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Episode 61 - Hubbard's Cave image

Episode 61 - Hubbard's Cave

The Malting Hour
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On this episode Brandon and Tony try four different beers from Hubbard's Cave brewing in Niles IL. We also discuss why beer shops that sell single cans rule and how we're heading to Washington Island Wisconsin next month for some camping and drinking! Theme music provided by Myke Kelli (@mykekelli) Check out all our episodes at www.themaltinghour.com
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
That means that the recording is now taking place. Oh, fantastic.

Introduction to Hubbard's Cave Brewery

00:00:05
Speaker
This week, we dive into Hubbard's Cave. This is episode 61 of The Malting Hour.
00:00:11
Speaker
What's the haps on the hops? Guy ease that speech 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 Gotta get a cab, the friends you wish you had Join us for a drink, join us for a laugh Time is never wasted, way you're getting wasted The molten hour here, people, people take your places People, people take your places People, people take your places
00:00:40
Speaker
Episode 61, The Malting Hour. Welcome, everybody. I am one of your hosts, Tony Golic, joined always with. Randy and winning jerk. And not joining us this evening, Mr. Clark Fetridge. Sorry, Clark, you're missing out on this one that I'm sure once you see what this is and you hear it, you will be sad. Sorry.

Hosts' Beer Selections and Discovery

00:01:01
Speaker
Oh man, well, this is probably the latest we've ever recorded. Not that it matters to anybody listening, but it's pretty late that we're recording this and it's not an after the final pour. But pretty excited about this because it is a brewery, I think both on mic and off mic that we've talked about wanting to do an episode on. And tonight's the night. Today's the day. We are going to be drinking what, Brandon? What brewery are we drinking from? We are drinking Hubbard's Cane.
00:01:34
Speaker
i felt like i needed that sound effect i could throw it in but i also can't wait to see how high that clips when you're leaning into the mic that's the best i love it we are drinking hubbard's cave oh god yes we are and uh it's it's
00:01:50
Speaker
It's kind of fun because we're doing it via Zoom and because I've got some stuff I'm working on and Brandon's at home and we're just, we weren't able to meet up. So we both got two random Hubbard's Cave beers. We have no idea what each other is about to crack open and talk about. So technically you'll be hearing four beers, but we're only drinking two and looking at the ABV on the beers that I got. Whoops, long night for Tony.
00:02:16
Speaker
Didn't think that through when I grabbed him. I said, this looks good. This looks good. Here we go. Oh no, what have I done? But that's okay. So why don't we get

Hubbard's Cave Origins and Evolution

00:02:25
Speaker
straight? You know, actually, do you have any information about Hubbard's cave pulled up? Because, you know, not everybody knows who Hubbard's cave is. Yeah, so I do. So like the basic info that I'm going offhand knowing Hubbard's cave originally was out in, I don't want to say Morton Grove. Skokie? Yeah, it was in that Skokie Displains area.
00:02:46
Speaker
Yeah, displays. Okay, yeah, so they were actually in a shopping mall originally. So they're in a shopping mall, I've been to that location, I drank beers there. And I actually, I met a guy that lived a block or two away from me while I was there. And I told him, hey, like he was interested in brewing, so you should come brew with us. And then I
00:03:07
Speaker
I think I have his number, maybe we'll hit him up. So if you want some beer, anyway. I like your head story, play it out. Yeah, so anyway, so, but so Hubbard's Cave is actually like a hybrid. So it's Unani and Hubbard's Cave. It's the same brewery, but they release stuff under different names because they are completely different styles. So with Hubbard's Cave, you could find like,
00:03:35
Speaker
You know, you can find an IPA, a double IPA, triple IPA, you can find those really thick pastry stouts that we tend to enjoy from time to time. And then Unani leans more on the experimental side with like
00:03:52
Speaker
experimental sours using experimental yeast, just things that, you know, the average beer drinker like may not normally go to, but those that have like that acquired taste definitely love Unani. And I've had some Unani beers and they are phenomenal. So I can't say anything bad about that either. Yeah, it's literally the same wheelhouse pushing them out. And they moved from that displays like little shopping center

New Location and Beer Styles

00:04:21
Speaker
And now they're in Niles just behind the Leaning Tower YMCA on Gross Point Road. If you don't know what that is, Google it. It literally is a Leaning Tower in Niles. Yeah. My dad used to tell me stories when he was a kid. They used to go hunting out there. And the only thing that was out there was this Leaning Tower that some guy built in the middle of a field somewhere. And suddenly, like,
00:04:48
Speaker
all these businesses came around it. So now it's a little, uh, yeah, of course. Yeah. So he did that or they moved over there. Um, what's cool about their location, which I regret not being able to have gone there. Uh, they specialize in barbecue.
00:05:06
Speaker
So if you want to get some like good, good barbecue, I've heard great things about their food. We already know that there's great things about their beer. That's why we're drinking and now I'm talking about it. But barbecue is where it's at out there as well. Yeah, I've seen some of the pictures. It looks fantastic. And also about the Unani
00:05:25
Speaker
they you're talking about the styles they do they do a lot of wild beers as well and fruited sour beers that uh yeah really really good uh so and their designs are uh very uh simple and straightforward which is nice uh you know you can minimalistic i would say absolutely and hybrids cave ones they they dip into very simple black and white uh you know designs and that's about it there's some pictures as i'm looking at some of the cans that i have here in front of me um but yeah i've i've i've
00:05:55
Speaker
I second everything that you said on that, on both of the names and, you know, how good those beers actually are. And eventually, you know, we'll come around to do the Wunani as well, trying some of their beers. But tonight we are focusing on Hubbard's Cave, and I think we should get right into it. Brandon, what is the first beer you're gonna open up tonight?

Beer Tasting and Reviews

00:06:17
Speaker
My first beer is actually Hubbard's Cave Fresh Pal,
00:06:23
Speaker
Is there a date on that one? Because normally they have dates or a hop on there. No, it should be on the actual label itself. Sometimes it'll show it. I know some of the fresh IPAs, they'll have it on there. KCPL, 6% alcohol. Yeah, so it's funny because when I was looking at the IPAs, all the IPAs had the hops listed. This one does not have the hops listed. It's not just their pale ale, right?
00:06:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's just says Fresh Fail Ale. There was like several different versions of the IPA at Binnie's and the guy there was talking them up to somebody else.
00:06:58
Speaker
And the guy walked away with a four pack or whatever. And he was like, I'm going to have a rough night. And I'm like, left. And then as I was leaving, he came back and I saw him putting it back. And I was like, what? I was like, why are you putting it back? Yeah, their Fresh series is really good. They'll normally, I know for the IPAs, they have a date on there of when it was canned. I almost grabbed one.
00:07:18
Speaker
There it is. That was canned on July 29. It's almost a month. So it's not that, you know, not that old. So you went that. So I went kind of in the same route. This is one I've been looking at. They've got different variations of it. And I decided to finally give it a try.
00:07:37
Speaker
I don't know what the uh how fresh this is or when the last time it came out but it is a flavored imperial IPA and this one is called milk of the murder hornet blueberry now they've had raspberry or strawberry peach
00:07:56
Speaker
Maybe guava. I don't know. But I'm assuming we're going to go. But I think this is going to lend itself more to being like a milkshake. Oh, my God. Milkshake IPA. Brandon, can you see the color of this? I mean, that is like blueberry. Oh, yeah, that's dark. That's dark blue.
00:08:14
Speaker
Oh my god, smells. Oh, it's it's got a reddish hue to it. That is that is the color of blueberries. That is so question. Just to clarify, did you end up going to bottles and cans in Edgebrook?
00:08:27
Speaker
I did, and it is, for those of you who don't know, Bottles and Cans is a beer shop that is also like beer on the wall, which I think we've talked about in the past, where you can go and buy whole four packs or whole six packs of beer or single bottles, but also they just have the cans, for at least four bottles and cans, if you walk up to a six pack on the shelf,
00:08:51
Speaker
You can take a bottle out of it and then go put the other five bottles in the carrier in front of a case where they end up, you know, setting them up so you can grab individual cans. So no matter what is there, the four pack or six pack, you can build your own four pack or six pack from it. Doesn't matter. I saw some rev barrel aged beers sitting there. I saw a can of super massive cafe death. I was like,
00:09:14
Speaker
I didn't. So I did end up just doing Two Hubbards Cave and I grabbed something from Hop Butcher and something from Off Color, which I'm excited to tell you about. Maybe you and I will share it tomorrow because, you know, it might be that we're getting close to that time of year if you can guess maybe what that beer is that I grabbed.
00:09:34
Speaker
It's the pumpkin beer. I grabbed off color pumpkin beer. I don't know why I'm making it such a mystery pumpkin beer cafe, beer for, was it beer for cafes, pumpkin beer for cafes or whatever it's called. It's part of their beer four series. And this one was a pumpkin beer. So anyways, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about this. Brandon, what do you think of that pale ale that you got from Hubbard's game? I love it. It's light, it's crispy. And so it's actually classified
00:10:00
Speaker
On the side, it says hazy pale ale. And I would agree with that. It's a bit hazy. It's actually really hazy. I love the color. I really wish I knew what hops are in here, but I'm getting nothing. It's not floral.
00:10:26
Speaker
No, no, you know, there's a little bit of floralness. I mean, but again, that's just hops in general that have some floralness. Sure. There is like zero bitterness, like it's crazy how low it feels for the bitterness.
00:10:43
Speaker
I mean, to me, like, I don't know. I mean, I like super crazy bitter beers. And then this, I'm like, you know, it's not bitter at all. So it could be like high IBUs. But it's easy drinking. And it's funny because I googled this and I looked it up or went onto their website. There's nothing that says like what the hops are. That's exactly what I was doing right now. And I was literally like I was scouring the web. I'm like, what hops are in here?
00:11:12
Speaker
I did that beforehand and I was doing it right now too. But yeah, I mean, super easy drinking, super light ABV, well, 6%, but super like light mouth feel, I guess too. That's good for a paleo. I mean, I'm glad I found this. And also the reason I found this too is when I was looking at beers, I saw this was a four pack for 9.99 and then everything else was like,
00:11:41
Speaker
you know, a little more expensive. And I knew I already had a beer from Hubbard's cave that I have yet to try. I've been holding on to. And I've been wanting to try it. So I went with this one. Cause like the IPA was like, that I saw was like 8%, 8.5%. I was like, no, I need something light to start. But super delicious.
00:12:09
Speaker
and you know what, I dare say juicy. I hate that word with beers, but it is like juicy. Well, yeah, I've actually had, if I'm not mistaken, I believe I have had that beer before and I do remember enjoying it very much so. I know I've had a bunch there. It's super easy drinking. Yeah, I've had their other fresh IPAs and there was a run on those for a while.
00:12:36
Speaker
They're very good. All their, their IPAs are very, very tasty, very fresh, not crazy bitter. They do have one called Hopsurd, which is a straight up, you know, West Coast style IPA, in my opinion.
00:12:54
Speaker
And it reminds me of those, you know, old school, really hoppy IPAs. And it's very tasty. I like that one a lot. But the pale, I believe I have had in the past, and I think I, not mistaken, really enjoyed it. Yeah. Going off that. So this is the first time that I've had this Milk of the Murder Hornet, which is a fantastic name. They started, if I'm not mistaken, they started this series last year.
00:13:19
Speaker
when we were all concerned about murder hornets coming into the United States. And we saw one, I think. As we should have been. Yeah. It's so it's a double milkshake IPA. And it's got blueberry. It definitely has blueberry in it. The color of it is like a rich kind of purple to it that you get from blueberries. It smells fruity and maybe a hint of blueberry or a bit of berry. And I'm going to go back in for a taste here.
00:13:51
Speaker
It is, so with it being an Imperial IPA with blueberry, vanilla, and lactose, I was expecting it to be overly sweet and a bit too much.
00:14:03
Speaker
And this is probably my favorite milkshake IPA I've ever had in my life. So is this your first time having it? It is. It's my first time having this beer. And I haven't had any of the other milk or the murder horn variants or anything. But this has all of the, maybe it's the blueberry that I really like in it because blueberry is so
00:14:26
Speaker
subtle, but very distinct. Does that make sense? It's not a very overpowering flavor, but the vanilla in there is really nice. There is that some a bit of citrus from the hops or whatever the hops are using this as a double IPA. And the lactose is not overly sweet. So I don't feel like they just dumped a bunch of lactose in here to make it like an overly sweet beer. For the style that you know, we keep saying that we don't like and then we're keep finding now beers that we do like.
00:14:54
Speaker
This is up there with that brickstone, with that brickstone milkshake IPA that we had. As a side note, I almost bought that just because it said milkshake IPA. I was like, ooh. This one? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I stopped at Benny's. Like I said, I already had a, I bought a two pack.
00:15:19
Speaker
almost a month ago, but I still haven't tried yet. And it was been holding on to it. I think you know, I'm not sure because I don't, I think I knew what you had, but I don't, I'm not 100% sure. And I didn't grab it because of that. But I got the other beer that I have, I think we might have the same beer.
00:15:37
Speaker
It's okay. Pretty good. I'm excited about that. I kind of hope it is. If not, I mean, you said two pack. I also, I took a can from a two pack. Again, thank you bottles and cans. I wish. I can do my shopping there now because like literally like, especially with like,
00:15:52
Speaker
you know, breweries that produce stuff that I just want to try. Like that's phenomenal. And then especially when you, when you do a podcast, like when we're doing it in person, we go there and just get stuff, get one can, you know? Well, and something like this, this, this four pack is $17. Now say I didn't like this, uh, and I, it was just too much for me. I would have been really bummed out spending $17 or $18 on this. Now I like this enough where,
00:16:22
Speaker
probably venture out, if I saw another four pack, if I happen to be in like Vinnie's or another place where they just had four packs and I couldn't break off again, I would buy it. I would buy a four pack of this and share it with people, whatever. But to know that the four pack that I built today with this, the other Hubbard's cave beer, the off color beer, and then the triple IPA that I got from hot butcher, because I'm not drinking beer during the week anymore. Brandon, new revelation. I'm no longer drinking beer during the week right now. I'm done drinking beer during the week.
00:16:53
Speaker
It's Friday. That's okay. It's the end of the week. So, but, so I went, I wanted to, I went all out, but that four pack cost me $17 today. So I got, I got four different beers for the same price. It would have been to just get the four of the murder horn. Whatever. Yes. That, that whole setup is, is really nice.
00:17:14
Speaker
Yeah, we got it. We got that. Sorry for the two pack talk, but this beer, two pack, two pack. This beer is awesome. It's really good. I think for people who might not be interested in maybe the idea of a milkshake IPA or

Exploring Bottles and Cans Store

00:17:34
Speaker
just worried about IPAs in general, this is probably a good jump off point, especially with all the fruit that they're using in these. Now, I kind of want to search out other places that might have some of the other ones. I think they've done peach and strawberry. I know I mentioned a whole bunch of other fruits, but
00:17:52
Speaker
I can see the strawberry one being really, really good. If this worked, if that works as well as this does with the blueberry, the strawberry probably is even better. I did see Maple Woods' Mr. Shaky Peach that I almost had too, but I didn't want two milkshake IPAs and one four pack. That's a very diverse four pack that I bought. Milkshake IPA, triple IPA, pumpkin,
00:18:19
Speaker
latte, beer, and then the next beer that we're gonna get into. So I'm curious, how does Bottles and Cams price that? They, it is priced out individually per four pack. So they got to make something on it. So I'm pretty sure that they
00:18:38
Speaker
My thought is, is that you take the four pack or six pack and maybe they divide it up by, you know, divided by six or four and charge per, you know, what they would make on that with maybe a slight upcharge. And I could be wrong, but that would make sense to me with, you know, a slight upcharge of the convenience of you get to take this and then you're just leaving it on the floor. So when you do that, do they scan every individual can or no? Yeah. Yeah. They type everything in or scan. Yeah. So, okay. So what I think they probably do is it's just a percentage
00:19:08
Speaker
If you got something that came from a four-pack, six-pack, whatever, they do the math and it just equals out. That's how you get your price. That makes sense. Yeah, I mean, it makes the most sense for us in the podcast to
00:19:22
Speaker
for future episodes of local stuff. And they also have non-local stuff. They have stuff from East Coast, West Coast, all over the United States. It would make sense for us to, the three of us to take a trip and build our own four packs one day. I mean, just seeing all the, the other part is that,
00:19:40
Speaker
especially this time of year, there's a bunch of Oktoberfest beers, there's a bunch of pumpkin beers, there's a bunch of fest beers. There's just a plethora, if you just want to, I mean, it's, I know we've kind of gone off a tangent here on bottles and cans and those types of places like beer on the wall as well.
00:19:59
Speaker
It really is a very convenient way to go ahead and buy a beer. It's a better way to build your own six pack, you know, other than going to your local grocery store or local liquor store that might have a build your own six pack. Those beers in those nine out of 10 times are very old or very close to being old. Yeah. And it's unfortunate because the grocery store by me
00:20:23
Speaker
did it for a while. And I built a six pack one time. I'm like, something is not right about these beers. And I started checking from there on out. And they were like, beers that were like a year old, just like they sat there. So they broke them to build your own six packs. And it's like, you're hindering people from spending the $10 on that six pack.
00:20:42
Speaker
because you're putting out old beer, you're keeping old beer on the shelf. Well, what that does, and it has people come in and they try the beer, they're like, this isn't good, this is good, this isn't good. And then they don't come back and buy more beer. You can make a lot of money from craft beer, people. It's an expensive habit. It's an expensive hobby. And it's an expense.
00:21:04
Speaker
I dread to spend all the time. But yeah, I'm, this is also eight now they're going back to the beer that I'm drinking the blueberry milk with the murder hornet. This is eight and a half percent does not taste eight and a half percent by any means this is very
00:21:25
Speaker
And it's not super, I didn't have this super cold either. It's been in the fridge for about two hours and it was just sitting on the shelf. So it's not super cold, but it's chilled and it's really good. I kind of regret that I didn't actually get the four pack because then I could share this with you tomorrow when I see you. We'll have to send, we'll send somebody to the store to pick us up a four pack. Oh, good. All right, see you guys later.
00:21:55
Speaker
No, I mean, that sounds awesome, man. Yeah, man, it's good. I think you would, you know what? Next week, take a trip up to bottles and cans. Take a trip up to bottles and cans right there. It's not that- Maybe I will. It's much closer to you than it is to me. But it is, this is worth grabbing and checking out. It's very good. I'm very happy with this. I'm super stoked that I found another milkshake IPA that I actually,
00:22:24
Speaker
would drink. I'm not going to go out and buy it all the time, but seeing these, uh, you know, different fruits, I've heard good things about it. And now seeing, you know, these different fruits that they use, uh, when they come out now, uh, bottles of cancer, I come baby coming back for more. There you go. Oh man, that's delicious. I wish. So, so that being said, uh, just to pivot, um, yeah, that,

German Chocolate Cake Beer Review

00:22:52
Speaker
We did a lot of that when we moved your dad back into his house. Pivot. Oh, we broke a window. Oh, a lot of window. What is your next Hubbard's Cave theater? All right, I think you and I should reveal these at the same time, all right? So the next beer that I'm going to drink is...
00:23:17
Speaker
How about this cave s'mores? German chocolate cake. Oh, that's right. It was German chocolate cake that you had. Didn't you and I have, did we do it after the final pour on the s'mores? Shit, I think we did. Did we? Yeah, we might have. We might have. So German chocolate cake, that's awesome. You've had that for a little bit, not too long, or did you have it like towards the beginning of this year? I bought it right before we went to hip hop's house.
00:23:44
Speaker
Old hip hop stuff. That's right. And actually I've seen that beer in your. Well, you've got two locations and I've seen it and I've always been like, Ooh, really want to. This is so that's I couldn't we couldn't do a Hubbard's cave episode.
00:24:02
Speaker
without getting some type of big sweet stout. And the problem with this is that I'm going to have a hard time finishing this whole thing because both of these I think are probably 12% alcohol. I plan on capping this. Yeah, I told percent. How are you going to cap it? What are you going to do to it?
00:24:19
Speaker
Oh, I've got. So we've got these like plastic bottle caps that just kind of literally it goes on it's like skin tight just sits on top of it. What if I just maybe I'll remove some skin from my arm and just put it on top and save that that would work too. I actually do have I do have to do that. I think I have something that
00:24:39
Speaker
I'm going to do as well because if I want to be miserable, miserable tomorrow, I'll just drink this. Yeah. I have too much to do tonight and too much to do tomorrow. Uh, to me to do this. So I poured out half the can here. Um, yeah, I think we've, I think Tony's important. I think we have done after the final part of this, but Oh man.
00:25:02
Speaker
Oh, man. I know we've talked about the Hubbard's caves, stouts numerous times, other than, you know, doing the the after the final pour. They are very sweet. It is no it is no joke is a sweet stout is the epitome of pastry stout. You all the ones that I have tried the coffee cakes, the the shit. What else is there?
00:25:26
Speaker
the French toast one. They literally, I mean, they really do cookies and cream. The iced mocha, which the ice mocha one is not an imperial one. It was, it was a 6%. I don't know if that was an accident or not, but it's a 6% beer. All of those are, they taste like what they say. And
00:25:45
Speaker
Yeah, they're sweet. And sometimes you might need a friend to drink these with. So Brandon, what are you getting from that German chocolate cake? Since we've already talked about mine, might as well hear about yours. Yeah, I've taken a couple of sips too. So I'm getting like a slight aroma of toasted coconut. It's like a deep multi chocolate scent that I'm getting though, which is great. And then like out of here, it says chocolate pecan and toasted coconut. And I taste it and I'm like,
00:26:18
Speaker
You get chocolate and toast and coconut. I don't necessarily get the bakan, but I think because the chocolate is kind of overpowering at this point. I also wanted to point out that both you and I sound like we're congested right now. And I think that's because we're both in our basements and it's so hot in Chicago this week that being this long now, it sounds like we've been out in the winter cold for all day. So I'm noticing that about both of us. I'm having a hard time smelling some of the beer now.
00:26:48
Speaker
Yeah, no, so am I. And it's funny because like, I came down and I was like, okay, great. And I sit down here for a while and like, I was doing some stuff in the yard, came back in and I'm like, man, I'm starting to feel like it's just, it's just, I don't know. I don't have allergies, but like,
00:27:06
Speaker
Shit just builds up, man. Yeah. Yeah. If I ever fall asleep in the basement, which I've been known to do, I wake up just congested. It's the worst. But thank God for central air as we are blessed with this very, very hot, hot summer we're enjoying in Chicago right now.
00:27:22
Speaker
So you don't taste the pecan, but you taste the toasted coconut, you taste the chocolate. Yeah, definitely getting some slight coconut. Chocolate is definitely there. Yeah, they do chocolate very well in their, in their, their beers. Maybe there's another flavor that's lingering and maybe that is the pecan. So there's very few beers that I've had with pecan. Actually, I,
00:27:47
Speaker
I would venture to say like most beers that I've had that say there's pecan in there that I can definitely nail the pecan flavor. Is it just kind of, go ahead. No, I wasn't saying like, hold on. If you have one. No, no, no, I was about, I think there's two that I can think of, one for sure being Woot Stout.
00:28:05
Speaker
That has pecan in it that I do remember tasting, which by the way, there is the latest woot stout variation is out right now. And I almost did that of my build my own four pack, but I was like, not today, not today. And then if I'm not mistaken, one of the props did that have one of the props had pecan in it that I thought I did. And we didn't do like when we did our French presses. I don't think we've done pecan, right?
00:28:32
Speaker
I'm shaking my head now as I'm vaping. That would be a good experiment is to take some toasted pecan and like French press into something to see if we can get it. I think if we did toasted almonds and toasted pecan, that'd be kind of fun to do that with Bourbon County just to see what kind of oil we can get out of that or maybe pine nuts. No, thanks. Yeah, no. So that being said, this
00:28:58
Speaker
Again, this is a thick beer. It is what you would consider a pastry stout.
00:29:07
Speaker
And so not that I eat German chocolate cake on the regular, but it's reminiscent. I can see where this goes side by side. And I would definitely, in the future, if I ever had German chocolate cake, I would probably try to get this and just do a pour and be like, how is it? Yeah.
00:29:30
Speaker
It's fucking tasty, man. This is definitely an after dinner, give me, not as much as I'm drinking right now, but give me a little bit and I will be okay. Maybe after some brisket at a fucking brewery,
00:29:45
Speaker
Yeah, it's okay. The kids aren't listening. Yeah, that's something, I mean, that's what we've come to love about Hubbard's Cave, at least I think, you know, between the two of us. And I think Clark as well, that these big like pastry stouts really are, I mean, they're sweet. They are rich. They hit everything that they say is in there. It's just very well done. And
00:30:08
Speaker
the same thing for this more. I think me, you and Clark did this more. They nail it, dude. They nail it. That's what's like mind blowing is like there's a description and that's what it is like. And even if you can't like, even if I can't get like the pecan, you know, but they're nailing it on every other front.
00:30:26
Speaker
Well, that goes with the s'more here. Like the actual, wow, there's more beer in here than I thought. That's good. Uh, pure milk stuff with chocolate, graham crackers, marshmallows, and vanilla. I get chocolate, marshmallow, and vanilla. I'm not maybe necessarily getting a bunch of graham cracker. As you know, us, you know, we've brewed beers before where that's something we're talking about. How do we get graham cracker flavor into a beer, uh, that we want to experiment with? Um,
00:30:50
Speaker
But that chocolate vanilla marshmallow combination, it's and it's not at 12%. It's not like it's not a hot beer. It doesn't taste boozy. No, it's it's just it doesn't taste like super safe. No.
00:31:04
Speaker
It just tastes like a sweet, sweet drink. Yeah, and it's very minimal carbonation. When you open it up, it's not super carved up. It's a really nice beer to have and to share with other people. That's what I love about their stouts. And with that being said, Brandon, I think we might need a... Brandon and I are going on a trip, everybody, just so you guys know. So there'll be something about that. We just planned a little trip. We were gonna do the Bourbon Trail. We decided.

Upcoming Camping Trip to Washington Island

00:31:33
Speaker
maybe not head South right now. No, no COVID past egg. No Delta. We are going to head as far North as we possibly can. We're heading to way North Wisconsin up to Washington Island. We're going to do some, we're going to do some camping, man. We're going to do some camping and we're going to grab some beers and we can get old school.
00:31:54
Speaker
Yeah, we're gonna get we're in cabins we're in a cabin, but we ended up doing tents which I'm very excited because it's been a while since I use my tent. So once I slept in a tent where they're supposed to be great. And I think this, this s'mores beer would be fantastic in fact, right before we started recording started talking about you know,
00:32:10
Speaker
uh some some special beers that we're gonna bring up there with us and then sorry my phone just vibrated that uh just probably caught on mic uh but yeah we're but heading through Wisconsin I mean not to get off the Hubbard's cave thing but you know we're we were excited to go down to Kentucky to do the bourbon trail which we eventually do we're maybe going to talk about that in a show but now we get a chance to get a little bit of Wisconsin beer in us uh other than new glares which you know yeah everybody loves new glares
00:32:35
Speaker
Yeah, so our plan is obviously we're going to Washington Island. Anyone that knows Door County knows it's an island, but we- Which I found out last night wasn't just a clever name. Yes. I was like, oh, let's check it out. Looking on Google maps. Oh, it's a real island. And Tony was like, holy shit, we're taking a ferry. We are taking a ferry. I felt so dumb. I was even telling my mom about it. She goes, yeah, it's called an island. Yeah.
00:33:05
Speaker
Yeah, so backstory, my family has been going there for like, since I was a kid. That's all I remember. We'd always gone to the same place. I actually did contact that place. They were booked up. But the camping site was open and we've gone camping there before. So I was like, oh, let's relive some childhood memories. Probably the campsite where my dad kicked me out of the tent when I was a kid.
00:33:29
Speaker
I wouldn't stop. I would stop talking about Mickey or something like that. Like I was just like, get me and my siblings out. It's like, go for a walk. So we had to go walk around. Dads are the coolest. Dads are the coolest. So I think the island is like six miles around something like that. It's not super huge, but and like you will not find a McDonald's, you will not find a Wendy's, no fast food places. We're bringing up all your jerky, man. We're bringing up all your jerky.
00:33:59
Speaker
I'm going to grab some Tomahawk steaks. Oh my gosh. Oh man. Then the first round, whatever, whatever brewery, stop it. The first round's on me and then the second brewery, stop it. That rounds on me. And then I will make breakfast the morning of because Tomahawk steaks are not cheap. No. Um, but they're still good. They're so good. And there's like, uh,
00:34:22
Speaker
So there is a bar out there that I randomly found one time I was there a couple years, like, almost not 10 years ago but a while ago, and the owner of the bar is from Park Ridge, Illinois. And it's like an Irish bar it's called Fiddler's Green.
00:34:39
Speaker
and wait wait it's called Fiddler's Green. Fiddler's Green. Okay so this is the nerd in me that is so there this is this is uh I know it has nothing to do with it but Fiddler's Green is also a reference to something in uh the night
00:34:57
Speaker
uh a nice living dead universe uh as all those movies and also it has to do something with uh the walking dead video games fiddler screen so i'm just throwing it out there zombies we have to go to the i we got to go to the bar now oh yeah we gotta go there uh we'll totally go there uh yeah like the first time when that woman was from park ridge and just sat and talked with us and they had some like pretty decent beer on tap so like um
00:35:21
Speaker
We will check that out. Otherwise, it's almost like a desolate island, you can go places it's just like, but there's so much history on there. I'm so I'd like knowing that I'm going to camp on an island to me is like,
00:35:35
Speaker
The coolest thing, as much as I wanted to do the Bourbon Trail, and you and I will do that. Yeah. This just sounds so much fun. We were going to have Clark join us, but Clark is on other duties that weekend, so he cannot join us. But sorry, Clark. Sorry, buddy. We'll bring you back a souvenir from there. Yeah, I'm super excited. I think a beer like the s'mores beer, camping, s'mores, a beer like this would be good, even though. It just makes sense.
00:36:02
Speaker
Just makes sense, makes sense. I'm excited. I'm excited for that, man. That's going to be a lot of fun. Yeah. Yeah, I'm super looking forward to that trip. But yeah, going circling back to the Hubbard's Cave, I don't know necessarily like
00:36:15
Speaker
I would do the German chocolate cake, but yeah, like you said, the s'mores beer. I haven't had that yet, but I think that would be, or maybe I have after the final pour, pour a little bit more. So, okay. So I just, I just, I'm doing it. Sorry. I just poured a little bit more and it's not as, as, as I'm pouring it in front of the screen, it's almost like a cola color. And I thought it was a lot darker. I'm looking at yours and it's not, but when you swirl it around the glass, oh man, it coats it nice. I mean, that is, that is thick.
00:36:43
Speaker
A fun Hubbard's cave beer, I think, to bring camping, other than s'mores, if we really wanted to have some fun that first morning when we wake up, because, you know, the Monday morning we wake up, we gotta drive home, but maybe we, you know, to start the day before we go about our business, it wouldn't be a terrible idea to have some breakfast and, you know, start the day right with maybe some of their coffee and cakes, their pancake and coffee beer.
00:37:09
Speaker
I like where your heads go. That's maple syrup. It tastes like pancakes. There's coffee in there. I mean, that's a good way to start the day. And I do know also that the s'mores beer, they do do a peanut butter version of it. Peanut butter s'mores from Hubbard's cave, which is very tempting the first time

Appreciation for Hubbard's Cave Brewery

00:37:28
Speaker
I saw it. Be like you the peanut butter.
00:37:31
Speaker
The last time I had a Hubbard's gave stout like this, I got their French toast one, which is very good. And they do a raspberry event as well. But I had been on a pastry stout kick last summer with hazy IPAs and pastry stouts. I was just trying to get as fast as possible. I remember. Summer of the Stout, man.
00:37:50
Speaker
And I got that French toast beer and I sat outside to get my fire built. Jeff was, you know, in the yard next to me and I cracked open the can, took a sip. And I was like, I need a glass of water to drink with this with. Cause it's just so, it's just so sweet. And it made me realize, you know, like I'm glad I've taken a break from these beers because now I'm like, well, more than a halfway through this can. I might just finish this tonight. We'll see.
00:38:20
Speaker
That might be my MO too. I can still be active. I have this, I didn't drink beer all week. Yeah, that's my guy right there. You and I will share a couple of fun beers tomorrow. Brandon, I thought about also, we could have talked about, which we didn't talk about when we did the last episode, episode 60. We didn't really talk about your IPA. I'd like to maybe consider that for an episode before we get too deep into it. People will follow us on.
00:38:49
Speaker
Uh, the social media is Brandon made a mango. Coconut vanilla, vanilla beans in there as well. Right. Yep. Correct. So it was the original recipe was supposed to be for a milkshake IPA, but you, for you at forego the, the, the lactose lactose. Yep.
00:39:05
Speaker
And I got to be honest, it's a delicious IPA and I'm not going to get too far into it, but a beer. I know. I've been drinking a lot of it. Oh, no, don't drink all of it. No, I still like just just have that for Halloween. Just brew for Halloween.
00:39:21
Speaker
Yeah, it's really good, man. We need to have a bit of a discussion review of that on the podcast soon. So please, please bring some of that to my house tomorrow when you come and see me. I will. That's the plan. Outstanding. Well, I think Hubbard's Cave did us right tonight. I'm glad that we did it this way. Clark, sorry you missed out, man. It would have been fun to have you on here.
00:39:43
Speaker
random beers. This won't be the last time we do a Hubbard's Cave episode. By any means, there'll be reasons to do it. Now hopefully we will get some peeps from Hubbard's Cave to chat with us about Hubbard's Cave. That way we can learn what's in the fresh pale ale like
00:40:02
Speaker
What are the hops? Well, and I'm also interested in how they make these beers taste taste the way they do. Like, how do you how do you get these to taste like what you're what you say they are? Because a lot of thought and tries, we learned with short fuse, you know, they're like, how do you guys get those flavors in there? I mean, there's a melting gummy bears like pounds and pounds of gummy bears to get that that flavor.
00:40:26
Speaker
Yeah. And I mean, it's like, it's weird because I would assume they're not throwing German chocolate cake in there, but whatever they're doing, they're getting, they're getting shit out of there. So it's good to know that like, you know, what they're aiming for, they're getting so.
00:40:43
Speaker
What are they doing? If they're going to consider it like trade secrets and they don't want to like tell us, okay, that's fine, but like help us out, man. Why are beers so good? We need some information.
00:41:02
Speaker
Oh man, but I'm glad, I'm glad this throughout. We went, we, we weren't sure we were kind of short on time for this weekend. I'm glad this is what we ended up with man. Cause, uh, Hubbard's cave boy, you guys are doing it right. And we look forward to drinking, uh, more of your not disappoint. No, no, no. I'll bring anything else you want to talk about on this. We're going to Washington Island. Fuck yeah. I can't wait for that shit. It's going to be awesome. And we might even record up there.
00:41:29
Speaker
have to. I think that has to be whatever like just recording whatever we find at our travels up there with beer wise and then just kind of talking about it. Yeah you know and then we'll post a bunch of pictures of the shit that we're drinking too because you know and who knows there might there might be a video just like when Clark and I went to Michigan. This is Tony and Brandon go to Wisconsin you know. Good idea Pam. It's it's actually
00:41:57
Speaker
going to be close to a year, to the day, uh, when, uh, yeah. Yeah. Because, oh, shit. Yeah, it is. Oh, fuck Brandon. We're going to miss the first bears game. We got to watch the bears game in Wisconsin. Oh, Dan Wisconsin.
00:42:11
Speaker
Guess that's when we're going to the bar. They're probably not gonna have the Bears game. Anyway, Brandon, I love you, man. Love you too, bro. Hubbard's Cave, we also love you. We love you very much. We do. Oh my God, it's so good. That's it for this week, guys. Thanks for listening. Clark, fucking just be more available, please. Okay, that's what we're praying you for. I don't care if it's your anniversary weekend or not. I said it. I'm paying Clark.
00:43:01
Speaker
Wait, you're not?
00:43:02
Speaker
An untapped, B-Dub drinks beer. Tony can be found on Instagram and untapped under Asafelp Chicago. On Twitter, TheAsafelpChicago. Clark can be found as Clarkhouseki on all three. Be sure to subscribe, like, and rate the show on your preferred podcast listening platform. Until next time, cheers from all of us at The Malting Hour.