you get back. So you're saying there's a chance. There's a possibility. we'll see But, yeah so yeah, so this kind of worked out great because I think we mentioned this on the the podcast before. though kevin we've been wanted to get you on and i know we've talked about it and like yeah let's do it and then we'll just everything always kind of falls short, but I think you and I may have talked about it at like a square roots festival. Yeah. couple times And I know we talked about it at Friday Night Flights yes one year, but...
Speaker: Just so everybody has reference, why don't you guys go ahead and introduce yourselves so everyone knows who exactly we are talking to. true true They gave their names already. but I know, but like... Oh. god The brewery you're from, what your what your role in the guild is. You know, a couple important pieces. I'm Jake Nelson from Horsey Follow.
Speaker: We are a brew pub on the south side of Chicago. We're in the Beverly neighborhood. I'm the head brewer there. I've been head brewer there for almost the past eight years. and I joined the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild Board of Directors earlier of this year.
Speaker: So I'm a rookie there. Right up. Freshman. That's right. Do you get hazed at all? We'll see. It's coming around. Potential Rookie of the Year candidate, too. Every rookie is a potential. yeah I've got that going for me. I'm going to write that down. Year -end awards.
Speaker: That's awesome. I'm Kevin Carey. I'm from Beagle Brewing in Chicago. i've been We've been open for, we just celebrated our 14th. anniversary two weeks ago with a big party and uh i am also currently the president of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild for the second time.
Speaker: Congratulations. Thank you. How does that feel? Feels pretty good. Yeah, it's great. It's a great organization. It's i really... feel like a lot of what I've learned about beer and just the industry and getting to know people. It's given me so much, so I... do feel Uh... you know it's important to give back and and so yeah Happy to be. I was off the board for a minute and then came back last year.
Speaker: What brought you back? You know, I wanted to, I had a baby. Well my wife had a baby. So that brought you back? No, that took me away. That took me away. So we had it a newborn and and it was the thick of COVID. so step back a little bit and then yeah in the last last year and a half or so as you know, I feel like Beer has been through, unfortunately. um Kind of a doom cycle yeah for a while, but it feels like we're...
Speaker: we're kind of cresting a little bit on that and and we're starting to talk more positively about things you know we're obviously not selling as much beer as some people had hoped but it does seem like you know the younger generation that they've they've told us isn't drinking you know we're seeing positive signs of like Yeah.
Speaker: and you know Drinking buckets of beer is not the goal. it's rights it's ah social socialization and that experience you know it's proper drinking culture of like Go to your local bar, go to your local brewery. meet up with friends, socialize.
Speaker: um you know there's there's a lot of good that comes from it and being a part of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild that gives us the opportunity to... have events like this which is our largest fund phobab is our largest fundraiser of the year that helps fund the activities of the organization for the like the rest of the year which includes lobbying and and working to... to to tweak or change laws that could positively benefit our industry.
Speaker: um beagle brewing is a a perfect example of work that was done 15 plus years ago. that you know if those laws weren't tweaked and changed, one of the examples is self -distribution. It used to be illegal to self -distribute in Illinois.
Speaker: and that's how we got started and i don't know if i'd be sitting here with you guys today If that law wasn't changed, so very I feel very fortunate for the folks that were on the board then and the organization, the members that paved the way for guys like us to be able to do this.
Speaker: Um... It has a job. Yeah, i mean and that's also like... Not only are you guys on the board, but... you also have other full -time jobs and buring i mean that's a lot so yeah that's that's awesome so question though i mean because you know because we have you here so like Can you go back to the beginning? like What was the original idea of but you know Beguile when you were starting that? and you Because I remember in its infancy, like I...
Speaker: I lived in the neighborhood and I was very like keyed into what was happening with a lot of stuff but You know, from from your perspective, like... what was your goal what was what was the idea and like the growth of You know or how you're gonna, you know build this business you know where did you I guess, where did you come from, too? Were you a home brewer? Did you decide, like yeah, I'm just going to open a brewery and see what happens?
Speaker: No, that's a great question. Coming up on next year's our 15th anniversary. So I've been doing a lot of reflecting of how exactly we got here. So that's a great question. I...
Speaker: you know Out of college, I was an accountant. And that was a fine career and but it wasn't the career for me. And I didn't really realize you know entrepreneurship was an option.
Speaker: And while I was working my corporate job. It was home brewing. uh had been drinking you know really good beer this is the middle 2000s so like coming from michigan michigan beer was like the biggest thing uh at the time i still think michigan beer is like it's great some of the greatest We're very spoiled in the Midwest. Absolutely. Think about... Michigan, Ohio, Indiana. I don't know why.
Speaker: wisconsin like i mean You can. yeah Yeah, there's no shortage. Absolutely. And so cutting my teeth there. uh drinking you know bells and ah other of the you know some of the other breweries that popped up early on um Just real i had an appreciation for it. and coming to Chicago working corporate America Just realizing that was not for me, but didn't know what
Speaker: I could do and on a whim. Convinced a roommate who I was home brewing with, like, hey, why don't we open a brewery? And so we looked into going to Siebel and the wait list was two years for Siebel.
Speaker: ah And so kind of. Realize that that wasn't a good option like I mean it was a good option prime a better option than the option we chose Would have been cheaper. But...
Speaker: We were like, okay, well. you know, if we can't get into SIBO right now, well, why don't we just start super small? and we'll we'll scale up from home brewing to some version of professional brewing.
Speaker: And that's what we did in 2012. 12. We opened a two barrel. brewery self -distributing super tiny and we did that for about six months before we realized, like, oh, we need it. either decide to do this thing for real or call it a day. and One of the things that we sought out to do was we wanted we found this great location in Ravenswood where we are.
Speaker: um And from day one, we wanted to be what we called a community supported brewery. um kind of taking the principles from uh community supported agriculture which is if people aren't familiar That's where you get a farm CSA from a farmer. You pay them at the beginning of the year.
Speaker: And then you subsequently get... a portion of the yield. If the yield is good, you get a bunch of stuff. if the yield is bad the farmer doesn't lose his farm because you've helped support him that's us yeah yeah And so we were like, what if we did that?
Speaker: So we're like let's do that. But then... as ah As a... Only an accountant and an amateur lawyer would quickly learn that there's a bit of a a road to...
Speaker: being able to sell subscriptions to customers and having being able to sell directly to customers in chicago so It was about a year and a half I think. From... the initial bar bru first brew.
Speaker: to when we actually sold a growler. So it took us a minute. Which is... ah Funny that a year and a half feels like a minute because now it's like that's just such a short amount of time. Yeah um But yeah, I think really the... the the thing that got us into it was this idea that we wanted to put plant ourselves right in the middle of a community and become...
Speaker: a part of that community and then I don't know if I could If I could talk to myself then... And be like... This is a really good idea. you should do this you know because at the time it's like what are we doing how do we do this But 14 years later, like I couldn't be.
Speaker: more proud of the team that we have and the brand that we've built in the neighborhood. um that supports us. COVID was really tough. Like getting through COVID. I don't know how still to this day, like how we got through COVID and we're still not technically through it. ah There's still a lot of debt related to COVID. but you know looking back on it now like versus three years ago it's like you're stuck in this Sort of vortex of what I call the vortex of suck like when when when the beer industry was like really really struggling and like like
Speaker: We were reading about. closures every week and you know. If. Even that was... sort of like a time when You know, it was really hard. But now I look back and I'm like, man.
Speaker: since in the last three years and looking over the last 14 years to see how You can build a business and a community can grow up around it. You know, it's pretty cool. and That in us in an essence is really... what keeps me going every day is like we have this thing and I'm more of a steward of this thing.
Speaker: You know, it's it's it's outgrown my... uh contributions and it's now a thing that like our community needs you know it's not about like i need a job Sure. To me, it's something that we've really...
Speaker: you know. Put down roots and it's in it and it took i've killed a lot of plants over the years so like thinking about this one is like something that we planted and we you know nurtured for a long time and it and it really feels like we're we're finally hitting our stride after 14 years. so Very cool.
Speaker: Oh. to be here. Nice. Yeah. so that's the story yeah no no no i appreciate it so i and actually i'll pivot And. Jake, kind of the same question, I know. uh you're the brewer but like what brought you to horse thief and And then, actually, prior to that, like what was your history in brewing? and then What got you to horse beef?
Speaker: Yeah, so I feel like Captain's story is... you know very common for like that. section of time and mine is a little bit more modern where like I skipped the whole homebrewing thing, but, you know, I was a college student, so this was my first job out of college was brewing, actually. um while i was in school though i worked retail at binnie's so i was like a full -on beer nerd and Yeah, it was... ah
Speaker: I had a local brewery opening up in the neighborhood and Neil Byers and Dave Williams were the the two hats over there and dave was the first brewer Neil was the founder and chef so it was like a very food driven idea and Yeah, I just showed up as ah as a beer nerd one day. and eventually.
Speaker: Weaseled my way into the brew house and learned there. So I was Dave's assistant brewer starting in like 2000. 13. But in 2013 And then, yeah, I was the assistant for a while.
Speaker: I worked at a couple other breweries. I saw a lot of... bad stuff at some places. And then I was part of a startup at another place. Yeah, and in 2019 I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to come back and take the head of a ring roll and...
Speaker: I've just been chugging along there ever since trying to make Good to be here. Having a great time doing it. how did How did that feel? Because you kind of mentioned like the impact of COVID. Kevin, you mentioned the impact impact of COVID.
Speaker: What was that like as a brewer? Bye. in the mix like during COVID. Are you brewing less? or... Luckily beer was like... that's not going away. yeah But yeah, we certainly slowed down and I was like, I don't know if I'm going to have a job. but I was essential, you know, so I went to work every day like I never took a day. you or I took weekends off, but I never had.
Speaker: any time off work because of COVID, I came in and tended to fermentations. and It was a... You were essential. yeah essential Yeah. You guys also did that great patio. like on the sun Yeah. Yeah. So of course, you know, the word is pivot, you know, yeah yeah pivot.
Speaker: So we ended up getting... Yeah, the patio, outdoor dining. Yeah, that got us through. and to kevin's point about like community and everything like that was huge and everybody in the Beverly community.
Speaker: need sourcing follow We need the community. They really came together big for us. Ugh. it was It was quite the time. glad to be in this version of away from it yeah it's funny i feel like uh COVID has come up a...
Speaker: a handful of times with you know people who've been on this uh podcast or even just talking to different brewers or people who work at local breweries that One thing is the common thread has always been. Like...
Speaker: it seems like Chicago really cares about. the breweries in the community like it's it's that is the main thing and even like breweries always working together you know it's not like you know mean obviously there's competition it's in a healthy competition but you know Everyone's looking out for each other because you're all in the same Bag basically, you know, yeah which is great I think that's something that's cool. I think it's really neat about. you Horse Thief and Beverly and Be God. Ravenswood North Center. like
Speaker: I don't know if you can like business plan for like yeah what that looks like. Cause I can, you know, using COVID as an example, like. there are people that will come up and they'll remark about you know when they were buying cases of beer in the middle of covid it was like it meant something to them to go out of the house and buy a case of beer yeah and it meant something to us that they were supporting us and like they're sort of like that's maybe like a ah physical manifestation of like what community means is like You don't know, really. like We're selling a... Uh...
Speaker: i call it I always refer to it as a widget. We're a factory and we make widgets. But it just so happens to be the widget that we make is a beverage that we can enjoy. And it's delicious. And it is delicious. And it got a lot of people through COVID. Yeah. And and so then you you hear those stories and how important that was to them. and there's You can replace COVID with a wedding or a...
Speaker: you know, probably the number of first dates that have happened at horse thief or beguile or Folks that want to come and take their wedding photos or their engagement photos. It's like You know, I don't think.
Speaker: Business school doesn't perfect. prepare you for something like that it's like you have to kind of you know but foster that and figure it out yeah and i think you guys have done a fantastic job of that um Yeah, I remember running into David at brungro like when we were getting started i think he was still at chaos or started chaos and like We're like...
Speaker: standing in the grain aisle and we're like oh are you a brewer i was like yeah i'm a brewer and he's like oh yeah but we're opening a brewery he's like oh i'm opening a brewery too and it was like the number of those conversations that were had in like 2011 12 and 13 is pretty wild I was walking by buying my brewer's best kit. Like I'm starting an extra kit. This is my first one. Bye guys. Yeah. And that's what the best like a perfect day to go.
Speaker: like what opening of her in 2011, 12, 13 was. It was so different. than That's how we met the spiteful guys. We met them at... It was, what was that? pi it was a homebrew shop in our neighborhood really.
Speaker: buying something that we needed. And the guy was like, you know, those guys are always at brew camp. Brew Camp. It was Brew Camp. Yep. And they're like, you know, those guys are opening them. brewery too and we're like oh are you opening a brewery and it just so happened to be like two blocks away okay why did i forget his name because he went to work at There was a guy that worked at brew camp.
Speaker: Ah. Like I knew him well. But he was working at a brewery. and i For the life of me, I can't remember. ah Was it Christian Burtis?
Speaker: Oh, yeah. You want to work for Atlas? Yeah, yeah. And then that became Burnt City. Yeah. Is he still there, do you know? Or like... Well, he moved on, I think Because Burnt City... That was one of the ones that yeah closed. uh District Brewery is still open, but only serving beer that's made. uh by other yeah like guest tabs and stuff yeah But yeah, he he worked his entire career.
Speaker: Per se. Yeah. Yeah. He was a good dude. I'm going to interject here. Yeah. Because we haven't talked about the beer that we were drinking that I already finished. and i Yeah. My bad. Sorry. It is really...
Speaker: uh I'm and Jake, you brought this. It's a good way to interject. Yeah, we should talk about it. Yeah, so I brought one of my favorite barrel -aged beers. It's called Renly Rose. It's our Belgian -style triple.
Speaker: that we age in Pinot Noir barrels. French oak. Lightly toasted. And... um Yeah, you know. Or see if it barely spews. for a while.
Speaker: Um, And... You didn't mention that part. Yeah, also great things that happened in 2020. This is an award -winning beer from Faux Bab in 2020. which is the one that didn't happen in person. I can't remember, did 21? We did judging, but no in person. We did FOBAP at home.
Speaker: yeah yes right remember that Yeah. It was, uh, it was The COVID program year took gold, which I'm really proud of. But... Yeah, I did. um I was mostly experienced with bourbon barrel aging. And.
Speaker: I was part of Wayne Beer Company. from 2016 to 2019. And we dealt primarily with wine barrels. so I had my hands on hundreds of oak barrels, different types. and I fell in love with that. so when i came back to horse thief as the head brewer Wine barrels were a high priority for me, so.
Speaker: And then I also really. you know i got a lot of experience brewing belgians So I took... Took what I knew and loved. some wire and i brought it over to horsey This was the first barrel each beer I did there.
Speaker: Um, I have a love -hate relationship with wine barrel age beers, because some... Of the ones I have like I like wine and I like beer and sometimes I don't like wine and beer together like tannins and things like that Not blowing smoke.
Speaker: That was very good. That was very good. I actually drank it way faster. No, that was fantastic. I kept sipping it. I'm like, ooh, that's very nice. I think the thing that I found with wine barrels is... you know, and I've handled more wine barrels than bourbon barrels. But I've came across a lot of more bad wine barrels than good wine barrels. Like it was really important for me to.
Speaker: to source good ones. and and you gotta kick out the bad ones, don't put. Good beer to a bad barrel, so. This beer is cool too because out of this one I took a new approach to it We don't have a lot of space for barrel edging.
Speaker: I don't have a lot of barrels. Sure. But what I did with this one was I... intentionally over -oaked it, over -aged it. I aged this one for 26 months. Oh shit. And then I brewed some fresh stuff to blend into it.
Speaker: So I was really able to... to have that fun blending part that i was able to do when i had 250 barrels at uh weiner and now i'm working with eight different you know wine barrels so my selection is a lot smaller but Um...
Speaker: I still didn't use every barrel I had. all hate I had to kick out a few of them. and Um... was able to dial in the character. and My assistant, Barbara Morrison, is great. be better.
Speaker: a fun time dialing this blend in and we're really proud of it. It does not drink like it's 10%, by the way. No. That's what was kind of scary, how fast it drank. It can be dangerous. But it's very tasty. very Not for me. It was a drinker.
Speaker: So let's kind of transition into FOBAD. Um, So... Um... What are you guys excited about? What are you looking forward to? with FOBAB this year.
Speaker: they know There's some new additions. There are some new additions. Yeah, I think we... And I think that's the the big thing. like We like were... Uh... No, it was two years ago they introduced the lager lounge. Yeah, we were super stoked. Yeah, I think this is like the... It could be. yeah for yeah down or the two and might it was I think it it came out of... It was COVID years. yeah like that The locker lounge is...
Speaker: one of the coolest parts of yeah because i love phobia very much and We have had the opportunity, thanks to the Guild, to show up early and get to sample things early.
Speaker: And you're kind of like a kid in a candy shop. Like I'm trying not to, you know, go burn through all these, like, Ooh, I want to try this. I want to try this. you hit a certain point where I'm like... I just want to have something clean and crisp for a little bit. I mean, yeah, you can go and like, you know, there's the meads and ciders and obviously, you know, wild ales. But it just...
Speaker: want a beer and yeah hang out and talk for a little bit and then make our way back to the stouts yeah it's a true area for rest but very so needed and that's like like I don't think until...
Speaker: You know, the Guild did that a few years ago. now that anyone realized how much it was needed to happen now You hear about Fovea and people are like, Lager Lange, Lager Lange, and it's not us. Everyone goes to FOBAP to drink lagers, but it's just because it's...
Speaker: Such a good. relaxation. you know. reset It's the beer drinkers water. yeah wellide Well, and even Revolution having their hop water there, too, and some of the other nice stuff. Like, the hop water was... that yeah like We went there pretty early on.
Speaker: Last year or the year before, like but that was like... Having the hop water, walking around with that, and then sampling beers was like the key to like keep going for a little bit. And I think too, like thinking about, uh, you know, that, um, Sort of the manifest like manifestation of how the Lager Lounge came to be. you know, um Back when the, when Fauxbat was at.
Speaker: I forget what that room is even called, but I think it's UIC Forum. Forum, yep. First time I got to go, Brandon brought me. So there was a couple years we we did this thing called the Oasis.
Speaker: And the Oasis, I feel like, was the precursor. It was like the thing that we didn't know we needed. yeah But it was, I think, one year Revolution sponsored the Oasis, and they had just like a couple different things. yeah And it was like maybe four or five non -barrel -aged beers.
Speaker: And then I think Lager Lounge kind of grew out of that to be like. You know you have breweries from around the country sending beers What if they also included some of their very good lagers? And so that's pretty exciting. I think, you know, obviously we saw this year with the Great American Beer Festival, they pivoted to an outdoor event.
Speaker: and from what i saw it looks like it went really well and they saw it sold out both sessions. so Sometimes you just kind of need to, you know, Fobab next year will be 25 years old.
Speaker: And that's an accomplishment to to carry a festival for 25 years. There's not many out there like it might be great American Beer Festival behind phobab. I don't know like statistically if there's ones that have been running longer but to have a festival make it 25 years is pretty incredible. So you do need new ideas every now and again. And the Lager Lounge to me is is one of those cool things where it's like, it's an amenity. You know, you're coming to a barrel -aged beer festival where you're going to try some of...
Speaker: The best barrel aged beer in the country. but you know if we're being realistic It's nice to change things up. And so if you don't have an option to change up during the session Bye.
Speaker: you may not know what you're missing. And so I think that's what the Lager Lounge it was like. an aha moment of like It's also a good way to give your palate a break from having all those different... you know very pronounce you know flavors it's nice to be refreshed yeah yeah yeah with beer With beer. With light beer. Lighter beer. The newest idea. like It expands on that. It's ah the green room.
Speaker: Yeah. So talk about a place to relax and drink. We've got a new VIP experience this year. So that'll be green room. Yeah, we you you know they it'll be stacked with loggers. and Oh.
Speaker: it'll be a spacious area to relax and you'll be able to meet some of the brewers there. and Yeah kind of along the same lines of you know we have some of these folks who are super talented.
Speaker: And there is a brewer's lounge that I don't think a lot of attendees know necessarily what it is or that it even exists. but Oh, it's one of our favorite places to go. when We realized we were able to go in there and see a whole bunch of people that we know. And also like seeing what you guys get to experience in the beer and the food and stuff. It's very cool. Yeah. So one of the things, yeah, Fobab being Fobab, I don't think a lot of, I don't also don't think the general public realizes that every brewer that's participating is donating their product to this festival. yeah so
Speaker: in exchange sort of as a thank you to the brewers that do donate a product to support the cause of our largest fundraiser of the year. They've curated this incredible Brewers loungewear
Speaker: there's uh lighter like we've always had access to lighter beers yeah we've always had our own version of the lager lounge uh in the brewer's room but i think the nice thing about the green room is that will extend that sort of experience to anyone that's interested in purchasing a ticket. to get to the green room.
Speaker: uh there'll be I think Marty from Revolution, Trevor. and Jacob from Cruz Blanca. They'll be in there at some point in both sessions. um to talk to enthusiasts and and drink. Uh... different. things I don't think it's been established what will be available, but I...
Speaker: you know, there might be some. some barrel -aged beers that you couldn't find on the floor or you know having access to you know enjoy those beers that you get on the floor you'll be able to enjoy in a space that's sort of... um more comfortable and and i was thinking of more of like a sensory room yeah you know like it can get pretty overwhelming on the floor so there is a place where you can go and sort of Recalibrate. and and hang and and that's the great room for this year which is
Speaker: Pretty exciting, I think. you know, it's a It's always... tricky to try something new for the first time but i think with this the fact that phobab is so established that i have no doubt that it'll be a great time and the resources that we have access to like Brewers that are in the building during this event. It's pretty incredible. So looking forward to
Speaker: To making that happen, there's also like a back door for the great room that goes out to a fire pit. Really? Yeah. So maybe you should leave. I was about to say, Antioch, goodbye. I mean, I remember I did say, she's like, you know, we can always reschedule. I'm like, we're getting closer to Thanksgiving. But did you hear about the fire pit? Go in December when it's snowing and then the hot tub is green. Even better. This was a great meeting.
Speaker: I can't wait to tell her when I get home. Tony, cancel his vacations. Yeah, great. Yeah, so there's talks of s'mores maybe out by the fire. Yeah, talks of s'mores. Great, great. south pair Or you guys want s'mores? Let's go s'mores right now. Well, before we get in any further, I think this is a good time to take a quick break. And yeah, we'll be right back.
Speaker: And we're back. Welcome back, everybody. We are here still talking things FOBAD with Jake and Kevin. Again, thank you, gentlemen, for joining us. Before we get back into the conversation. Let's talk about what beer we're drinking.
Speaker: Who wants to do that?
Speaker: Kevin with jerky in your mouth, you got this. It's ah very special. it's a very special Old Irving Brewing. which is a collaboration between uh OIB Learning Brewing. and Revolution.
Speaker: It was aged for 24 months.
Speaker: And... Oh! Agent Oak? it's is...
Speaker: There's a there's a buffalo trace barrels There's some other things on the bottom that I wonder if those are some sort of... inside. Probably baseball. Makes me wonder if it's a variable like or Tim if if tim ah designed that and like, would you put in small print at the bottom? Yeah.
Speaker: but don Yeah, so buffalo trace barrels, 24 months. No then these are exactly these guys know I have no idea. Oh, yeah. I'm just like I've never even seen these words I was like...
Speaker: that's i I think I figured it's some sort of... It's got to be an inside joke of some kind. Like. No, these are, these are exotic. It was royal. Yeah, so it ah matured for 24 months in bio -trace barrels and then infused.
Speaker: it with a variety of oak and toast. from creative book including some from trees and i don't know how to pronounce that word yep Some forests, T -R -O -N -C with a blue loopop underneath, A -I -S, that are specifically grown to be used in only the finest graham crew. So that's that's how we read, folks. i go marty sky
Speaker: absolutely so yeah when I first tried this beer I was confused. because I'm like fucking tastes like it was aged in a wine barrel it's not it's just the oak and it's like It's really... But they use wine barrel oak.
Speaker: right that's what i mean it goes to show you how much a barrel see where i'm going for the transition yeah how much the barrel plays a part of the beard Something you can experience this year at SoBad.
Speaker: Goodnight, everybody. And for more information, visit phobab .com. I forgot to start the timer. Shit. New timer. Alright, new timer. Awesome. All right.
Speaker: But yeah, you could say... I'm not hooked on phonics. I'm hooked on barrel pop. Peace. How much is it, man? One of these one -liners coming out. This is great. I think this is an incredible example of like something that you can get at FOA. So for me, like this is completely...
Speaker: eye -opening and I'm different and this Seems like something I would stumble upon on the floor now. i'm sure you can't just stumble i'm sure there will be a lion in the spirit if it's there but um I think is a beer like this is a perfect example of what you see it for. It's not just about...
Speaker: straight bourbon barrels what else can you do with wood you know yeah that's a little flavor yeah yeah well i mean that's the thing like i think Some people who are maybe outside of k craft beer. who hear bear legs they might know like oh birdber barrel and it's a stout and it's going to be a heavy and it's got this. And maybe their first experience was like a pastry stout that was barely, it's like, that's not for me. or you know But there's so much.
Speaker: more to barrel aged than just like a bourbon barrel aged out which i absolutely love and even myself still finding you know different types of barrel aged beers or meads or ciders that i'm like wow that's really good it's like It's such a...
Speaker: complex... and expensive process because you guys are basically using all this money. For these ingredients to either make a big beer or you know getting the barrels and then taking up space and running the risk of we need to do this right even more so than brewing a beer normally like We're putting these in barrels. Hope everything's great because when we come back and like, I mean, I know you guys are tasting it throughout time, but even at that, you've already spent that money. So there's like like there's a risk and reward to it. Yeah.
Speaker: Especially... in Chicago. We're very spoiled with the barrel -aged beers that we get, which is awesome. Especially when you look at like... like You know. your classic barrel at Oak Age.
Speaker: bourbon barrel aged You know, stout is like. One of the marquee flavors that you can get is like vanilla. And there are far easier ways to add. vanilla to your beer than putting it into a bourbon barrel for 24 months but there's something very nice about that cool yeah yeah and you never know like I think I was telling the story about how like in 2018 we were packaging our What?
Speaker: would then go on to be the gold medal. bearish imperial pajamas but it's like You don't know what you're going to get until you blend it, mix it, and package it. And we were like labeling these bottles by hand. uh and enjoying imbibing at the time and i just remember like i literally took a bottle and i was writing my tasting notes because we do have the tasting notes on the bottle. But I was like...
Speaker: like writing like, oh, fudgy, this is the best beer I've ever had. And then a year later, it went on to win a gold medal. And I think that was like a perfect example of like. a time when I was like Yeah, you just you put it We took the risk, we put it into the barrels, we blended it down.
Speaker: That was at a time when... your point about barrels earlier about having a lot of barrels. We used to have so many barrels that we would be able to do like a a blend of like our favorite barrels and then we would do like a like so an a side to b side and so the a side was the one that we sent off to to great american beer festival but it's like Yeah, just like... I had no idea. that this would be the product of what we were doing and it's like one of the
Speaker: Best beers that we've ever made. It's best one of the best beers I've ever had, but it was just that experience of life. I think, and at the time it was crazy, we did like 300 cases. Oh my god. Ooh, wow. In 2012's files, so. Holy shit. That was crazy. That was a weaker package in here. So we had um our Mahin, which we still have. The Mahin could rip.
Speaker: It was just that we didn't have a lead. of the labeling. we It was one of those like push button. Oh yeah. like I kind of miss.
Speaker: It's a 22 ounce. bombers of barrel aged beer. I don't think you're alone in that. There's like nostalgia memes. Yeah. And it actually hits me. in free for like I mean, I mean, I remember how fast we drank that. Yeah. Well, and like, the instead of chain if you got a bomber and you're sharing it like between.
Speaker: two or three people you know. I mean, I don't recommend drinking a bomber to yourself, which I've done, but... it's It kind of becomes more of a... a social interaction. I mean, we still do it now with like the smaller cans, even like 12 ounce cans. It's kind of nice to like.
Speaker: you know, have six ounces each. And then you can taste them all. Yeah, exactly. But I mean, there is something very cool. about seeing like. the bomber, like, ah. I remember. that we're barrel -aged boners I want him back.
Speaker: Yeah. we did I do too. We don't actually... our barrel asian pair of pajamas will be draft only this year again for the in a row. Maybe one day. We'll put it back. but That's more of a function of we don't make as much anymore. Sure.
Speaker: Oh. So we put most of it, or put all of it in the dryer. Just wait for like an anniversary or something. True. True. That was my idea, everybody. So when they do that, remember to get in front of this guy.
Speaker: So as Okay. trying to transition. button great So as... ah you know, Kevin as a brewery owner and Jake is a bird. What is like your process for.
Speaker: Submitting stuff to FOBAM. how do you decide really? I mean, I know we talked about like, you know, tasting beers and stuff like that, but. In the end, like what is... like how do you come to the beer that you choose and like that's the one we're gonna go with and Because...
Speaker: you make If you're making great beers, it's hard to like leave one behind. and Do you ever decide? And they ask you multiple questions, but you ever decide like, here's a beer we never barrel aged. Let's try to barrel age it. and then Like a brand new recipe. Yeah. Or not even that, like one that we've had for a while. Like, let's try to barrel age it and send it and see what happens. like great thing because of like how limited i am on space i basically work from full bad backwards and i'm on it i'm on the year to year like all right what do i want to do with full bad next year
Speaker: And a lot of that's on, you know, if I go and taste and see what categories are ah really just, you know. catching my interest. and Um, But you know. We always got to do a scalp.
Speaker: Sure. so i've always got sound barrels and I'm always going to send this out to FOVAB. But I like to mix it up. You know, I will do. make sculpture stuff.
Speaker: or you know the just a delvin triple So basically I pick... uh stout hands every year basically and see how it goes and Not every year does the beer make the cut to where i'm like okay i'm putting this on the floor back but It's really important for me to be on the floor.
Speaker: So I'm always going to have. I'm always gonna have beer there. But uh, yeah, it's it's fun to experience so I really love Like, I'm so passionate about mixed culture beer.
Speaker: And. I don't get to do them very much, so I think... Yeah, next year we'll be going for a mixed culture one. But I work FOBAD backwards, and I have such a small barrel herd that... It's either do I get to put four beer four barrels in this blender or am I keeping it too because whatever it is It has to be the best because this is going to fill back. Yeah.
Speaker: Goodbye, you cow. Oh man, I wish I had as good of a story as you had. We throw darts at the dartboard and that's where we land. Uh, historically, I guess like for us.
Speaker: This will be... uh 2026 is like the 10th anniversary of uh barrel -aged imperial pajamas the release like kind of like becoming a...
Speaker: a bit like a thing. So 2016, it like was in November. And back when bombers were still a thing. and we started doing variants every hour. And we were woefully um underprepared for the crowd that showed up. And so we had, it was also a very warm day. So like we had to line out the door.
Speaker: Door was open. We sold. ah ridiculous like Looking back, like I don't know if we could ever sell that many bombers of a barrel -age release going forward. but it was just the time and the place and so november became uh barrel agent pure pajamas month for us so that's sort of like the the boring version of like we just like once it gets to november we release this imperial oatmeal stout that we've done in
Speaker: in bourbon barrels it varies every like we've we've moved it around it was very specifically heaven hill for a while because those were the barrels that we could get. um pretty fresh We've messed around with other barrels.
Speaker: Heaven Hill for this beer is like my favorite and it's the one that you know 2018 the vintage that won So that's always the case. This year we were able to get... Um...
Speaker: as as barrel aging has sort of It's hit a very funny point where like there's a lot of access to barrels that weren't available even like five years ago six years ago because of some of the things going on uh politically uh bourbon is not traveling as far as it once did people are not drinking as much of it as they once did so like all of a sudden yeah all of a sudden like we're but able to get like You know, you could, like, the if you could get... access to buy like mash number three which is Pappy.
Speaker: That would be insane. You would have to have like a very special relationship. now it's like almost like If you want Blanton's barrels, you can say, I'd like to do this beer in a Blanton barrel. That's pretty crazy. Yeah, so this year we're doing, it'll be the first time that we've ever done barrel -aged and pure pajamas. E .H. Taylor barrels. which is So I'm like... i you know Talking about like what we don't what what hopefully that beer will become. yeah We'll find out.
Speaker: We're going to be blending those barrels next week. And then releasing them at FOBAB. But it is one of those things where like... For us it's almost like Brandon's holding up his bottle. Yeah. Let me eat shit. um and open But yeah, so for us it was always more of a...
Speaker: Like it became a thing that was... So from the hey in the heyday, 2016, the 20... 20, like right before COVID. Um... You know, it was like just...
Speaker: You couldn't make barrel aged beer fast enough. at that point and then apparently we made too much beel but that's okay too We've adjusted, but yeah, it was, so November was always sort of. for us it was bobab then paralyzing pair of pajamas really soon.
Speaker: one of the things that i've really enjoyed about that that we've taken to fobam is We do. at our festivals twice a year, and then with Barrel Age and Prayer Pajamas, we like to do a lot of variants. I was actually about to bring that up because I love, number one, love going to those fests. I did not make it to the October anniversary this year, which I was kind of bummed about, which I had the free time, but...
Speaker: We allowed us around to watch horror movies instead. But the weather was beautiful. I know. I know. I got i got a little shit about it. like Oh, no, no. We'll do it again. Actually, we did a picnic. We did a picnic. There you go. We did a picnic. It was very nice. And we were going to go out, but we did other things instead. That sounds awesome. But one of the things, it was very nice. I got a bow tie and everything.
Speaker: One of the things that I was going to say was that. all the variants that i've tried like are the ones that like that you guys put up the list for it it's great because there's a certain times i'm like i want to make sure i'm there for that like yeah that is fun and the variants have always been very tasty Yeah, they do it. Liz, our Hebrew. does an amazing job mixing flavors we kind of sit down And always, like, we're actually going to meet tomorrow and talk about Barrel Age Imperial Pajamas, our release, and then...
Speaker: or kind of like... go back and forth and then she'll put like pen to paper on different ideas and some of the flavor combinations that she can come up with and then execute is pretty pretty cool One of our brewery favorites as a snack was the Choco Taco.
Speaker: oh yeah which has been since retired yes all right uh so now we every every time we do have the opportunity to make a variant. the Choco Taco variant. which is chocolate and vanilla it's just like a chocolate i'm pretty sure you know Also, I want to say this real quick. I'm not trying to rush anybody back into a barrel -aged beer. talk so much about real pajamas right now i think we should have some of it
Speaker: Just saying. We could have a lot of... Yeah, this is in a bomb. I know. You guys are doing this! I know! Oh. oh That's nice, too. Yeah. Let's... What is it? You created it? You heard. You heard. You heard.
Speaker: So Midwest. Well, American IPA, but we say Midwest IPA. it's got the classic c hops It's great because it... To me, this is, this is definite just so you know, what I'm about to say, it's...
Speaker: Comes from a very nice place. This to me drinks more like a pale ale like it is six percent so you're like and like i love pale ale is my favorite uh style hands down i think pale ale is like a good way to For me, like I judge a brewery. If I go to a diner for breakfast, if you have biscuits and gravy, I'm going to judge. the entire diner on the biscuits and gravy.
Speaker: a pale ale is always good like for me but this is very good it's very drinkable and especially if someone like it's an ipa and be like ah it's gonna be so bitter and so strong it's like this is a very approachable ipa and it's very like fruity and tasty That's my kind of yeah with like a nice like tiny bitterness in the back.
Speaker: Make sure you play Euchre. Yeah, Never played. It is funny, though, that, like... ah you know The difference between an IPA and a pale ale is like... razor thin yeah because you know 5 .6 we have Pale ale, that's 5 .6, which is...
Speaker: Yeah, let's go. The rounding error. Yeah, quarters and stouts. yeah The difference between an IP and a payload is the label. Yeah. yeah this times This is a fun one, though, that we do. We try to do it a couple times a year.
Speaker: It does register as one of the cease and desist that we got. I used to call it farmhand. Which there was another beer by the same name uh The Tired Hands also received a cease and desist from WHA - It's worth it. um, It was within a few months of each other. But it was cool. theres some issues It was, yeah. But he called and it was cool. And I think we came up with a better name.
Speaker: So. Yeah. That's very tasty, yeah. One of our staples in the tap room and then yeah, this is actually out in the market right now. We don't send too many taproom beers out right now, but hoping to do a few more. next year.
Speaker: So before we... We can crack an open to that. As long as somebody has a bottle opener. but We did. twenty twenty six So... Um, But, like, let's...
Speaker: you know both of you guys uh kevin and jake talk about like what is your cap room cap room experience like what ah What can people look forward to coming to visit Bacall? Horse... horse ah is horse thief like what what can what you know what's the experience going to be Well, I mean horsey it's really built on hospitality it's a place where you can go and be treated like you're regular
Speaker: And. It's it's all about the experience. It's cozy so You know, I was talking to... Oh. a rep today and he's like, oh yeah, I'm sure.
Speaker: gearing up for the slowdown like well we actually As far as taproom traffic, we're busy in the winter. It's a cozy spot. so Um... Yeah, it's you know and and we're really, really big on our kitchen. They they do really good good work there.
Speaker: So. It's as much a restaurant, much to my chagrin sometimes, it's as much a restaurant as it is a restaurant. But it benefits me a lot too because... I can get.
Speaker: people who aren't necessarily seeking out a brewery but they're still gonna Try our beer, you know, our Pilsner. is Little Wing. far and away our number roll one seller and that's because you know, we we made it to be approachable so you don't have to be a beer nerd to like that.
Speaker: So we get people who just come in and they want a burger or, you know. any other good good food we're serving. and They might ask for a macro but we can keep the glass full with uh some little wing and then you know on top of that though we do have some really serious beauties that can come sit at the bar and enjoy our lineup But really, yeah, the way I would describe it is just a warm.
Speaker: a warm ball. one place to hang you'll be friends with. People in no time when you walk in. real quick before we get to you kevin about that i was gonna say like I feel like...
Speaker: Even though the younger generation is not. Drinking as much. would you guys say that you would see like people who maybe wouldn't have gone to a brewery before because all they thought it was ipas and now that there's like more pilsners and lager like options that maybe people are willing and like realizing like oh i can go here and still get a beer quote -unquote beer flavored beer and you know still hang out It's really good, even though it's not a macro beer.
Speaker: the beer industry as a whole has uh kind of you know i mean if you if you look like i one of my early beer drinking craft beer drinking experience was like reading a bottle of arrogant bastard oh my god they're right this is too much you know and i think as an industry you've gotten away from being like You're...
Speaker: You know, you're not up to this. Yeah, we we want everyone to be able to drink this beer. Yeah it's It's certainly... matured in that way. And, and you know, the brewers are always into drinking the crispy boys. So I think it's really.
Speaker: It plays well for verse, too. Yeah, we've learned that too, that brewers are really just... You guys like? High life. A lot. and We do though.
Speaker: I've been on other podcasts before and they're like, what's your favorite beer? I'm like, I'm embarrassed to say High Life because I'm such a big British brewer. But it's amazing. When I was in a band, that's what we did. We bought High Life and that was leaked during our practice and it's still one of my favorite beers. it's Delicious. and Very much.
Speaker: yeah Yeah. It's an easy dream. It's fine. Nothing to be ashamed of. um as you say like even but Embrace it. My my girlfriend, she... was a bud light drinker and then like i had roommates who were coolers light drinkers and so she kind of switched to that and She's also... she's willing to try like different beers like beers that i get and like oh try this you might like it Especially like...
Speaker: So with the barrel -aged stouts, I'm like, oh, she's a baker. So there's definitely things where I'm like, oh, try this. But she's also come to realize, oh, I like going to breweries because there's a water on tap or like going to like beer on the wall or beer temple. And there's like, there's something on tap that I've never had before.
Speaker: but I know that style and I will sit there and and and try it and drink it. so there's something else i want to say about horsey that i know that this is true for being out too is that like One of the things that helped us...
Speaker: you know stay relevant and and alive over the years is that We also act kind of as a corner. pub for for people you know it's a yeah it's it's about that community spot where you go in out on friday and you see Joe at the end of the bar.
Speaker: Yeah. and just Chat about your week with them. So. Yeah, that's the best part For sure. Kevin, what about you?
Speaker: For us, very similar. You know, I think um The way I tell it is like we're an industrial hospitality company. Because, you know, you come to our tap room and... you see the factory where the widget's made. and Um... But ah you know at the end of the day, like... Just like with beer, like you want your beer to be approachable. It's great to explore like crazy flavors and all that, but like.
Speaker: If you're not like focusing on being approachable. Uh... You know, that's... You can never cast a wide net. And and and then in in business, you need to cast a wide net because if you... if you I admire the folks that can do the sliver and like focus on it. And I think there's some folks that do it very well. yeah But I don't think that everyone can do that. Right. So you need to have like the approachable things. And so for us, you said hospitality and that's like.
Speaker: I... just happen. hammer that home all the time it's like For us the way our taproom is set up is you walk in the door Someone's going to greet you. as you enter we don't have a bar that you can sit at but You can walk up to the counter you can order you can experience you know That process but to me the number one thing is like when someone walks in the door
Speaker: They immediately are greeted. Hello, how are you doing? What can I do for you? You know, that kind of thing. I've experienced that. and And then, you know, it's it's the most simple. thing. but it goes a long way and then i think that that builds on what jake mentioned which is being the corner bar or the place where you know there's something to be said about walking into a place whether it's a coffee shop I go to the coffee shops that are like...
Speaker: Hey, Kevin. You've been here enough times. I now... Get out. you know yeah You're not welcome. It is 9 p .m. You have to go home. uh but yeah like there's something to be said about a place where you can go into and You know the people, you trust the people, you...
Speaker: have got you know you've grown with those people and and you know we're fortunate that we have a great team. at BeGal that you know we have folks that have like numerous folks that have been with us for 10 years or more. and I think of that that...
Speaker: like in and of itself like manifests into the customer service experience. and We've. Learned and we've skinned our knees. We've gotten one star reviews before And you learn from that and you grow. and You know, we're very, yeah, very fortunate that we are in the spot that we're in. and I was about to say, like, as you're talking about this, I'm like...
Speaker: I've been over to you guys so many times. And then like made my way over to... dovetail or like i said spiteful or now that you know hop butcher is in the old half acre spot or half acre was there like it's not that far to like traveling like it's like a stone's throw to get like really good beer and that's like
Speaker: kind of a nice part about like i said the community of like breweries like in all those places i've always felt welcome it's like oh yeah i was just over here and it's three o 'clock i gotta go home i started at 11. yeah no that is another thing too like you know not knowing what you know this wild journey would turn into like We have, I think...
Speaker: Seven breweries and a distillery and a winery. uh if you count those as nine all within a mile and a half. And. That is cool too because like not only can you become the corner spot But then we do a lot with, we're right off the brown line. So you get a lot of people coming up from downtown.
Speaker: Mondays, we jokingly are like tourist Mondays, which are like, you'll notice because we'll be there with our luggage. They'll be like, oh, we're just on our way to the airport. You're nowhere near there. He's got a long way to go. Actually, we're in the midway. You are way out. You're way out. I hope you were staying in the Airbnb on the street because you're way out. But they'll come in, they'll hang out, they'll have a couple drinks before they head to the airport. and That's cool. Cause you're like, i have no where are you from? I don't know. I'm like. you came here but it's um
Speaker: It's cool to have that sort of thing like they actively had to look it up and find it yeah and spend their time getting there um And that is like powerful. and It makes us, you know... want to keep doing what we're doing because i think anyone that chose to be a brewer learned to be wanted to do this like If you're still going at this point, like you do it because you love it. yeah you know it's it's not because you're you know
Speaker: Collecting a paycheck or something like that. You're a glutton for punishment. yeah Yeah. Yeah. It's like a chef And in a sentence. And restaurants make cities and and bars make cities. and you know, with all those things, like you have culture and. and you have purpose and and you know there's a lot of folks out there that they need to be able to find a place to spend their leisure time.
Speaker: And. we need places like course without how out we need Dang it. I thought I could do it. You almost did. Horse thief. Tallow? Tallow? There's tallow? They sell horse tallow? I have to spell it every time I talk to somebody on the phone. I don't even know how I got tallow out of that. Before we get closer here to wrapping up, I do want to go back to the FOVAB thing. and this was
Speaker: This is for me to ask both of them. If you were taking a friend... to this is for you guys if someone's going to like you're taking a friend to phobia for the first time what How would you help them?
Speaker: plan that day. Or that evening. Like, I mean, it's... There's a lot, you know, that's the first Dinner. Yeah. Or lunch. no lunch Brunch.
Speaker: brunch Gosh, if I was taking somebody for that, so let's say Saturday I was going to take a month. No, let's go Friday. Then you have Saturday. Yeah. Fry in sessions. Tuesday.
Speaker: ah Friday night, I would... I would cut out of work early. I already off to a great start. I would. Look up a good spot to lay down a bass, so maybe... let's see what's out that way you got kaiser tiger you could do some sausages ah There's a couple other great spots. So I'd find a greasy spoon of some kind, like maybe a smash burger or whatever. Definitely need to get a base down. Just a good base. And then I would have head over.
Speaker: Make sure you get in line. i would I would actually try to get in early by joining in. bye It is very cool to get in. early like it is very nice to be able to seek out if there's a specific beer you want to find before you know lines start forming and even that like lines do move you know it's not like it's not like a cluster fuck or anything but like That was the one thing that Brandon and I learned. It was like, oh, cool, we're here. Let's try this. Let's try this. I mean, I got a little crazy the first time we got there.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, so you do that you you do the casual thing, and then... I think as far as what I'm looking for... You know, you could do... you go category by category but probably what i would do is i would seek out um Maybe some of the ones that I know that aren't distributed here first. yeah There are some beers that are distributed here that are phenomenal and you'll want to seek those out as well. but like You know, it's it's kind of cool that, like... um
Speaker: I think for this year we have one of my favorite breweries in the country is Frem. Think I'm pronouncing it right? I am unfamiliar. P -F -I -E. That is new. P -F -R -I -E -M. That is new. They're from Oregon, Hood River. Fantastic beers.
Speaker: And they're coming to Foban. Right on. You're not making me want to reconsider my vacation. I know. Well, and then I haven't even talked about Brakeside. They're also familiar. They're ruined! I know. Uh...
Speaker: So I would probably seek them out. See what they have. um i would hope that one of them sent one of their delicious hoppy or light beers to the Agar Lounge.
Speaker: But yeah, i would that's kind of my thing. I would i would seek out like... What's something that, you know... I can't get I can't you because Most of these beers, even the Illinois produced ones, like Yeah.
Speaker: triple wine barrel a triple from For Steve. Hello. is not why wildly available, but like there I could go to Horse Thief Hollow and I could hopefully experience something great like that. You might be able to grab it if it's being released. But I think the fact that there's so many of these breweries that just send beer for this one weekend is pretty pretty incredible.
Speaker: All right, Jake, now you're at test with Saturday morning. All right, Saturday morning. You got to play a little bit. cooler than you might be on friday night but you had time to relax you know you're not coming right off the work so you can take it easy.
Speaker: But yeah, I mean, I take a lap on the floor. I try to take a wide angle lens and everything. Ah. Not get too excited. That's a big thing. Cause yeah. i've tried to chase down every one like this one's gonna run out and this one's gonna run out Um,
Speaker: just see what hits your eye that's that's how i take it so that's how i and i've brought some Plenty of first timers. so ah Yeah. Check out the floor.
Speaker: I think if you do a lap upstairs... But take it easy. um it's not a race it's not a race and um You know, you gotta to make it out. outside don't get stuck inside make it outside to goose island yeah and those lines always look long but they move and uh they're they do time tappings there so i would say go find So I'm going to catch your eye.
Speaker: Catch some of the time cappings there. I have used that before as a way to take a break from being outside. of like Oh, let's see what Goose has. And even if i there's nothing that I would. get i would just be like well we're outside for a little bit let's just relax and enjoy the fire yeah the fire pits out there and you know that's Sometimes it gets a little hot on the floor, so cool off. Cool air out there.
Speaker: And then yeah, from there I go to the lager lounge. And yeah, instead of. you know greasy spoon before After. I love. I love to hit up...
Speaker: green street smoked meats get some barbecue after Almost always go to go to Cruz Blanca. after. Have a beer. And.
Speaker: Yeah, not try not to stay out too long. yeah Yeah, it's it like it's it's it's not it's not a race. Like, I've definitely...
Speaker: I've had my time there where I was like, ooh, I'm trying this, I'm trying this, I'm trying this. and then the more and more that brandon and i have gone we've realized like Let's just, you know. have a couple enjoy it enjoy the time that we're there um and I think both but both your descriptions were like... your plans are the best way to to go about things yeah and i would say try the brewery you've never heard of don't get caught up on big names because yeah there's absolutely great beer but If there's a long line.
Speaker: I bet you next door you're going to find some awesome beer too. Oh, of course. so ah Kevin, you had mentioned something, and I want to just, for our listeners.
Speaker: What's an imbibe member at, uh... phobab or the brewer's just in general yeah so an imbibe member very good transition brandon So Imbibe.
Speaker: is a very clever... This is an abbreviation. I was never good at it. Do you know what the abbreviation stands for? It stands for I'm a big Illinois beer enthusiast. enthusiast.
Speaker: I didn't know that. i never Trivia. Who can answer this question? What does imba mean? Nice. We'll use that for another episode. We'll use that for the Maltese. So it was an enthusiast program that was started.
Speaker: Over ten years ago Right now, it is ah it gets you an Illinois Brewing Magazine mail to your house, which is pretty cool. every quarter the illinois Craft Wars Guild and Trent.
Speaker: A friend of the guild, put they put out... um a magazine which has a ton of stories and like a list of breweries in illinois and different happenings going on it's it's pretty cool we we have them in our tap room They go very fast. People like to... read them and it's you know very analog way to learn about things that are going on.
Speaker: But then probably the biggest perk that is currently available is that... In by an in by membership gives you an opportunity to buy a ticket to FOBA And then... um Enter an hour early.
Speaker: um There are, you know, just by Sheer number so we let's see we have you know I think a keg holds X, a six still holds X amount of beer.
Speaker: There are certain kegs that will run out. So as long as you are... there early enough you can taste the ones that will run out and that's kind of what that imbibed. early hours turned into is There will inevitably be.
Speaker: kegs that kick that you can't try and so this is like ah almost like a fast pass yeah so to try that so yeah it is it is very cool to be able to when you get there the hour early and it's like oh yeah i could really just kind of go anywhere you know search out where if i want to do something now yep Yeah.
Speaker: It's kind of like... um You can in a way, for one... for one Take it essentially Uh, Support every brewery that's part of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. Believe me. We rely.
Speaker: On the invite members team. Help us. You know, with all all of the goings -on that the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild does. So, on top of... Our brewery numbers, the invaluable numbers are incredible. important to the mission of the Guild.
Speaker: we we as brandon i don't know if it was on mic or beforehand when when Ray. had had been on uh many times when he was a part of the guild like we've always stressed like how important.
Speaker: the guild is uh Pardon. you know. people who enjoy beer in Illinois. in you Chicago, obviously, would be the biggest city. but like it is very important how much you guys do is the reason why we're able to Enjoy. Beer.
Speaker: the way we are able to and the way you guys are able to operate and make sure that you guys are still able to operate and new businesses are able to operate. and that neighborhoods have these Corner type places to go to and and hang out and enjoy It's not just raising money. We talk about legislation and things like that. There's hard work that goes into it. We appreciate everything that you guys do. As a beer drinker, that's why we started the podcast. Like I said. very spoiled here in Chicago being in Illinois and in the Midwest in general.
Speaker: Yeah, it's... it's You guys can do something to help out. Definitely do it. And before we wrap up, I will say that, okay, so for people that are looking, FOBAB is November 13th and 14th, Saturday and Sunday. And there are two sessions. First session is 6 p .m. on Friday. the Saturday session is at 1pm.
Speaker: Both are four -hour sessions. Get your tickets at fobev .com or click the link in our description. to be able to get your tickets That was it. I was reading all the other stuff underneath. I was like, what oh, there's other stuff. But there but there's there's lots of options. yeah and There's like the VIP experiences. There's the green room experiences.
Speaker: that kevin talked about like yeah there's there's options so get those tickets overall philip is just a great time and you know. ah i Like I said, my my girlfriend is not a huge beer drinker. She'll sample stuff. I'm like...
Speaker: We got the lager lounge though. You can easily, i I will buy that ticket because it's going, you know, to the guild. you can go drink lagers all day and then they'll let you sample not let you but have you make her sample i'm running more of these maker not maker but blanket woman yeah maker was bad it's so controlling you know there's something Uh,
Speaker: Something for everyone. Yeah, I think I'm excited for this year. you know i think we're We've seen, and we touched on very briefly earlier, that we're seeing uh that Myth about Gen Z, like not drinking like most of them were.
Speaker: 21 yet when that data was being released. Of course. metric Yeah. But I do think that that myth has changed a bit. And I think that I'm excited to see where you know next year is going to be 25 years.
Speaker: I'm excited to see where the next 10 years goes with Barrel Age Beer, with Illinois Craft Beer, with Chicago breweries, north and south side. um You know, I think there's. there's a market out there that has been introduced to alcohol whether it be through high noon which i am somebody who enjoys everyone's great fruit tequila high noon absolutely but i also think that like sometimes people want to stumble upon a yogurt or A little owl, right? Little wing. Damn it!
Speaker: Little Wayne. ah But yeah, I think that there are folks out there that you know they don't know what they know until they know it. and i think the next uh next little iteration that we have upon us will Be good for local beer, good for Chicago. and uh And we'll keep making it if people keep drinking it.
Speaker: I also believe that things go in cycles, too. You know what I mean? like that's I never want to see the end of the old man bar. Never. We're gonna bring it back. That's where you guys are going to turn into. There's going to be a series of speed gals and horse thief talents.
Speaker: Talos. Yeah. Or Steve Talos. You guys, thank you so much for joining us tonight for this. Very excited about FOVAB. I... might change my small trip plans because I do love it. It's it's such a fun time and Brandon and I have had such a great time and it's nice to have you guys on the show talking. Yeah, thanks for coming. Thanks for having us. Thank you so much.
Speaker: Brandon, love you, buddy. Love you, too, man. See you right next time. Bye!
Speaker: This has been The Malting Hour with your hosts, Brandon, Tony, and Matthew. Be sure to follow us on all social medias and like, subscribe and rate the show. If you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, drop us a line at info at themaltinghour .com.
Speaker: Until next time, cheers.
