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Episode 168 - Tony's Beers
48 Plays19 days ago
This week Brandon and Tony catch up with what they've been up to this summer and look forward to Fall and Winter beers.
Theme music provided by Myke Kelli (@mykekelli)
Outro music provided by @FluidMinds
Check out all our episodes at www.themaltinghour.com
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Transcript
Show Introduction & Theme
00:00:05
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.
00:00:15
Speaker
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.
00:00:26
Speaker
People, people.
Fantasy Football: Draft vs Auction
00:00:32
Speaker
I've been recording for the last 15 minutes. Welcome to the Malting Hour. i' am one of your hosts, Tony Golik, and joined always with... Brandon Winnington. Back from his vacation. And to his right... Nobody. It's just us. It's just the original crew. The core two are back at it again.
00:00:52
Speaker
Because Matthew is doing a fantasy football auction that started at 9am and it's 1 o'clock in the afternoon and they're still going... Oh, man. That sounds miserable. What's the difference between a draft and an auction fantasy football? The auction is like a draft, except you're just bidding on players. So you're bidding on players instead of like, oh, it's my turn to pick.
00:01:11
Speaker
i can I pick whoever. The auction is everybody gets a chance to put up money to buy these players. Like real money? Depends on your league. You can have real money. You can have fake money.
00:01:22
Speaker
But yeah, no thanks. I did that for my... We did that for my Dynasty League. That's how we all got our team was through auction, which that was that was fun because it was for Dynasty.
00:01:35
Speaker
But for just a single year, I am not interested in spending all that time on... All my drafts now are like an hour, two hours. Yeah, the only time I think I ever did a... I forget who I was even with, but I did a fantasy league.
00:01:49
Speaker
This was years ago.
Brandon's First Fantasy League Experience
00:01:50
Speaker
And I had never done it before. And I was talking to a guy that I used to work with at a previous company. And he was like, like oh, you want me to like log in and like check your stuff or whatever? i was like, if you want. Because he's like super into fantasy stuff.
00:02:04
Speaker
And I was like, all right. So I made him like a co-owner of my team or something like that. And he's like, I'll log in and do your draft. I was like, okay. So he logged in and did the draft. And then he was like, he did most of like the managing of the team. And like, I think I won a couple. And i was like, I was not paying attention. like you He would mess like, hey, your team's doing pretty good. I'm like, okay. You mean your team? Yeah.
00:02:29
Speaker
It's like, i'm not I'm not doing anything with this. You're running it. Yeah. That was like my my one experience. This is my first year going back to being in multiple leagues. I'm in three leagues this year, which is fine. It's fun. My my dynasty league, my team sucks.
00:02:46
Speaker
ah So I'm like rebuilding. yeah Literally, like we're drafting a bunch of rookies. That's how you do it. Yeah. you know Hopefully it'll get better this year. And then there's a league that I do, which is only 10 teams. It used to be eight teams. Now it's 10 teams.
00:03:01
Speaker
That's fun. And then i was asked to join my friend Vito and Darnell's league this year. So that's another league.
Family, Football & Beverages
00:03:10
Speaker
So spoiler alert, i have someone helping me manage that team.
00:03:15
Speaker
There you go. ah Excuse me. But ah but yeah, fancy football is fun. But I feel like I'm kind of running my course with wanting to do Dynasty. It's just i'm not I'm not that guy when it comes to football. I love football. love watching football. Watch the Bears game on Friday, the preseason game against the Chiefs.
00:03:34
Speaker
Sorry about that for Becca. Yeah, I didn't watch it. I was, I forget what we were doing, but I was definitely like checking the score and seeing what was happening. And then it was like, it was close.
00:03:45
Speaker
And then we had I'd gone upstairs. I was putting Benjamin to bed. And then I like pulled out my phone. I was like, sweet. And Benjamin's like, what? Yeah, the Bears won. He's like, cool. And then I think the Cubs were playing too because then he looked at my screen.
00:03:57
Speaker
And that like I have it set up like this. Anytime they play, the score just shows at the top of my phone. And he's like, oh. Looks like the Cubs are winning. And I was like, yeah. And it was like 1-0. And he yeah, like those guys are having a bad day. I'm like, it's 1-0, dude. like Let's not count our chickens yet. yeah know Yeah, well, they're just not good, Dad.
00:04:22
Speaker
I mean, they up winning anyways, but I thought that was funny. I'm doing too having a bad day. That's awesome. What a smart kid. Well, you and I both took little trips. We're back from them, and, you know. And you brought beer. I did. i did bring beer. And you are still drinking. What are you drinking today? I am drinking... Shof?
00:04:42
Speaker
Shofé? Something? Uh... and It's a Belgian near beer. I'm still on my no alcohol kick. um But yeah, this, the the regular, like the standard version of this beer, like the one with alcohol, is a beer that I really enjoy. And I was going through Benny's.
00:05:03
Speaker
i almost got... um
00:05:09
Speaker
I forget what it was, but it was, it was like ah like a juicy IPA. It was like an East or West coast beer. And I was like, Oh, maybe grab this. And then I looked over and I saw that and I was like, I kind of want to try it. I'm in the mood for a Belgian beer.
00:05:23
Speaker
So, uh, how's it, how's it drinking?
00:05:28
Speaker
It's underwhelming, I should say. Okay. um it's It's funny because it's got that Belgian-esque that I like. The taste, like the yeasty. It seems very watered down. Yeah. um I mean, it's not disappointing. I mean, I would certainly drink this. But yeah, what I was looking for was something with a little more body and a little more like malt to it.
00:05:48
Speaker
And I feel like that kind of falls flat with this, which is disappointing.
Non-Alcoholic Beer Adventures
00:05:53
Speaker
um I feel like that would be a tough style to do, non-alcoholic. Yeah, and I think it it literally depends on how they do it, I would i would guess.
00:06:04
Speaker
I mean, be so i we've had some that were like almost bang on just like the the standard, you know. Dude, the goat the Go Brewing Double IPA and Just the Haze. I mean, those are... That and the ah the Black Butte that you... Oh, yeah, yeah, that's right. Like, that was fantastic. Oh, yeah, I wonder i forgot to try that.
00:06:22
Speaker
I mean, i still got six of sweet Sweet. However many in there. Yeah. ah I mean, I like it. I would definitely drink this. But yeah, it's it's just missing what i what I really enjoy about Belgium. Like when I poured it, I was impressed. and' like looks It looks like a good Belgian beer. It's like good st straller straw colored, little hazy. It had ah had a great head on it.
00:06:43
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, it's the lacing on the glass. It looks like... If I saw that, I'd be like, oh, that's a regular beer he's drinking. Yeah. I mean, it is regular beer just doesn't have an alcohol in it. yeah Right. But yeah, it's just missing that like that stuff that i that I truly enjoy about Belgians.
00:06:58
Speaker
Funnily enough, um not related to this beer, but yesterday I was... Yeah, yesterday i started a cleaning out that little one-gallon keg I have.
00:07:09
Speaker
And then I like had instant regret of like... I should have cleaned this out probably six months ago is what I had made the old fashions in for. Ah, yes. So, like, cleaning it was fine, but, like, the... Like, it cleaned out just just fine. Got it... Like, I did some, like, PBW.
00:07:26
Speaker
Let that sit in there. And then I ran PBW through the lines. Then I ran... Soaked it in star sand, ran star sand through the line, and then I like brought it upstairs. The point I was getting, is I was going make carbonated water.
00:07:39
Speaker
And I brought it upstairs and I was getting ready to pour water in there. I gave it another sniff. I'm like, it still smells like an old fashioned. Ooh, old fashioned carbonated water. I was like, oh my God. And then, so I ah rinsed it. and So then i was like, Dawn soap, put Dawn in there, rinsed it. My sister?
00:07:54
Speaker
And then it was like, smelled fine. um So I filled it with water, filled it you know filled the gallon up, put it in last night, turned up my CO2 all the way. And it's so funny because I was like, as I was doing it, was like, I still can't believe this CO2 tank is still going. This is from 2021 2022.
00:08:10
Speaker
I've four or five, kegs that I've ran through that thing. four or five yeah that's it crazy eggs that i've ran through that thing Um, then I looked over at the gauge and it's like right above the red line. but i Is this thing finally going go? Um, but anyway, so then I ah poured a little off this morning. I'm like, yep.
00:08:28
Speaker
Water that carbonated water that, I mean, it's not fully carbonated yet, but I was like, yep. Kind of tastes like a old fashioned. I wonder if it's the, the hose that's in the actual keg. That's like, cause I took that out and cleaned it too.
00:08:40
Speaker
Um, and cause that soaked in the, uh, the PBW and I ran the PBW through it. Then I even took it out. I took the line off and I, with the Dawn soap, I had like a scrubber like stuck in like a ah a pipe cleaner. Oh yeah. And I like ran through it to try to kind of scrub out the inside.
00:08:56
Speaker
um It's very subtle. And the reason I was doing this originally was because Becca had been buying carbonated water Um, she's got this protein mix that she has that she's been, it's like this strawberry watermelon or something. And she puts in the carbonated water. there She puts it in the carbonated water and it makes like a really refreshing drink. And like yesterday we were going to the store and she was like, she was putting carbonated water on the list. And I was like, I'll just make some for you. yeah And she was like, Oh, okay.
00:09:23
Speaker
So I did that, but I'm like, I'm hoping that once you put that stuff in there and like mix it up, it'll kind of dissipate. Yeah. Well, and also you
Coffee Enthusiasm & Brewing Plans
00:09:31
Speaker
can you can always do a five gallon batch of cold of carbonate water, which I've done that before. And that was great. Cause I just would add lime and lemon juice to it and drink that all the time. I just didn't feel like, cause I was doing it off like the, the fridge filter or the filter water. And I was like, don't put that in there. Good idea. Yeah. And I was like, it's like, we have this like 10 cup, like,
00:09:52
Speaker
measuring thing and i did like two of those was like just enough i'm like man if i did this five gallons i'd be here for like a half an hour trying to fill this thing up so benjamin we're gonna teach you how to fill up 10 10 cup glass seriously oh man yeah speaking of which i i saw uh jackie our friend jackie uh who was on the show doing uh Did the Poppin' Pills a long time ago, homebrew. She was selling coffee with her company, Pride roasters pre Coffee Roasters.
00:10:21
Speaker
And I bought some coffee. And I asked her, i you know have you been brewing? She's like, nope. All my time has been focused on here. She's like, got to downgrade my my setup. And I go, yeah, I'm sticking to just my electric setup now that I have because I'd like to brew as well. And I brought you up. I'm like...
00:10:36
Speaker
Brandon's talking about brewing. We just haven't gotten around to do it. Just life is kind of like, you don't really have time to do it. yeah And when you do have time, it's like, don't want to do all that. yeah So she was saying that because I told her I need to get like new buckets and things like that. And she said that there are five gallon buckets at Costco with like a three packs that are really cheap.
00:10:54
Speaker
So, yeah, she says she uses it for, or she's used it for, like, the coffee that they're making. so i'm I'm assuming they're probably food grade then. Yeah, yeah, exactly. so that's something, and like, maybe I'll go to Costco and check those out because I would like to, before it gets too cold, I'd like to brew something, like, on a Sunday during football or something. Yeah. Just to have something on a tap because I am also going to get the Keggerator finally up and running this week. There go. Because I was talking with Matthew about having Della at the apartment just for football. I don't drink Della all the time. And we've kind of stayed away from drinking beer, really.
Shifting Drinking Habits
00:11:33
Speaker
i so I'll still go to like Beer on the Wall like on a Thursday and then buy like a handful of beers. I would say the last three months I've gone to Beer on the Wall, I would buy like four to eight single beers. Mm-hmm.
00:11:45
Speaker
Out of that, I'll drink like three. Okay. And then there's one left. Yeah. And it's just my fridge is now. cut I officially have a beer fridge, like enough. It's insane. Which is weird for me because normally, you know, it's like, oh, I'll buy them. I'll drink them all. That's it. It's good.
00:12:00
Speaker
But yeah, I now have a bunch of beer sitting around where i'm like, I got to stop. So switched to having a couple of seltzers every now and then. just I just feel better if I have like one or two seltzers when I want to have a drink or I'll do a drink, a glass of bourbon.
00:12:14
Speaker
Yeah. That's it. Now, there's a times where I've had the couple drinks of bourbon, and I'm like, I made a bad idea. Yeah, it's never a bad idea. When you wake up in the morning, you're like, mean, I don't feel as bad, but I'm like, that's true. It's Tuesday. Yeah. Well played. Well played. I should not have done that on a Monday, but I was so excited.
00:12:32
Speaker
All right. So, Brandon, out of as far as non-alcoholic beers go and out of Belgian ones, how many... non-alcoholic monks are you giving that how many sober monks are you giving that one uh i'm gonna go
00:12:50
Speaker
like three if i'm being generous that's being nice yeah um i'm like between two eight and three yeah yeah yeah that's you know what do you expect Yeah, and I mean, again, I don't have anything... Not what do you expect, but I mean... I don't have anything to compare it to non-alcoholic-wise, you know. To be like, oh, this one, Belgian's better than this.
00:13:13
Speaker
So, yeah I mean, perhaps I'll find another one that's worse at some point. When when is a brewery, and and maybe it's already been done, but when's brewery going to start focusing on, like,
Seasonal Non-Alcoholic Beers
00:13:22
Speaker
seasonal non-alcoholic beers? Like...
00:13:25
Speaker
I did see, because I was searching, i was looking at the, I was on the Binnie's app last night. I think, no, this morning. And I saw it listed on there. I didn't see it when I went there, but it said they had it in stock that Athletic had an Oktoberfest. That's what I was thinking about. Like an NA Oktoberfest beer or, let's get crazy, an NA Pumpkin beer.
00:13:47
Speaker
Oh, see, that was... And I feel like a pumpkin beer would be easy enough to mask. Absolutely. I mean, not mask. i mean you're not really masking anything. You're... A pumpkin beer, though, think... You just got to up some things, I feel like, to get more of what you want out of these non-alcoholic beers versus, like, you know...
00:14:08
Speaker
Like a pumpkin beer, I feel like you know that's what you want to shine. So if you've done a good job with... I think the body and the the the pumpkin profile are like the the two main things that you have to nail. you can then i think you could easily do a pumpkin spice or a pumpkin pie type NA beer.
00:14:25
Speaker
I was looking here. Jewel has... athletic non-alcoholic seasonal cans and right now they have ah belgian wit so but yeah there are a couple that do make uh athletic does have a let's see this is on their actual website an october fest um so that's kind of cool and then what else is this athletic has a lot of stuff huh partake brewing has one oh that's the other one i saw i saw partake at bennie's and i was like what the hell's partake
00:14:56
Speaker
30 calorie, five carbs. They got a peach Goza in there. See, stuff like that, like a lime Goza Rita, peach Goza. Those might be, or Goz, however you want to call it those are Those to me, I feel like we've we've talked about that many times of doing our NA beers during dry January. yeah Some of those seem to stand out a bit more. I mean, my favorite.
00:15:19
Speaker
From Athletic is, what was it? Soul Power? I think it was. Just a tart. i mean if they i kind of want I do want to get it again because it was just like this tart carbonated like juice.
00:15:31
Speaker
Yeah. It was it was just really I mean, the and some of them are just going to come out that way. Because that was supposed to be a sour, right? Yeah. Yeah. Makes sense, you know? Well, I brought back a couple beers. We'll see how many I get through. i don't know if I need to drink all the ones that I brought.
00:15:45
Speaker
Right. Considering I'm drinking of solo. The first one I got here is from Country Boy Brewing. They're out of Georgetown, Kentucky. Shotgun winning brown ale aged on vanilla beans. And I found a liquor store while I was driving. I looked it up and I was like, I got to get some beers from Kentucky. I'm almost out of here. So i found a place, went there.
00:16:08
Speaker
was also hoping to find like a random good bottle of bourbon. Yeah. That did not happen. ah would have been cool. I was even looking to see if there was some Weller lying around in these shops just to bring one back. i mean some It's funny because sometimes there is. and like ah What I've heard from a lot of these like bourbon like Facebook groups and stuff, people are like, oh, I literally went into a gas station and they had it.
00:16:29
Speaker
like My friend Phil, he bought a bunch of the red Weller, and it was like on sale. And so we just bought a bunch of bottles one time and brought it back to Chicago. Okay. Damn, i think he still has a bunch.
00:16:43
Speaker
But ah yeah, so I stopped and got this. So this Shotgun Wedding Brown Ale aged on vanilla beans. It was canned on. And if I bought it, I was like, okay, we'll see how this is. Canned on, March 31st, 2025. It's an older beer. The good news is, well, I'll get into that in a second. Let's read the description here.
00:17:01
Speaker
Go ahead. Pop the top. Do something spontaneous. This light brown ale aged on real vanilla beans is sure to become one of your favorites. Just enough malt to balance... That's presumptuous. Just enough malt to balance the sweetness of the vanilla.
00:17:14
Speaker
Shotgun winning is a decision that you will never regret or forget. I added that last part in here. I've been sipping on this since we started ah talking here. It's good.
00:17:26
Speaker
It... ah It smelled, I want give it a smell. I'll pass over here to you. As soon as I opened it and i started pouring it, it instantly reminded me of Maplewood's Brownie Points a little bit, which is also a brown ale that I think it has vanilla.
00:17:42
Speaker
yeah It's got a little bit of, don't how to to the aroma. I think that has to do, you're right, because I think that comes from the roasted malt and the vanilla it kind of reminds you of like a brownie of some sort.
00:17:56
Speaker
But it doesn't taste like chocolatey as much as it tastes like coffee and toffee. Yeah. Not very strong, but it's definitely a good brown ale, and you definitely get the vanilla. So vanilla has not fallen off and at all. That's good. I'm wondering how strong the vanilla is.
00:18:13
Speaker
Fresh. um If it's maybe it just stayed this way, maybe this has been cold the entire time. But if the vanilla is stronger than this, i feel like for me that would be a little too much. But having this the way it is right now, this is this is delicious. and it's I love brown ale. It's nice and clear.
00:18:31
Speaker
Like, well, kind of clear. Yeah. little haziness to it. But, yeah, I think it's fantastic. I was really excited about this because i don't know, I haven't had a brown ale in a while. And I was like, oh.
00:18:45
Speaker
getting to that time of year, especially today, it's like 70 degrees outside after our very long and hot summer. I felt like we had this year. We actually had summer for those of you that wanted summer here in Chicago. You got it. You fucking got it.
00:18:58
Speaker
And it was hot as hell. um Indeed. Today is super nice. And it's, you know, it's the fake week of fall that we have coming up, which is good. It looks like it's going great weather for Labor Day weekend too, like in the seventies, but I figured this was like perfect timing to have this beer and one of the other beers that I brought because it's like fall time beer.
00:19:16
Speaker
um I'm happy with this. i they I've never seen them or heard of them before, so that was another reason why i bought this beer. What's the brewery? Country Boy Brewing. Okay. Country Boy Brewing. We got brown ales aged on vanilla beans.
Country Boy Brewing & Beer Reviews
00:19:29
Speaker
Because nothing says country like brown ale aged on vanilla beans. Hey, more power to you. Yeah, I didn't see anything else from them. at that liquor store. And also, I didn't get any beer from Tennessee.
00:19:40
Speaker
i wanted to get beer from that one brewery that I won't mention because I think we talked about before we started recording. I did not care for that brewery. It smelled like dirty mop water. So that was disappointing. And the buffalo chicken sandwich had Italian seasoning on it. So that was really weird.
00:19:57
Speaker
But their pizzas did look really good. and Okay. But didn't want a pizza. Virginia got a salad. The salad wasn't that great. So how do mess up a salad? yeah if you fuck up a salad it's a house salad too that was it that's pretty like much like I think if a salad's gonna be bad you can you can't expect much from but anything else especially with it being a house salad it wasn't like you know ah strawberry salad with goat cheese and cranberries and shit like that it was literally here's a house salad with ranch dressing yeah it's the basic thing that you could get way to go guys anyways that wasn't from that wasn't from country boy brewing um
00:20:36
Speaker
Yeah, this is this is great. I like it. It's 5.5%. It's a fall beer. yeah I don't think I would drink it during the summer, like hot days or anything, but a fall winter beer, I think, yeah with it being canned in March. It's summer evening, maybe.
00:20:49
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I can see that. Sit around a campfire. Sit around a campfire. Kick your feet up, you know, just a cool summer night. Yeah. You know, having a a brown ale with aged on vanilla beans.
00:21:00
Speaker
But, yeah, I got a couple of these left. I'll save you i'll save you one, obviously, when you get back to having beer. If you ever want to. If you were going to give this some country boys, how many country boys would you give this beer?
00:21:17
Speaker
I'm going to give this three and a three and a half country boys. Okay. Three and a half country boys. Like I said, it's um I prefer just a brown ale without anything else going on in there. But the brown ale tastes very good, yeah and the vanilla is kind of nice.
00:21:30
Speaker
Yeah, I wonder if they do like a base version of that, just like the regular brown ale. That's what I was hoping for. I mean i like the idea. like Again, if your're if your brown ale is good...
00:21:40
Speaker
um and then you're just experimenting and like trying stuff that i get that that's fine but then it it always makes me wonder is like they have a brown ale that just doesn't meet what they want in a brown ale so then they're like well let's change it up and do it this way vanilla yeah let's sit it on vanilla and like this will be this will be what we we we put out um yeah i'm looking up right now They just, ah that's the only, it's just Country Boy Shotgun Wedding, which is all just aged on vanilla. And again, this is all speculation. I'm not saying that they oh yeah no no they make a shitty brown ale. They could have just made a brown ale and their your whole intention was to age it on vanilla.
00:22:23
Speaker
Right. um But I've seen in the past where, you know, a base beer for something is just not great, but then they make it with adjuncts and it like takes it to a different level.
00:22:33
Speaker
And again, adjuncts can help in things like that. You know, it can elevate a beer that's just subpar. But again, that's just saying. He's not saying, he's just saying. Indeed.
00:22:45
Speaker
Indeed. uh yeah i was trying to see what else i can look at on their website but when i go to do their drop down menu the screen goes black and that's it so i'm trying to see what are their beers they have um because it would been nice to like i was trying to find other beers from the same type of breweries but this is it so they're they really just list three beers that's interesting um Well, it's their flagship.
00:23:12
Speaker
ah Cougar Bait, which is American Blonde Ale. Shotgun Wedding, which is Brown Ale Aged on vanilla beans. And then Cliff Jumper IPA. I'm sorry, four beers. And then Halfway Home American Pale Ale. I would wish I would have found that.
00:23:25
Speaker
Because Pale Ale being a probably my next. Did you say... cause So I just looked up their site too. I see Nacho Bait. No, I don't see that. It's a Habanero Blonde Ale. Oh, that's interesting.
00:23:40
Speaker
Yeah, i maybe it looks different on the mobile because on my phone because
00:23:50
Speaker
they don't list anything else other than the four that I mentioned. Did you see the ones I was talking about, though? um I did. Well, because like when i look I Googled it, it took me right into a shop.
00:24:00
Speaker
Oh, interesting. And then in the shop, it was basically, that's the one thing that came up. Okay, so here's the beer. Let's see what else is listed under beer.
Social Dynamics & Brewery Talk
00:24:12
Speaker
Cougar bait, shotgun, wedding, cliff jumper. Yeah. Halfway home. Yeah, that's literally all they have on their site right now. Losers. It gives you other guys.
00:24:23
Speaker
Oh, so it's listed under their flagship brands is what it says. I didn't find them anywhere else. um By the way, ah Clark right now is at Moody Tongue. He's drank the Juice Liche IPA and Shaved Black Truffle Pilsner.
00:24:40
Speaker
Moody Tongue, huh? Fucking asshole. it's
00:24:46
Speaker
Wait, is he there? yeah he's there. You like like supporting shitty folks. He's a shit, huh? Way to go, Clark. That's why we don't have him back on.
00:25:00
Speaker
Always making bad decisions. Oh, man. Yeah, and the last time anybody else I see checked in there was 2021, that makes sense. Oh, boy. You know It was probably the only place in the area and he needed to get a drink.
00:25:13
Speaker
Probably. Probably. Is it near some place where hockey's probably happening? That's what I'm thinking. I think he and I were trying to get together at some point before because he still has ah the, is it 15?
00:25:28
Speaker
The anniversary beer that he and I were splitting from Revolution. Oh, yeah. I still have a strawberry jacket and Thundertaker left for us to try. So what I did see underneath... I did have to buy another four-pack. So on their website, they have, for their Louisville location, um they have a beer-to-go section. And they have some ciders. Apple Pie Cider. Ooh.
00:25:50
Speaker
Azalea Cider. Classic Hard Cider. Cliff Jumper. Cougar Bait. Country Light. Ooh. Country Western. Yeah. Excuse me. Halfway Home.
00:26:02
Speaker
Hazy Jumper. Hillbilly Hustle. Yeah. Keeneland Spring Lager. Okay. Key Lime. Oh. Knotty Pine Double IPA. My type of beer. Lemonade Lager. Let's get some.
00:26:15
Speaker
Nacho Bait. Yeah. Oktoberfest. Uh-huh. Omni Bluegrass Haze. The fuck? Orange Cream Cider. Hey-oh. Raspberry Lemon Cider. Give that. Shotgun Wedding. And then Rock Lager.
00:26:27
Speaker
But it's spelled W-R-O-C-K. Rock Lager! Like Rock Clops? Yeah. I tried. Totes. Yeah. So, I mean, obviously, I don't know if... I would assume that these are probably theirs. don't know if they'd have them listed under their T-Go stuff unless they are selling other people's stuff. was going to say, thinking that they all sound like their beers as far as the names go.
00:26:47
Speaker
I think... Just the site that I was on, it's just showing their flagship beers is like, this is what we have. This what we started with. Which is, you know, that answers our question on their brown ale. Yeah. Or their flagship beers. And like I said, i like it. I would love a version of it without the um without the vanilla. Because I do like vanilla, but I don't necessarily need it for every time I have a brown ale. I mean, but it's a nice change up, like yeah i would say. Yeah, yeah.
00:27:15
Speaker
You're not stuck with regular old brownie all the time. I'm going to slam all these beers. Hey, you want shotgun one? Go right ahead. i already did that camping. TBC. TBC?
00:27:27
Speaker
On the back of that can, it says TBC. Which one? This one? Yeah, the blue one. Ah, yes. Where's that from? ah This is Florida. Tampa Bay Brewing Company? No, this is Tequesta Brewing Company.
00:27:38
Speaker
I swear there's a Tampa Bay Brewing and like their logo is TBC. Really? I don't know what their actual full logo looks like. This is a German-style Kölsch.
00:27:49
Speaker
But not drinking that one. I'm to drink something else first. Where are we at on time? Yeah, there is a Tampa Bay Brewing Company.
00:27:56
Speaker
Considering that we were talking beforehand and I recording, just under 30 minutes. Should we take a break? or It's up to you, man.
00:28:07
Speaker
Let's take a quick break. I'll pour this real quick. alright We'll be right back.
00:28:14
Speaker
And we're back! i knew we were back. They know my credit card numbers now. Welcome back, everybody. it's to This episode is just Tony and Brandon getting back together finally.
Podcast Reflections & Guinness Zero
00:28:27
Speaker
I don't even know what episode this is. We're almost coming up on like 170, which is funny because if you look at, I think, Spotify, tells you how many episodes we have. and it's Well, and it counts all the yeah everything.
00:28:40
Speaker
After the final pours, all that stuff. Oh, it doesn't show. doesn't show me. Last one was 167. This is episode 168. We did it. ah Yeah. I mean, there's just... I wish it would i thought it used to show like how many actual episodes there were to listen to.
00:28:59
Speaker
Stupid. ah Apparently we're under culture and society. Did you know that? Ooh, look at us. That's how we're listed. more More podcasts like this. We couldn't find anything. Yeah. We're one of a kind. Yeah, because there's no other fucking beer podcast out there. Yeah, right. We're the first ones. We invented this.
00:29:18
Speaker
ah Brandon, you opened up another beer. What did you open up here, buddy? Something I think we've had. We've definitely had this on the show before, but I had a couple still laying around. It's a a Guinness Zero.
00:29:29
Speaker
Ah, the N.A. Guinness. Yeah, i I like this, man. It's probably one of the ones that i you know from these larger breweries that I've had that is very close to the original.
00:29:41
Speaker
I feel like we yeah we have had but I feel like you and I both agreed that it was pretty damn good. yeah it It drinks like a Guinness. there's i know there's i remember there being just something something a little bit different to it, but it wasn't anything that was like off-putting. wasn't enough that wasn't like, oh, I don't like this and I'm not going to drink it. Yeah, the one thing I do notice on this, and again, it could be, I mean, this has been a been chilled since, I think, January or whenever we had it.
00:30:08
Speaker
But I feel like the the body on it is a little slightly lighter than traditional Guinness. um Which makes sense. And there's a little more, like and again, this could be with age. and I don't recall necessarily...
00:30:22
Speaker
what there was back in january um but like a little astringency that i'm kind of no that i that's what i think i remember from it as well it's not again it's not like totally off-putting where i'm like i'm not going to drink this ever again but there is something that's just a little different and probably has to do with the way that they brew it yep you know what they had to do Yeah, but I mean, still, I mean, had it before. i enjoy it. So, yeah, it's nice to have, you know, some of these options that that are that are good, easy drinking things for, you know, when you're not drinking alcohol. know, when you're not drinking, and since you're doing this, you know, maybe you can curate one for all of us or for the future, you know.
00:31:01
Speaker
dry January episode since you're trying out some more of these maybe you'll find one that you'll ah something you'll like more than others or maybe we just need to go to go brewing together yeah I definitely think we should do that I would love to do that I mean everything we've had from them is pretty fantastic so I would I would fully support us You know, if they wanted to have us do like going out there and doing an episode. Oh, that'd be awesome. yeah And even if not that, just us go and hang out and have some NA beers. Like hanging out at bar. I'm fine with that. I'll sneak in my flask.
00:31:33
Speaker
Ordering NA beers and putting shots in it. Don't even have a problem, dude. We're here for NA beers. This is the best NA beer I've ever had. Why are you drunk? That's crazy. I don't know. All right. So i got another beer here that I brought back from my trip.
00:31:47
Speaker
Oh, wait. Do you want to give this a rating based on what you had right now? Since I you the past, but... do like three, six, three, seven. I bet you i bet it's pretty close to what you rated it last time We'll have to go back and look at that. I may have given it a four before. Clark, check it out for us. Okay. Thanks. um This is
00:32:08
Speaker
Tag and Release Amber Ale from Sailfish Brewing Company. and they are from Fort Pierce, Florida. an amber beer. So of course I had to get an amber beer while was down. Why would I not get an amber beer when I'm in Florida? By the way, it was so fucking hot down there.
00:32:26
Speaker
Like how hot was it? So my mom keeps her house at like 76 degrees, which is too warm for me. Too warm for any normal person. Anybody who's under the age of 60.
00:32:39
Speaker
sixty yeah um Going out on her lanai, which he has also these really cool like shades that come down, and there you should they're supposed to withstand hurricane winds too.
00:32:52
Speaker
But it was also good because the first day we were first ever there, it was raining, and so we brought those down, and Virginia and I were sitting out there, and you could feel like, little bit of mist of rain, so it's really nice. That's cool. but like on Thursday and Friday, it felt like walking into a damn oven when went outside. It was like 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and and going back into my mom's 76-degree house was like walking into an icebox. like That's the drastic difference. So, of course, I would get an amber ale to bring back with me.
00:33:17
Speaker
um this is a This is really good. Again, going with like the whole, I like brown ales, amber ales, dark beers, things like that. yeah this This hits everything that I want. I'd say the only thing about this beer is that there is maybe little... I like amber beers that don't really have like a hot bite. to say this has a strong hot bite to it.
00:33:39
Speaker
But it's hoppy. yeah like Not like IPA hoppy, just hoppier than I would have expected from an amber beer. um But it's it's it's good. it's it's There's a little bit of roastiness to it. Again, kind of like going around caramel and toffee, but much lighter, I feel, than the brown ale.
00:33:58
Speaker
um Yeah, this i I feel like could be a good fishing beer. Tag and release, sailfish. Yeah. Yeah, this I mean, I feel like you know this this could...
00:34:11
Speaker
Again, it's like a fall beer. I feel like i'm i my mind is mentally putting me into fall with everything that's happening and how the weather is. And so grabbed this one to bring specifically today, too. because Also, I bought a double IPA that I thought was from ah local brewery.
00:34:27
Speaker
But the can was designed so well that I realize it was a Rheingeist double IPA. So I've just been drinking that when every now and then. And I wasn't going to bring it for my vacation when I was like, they didn't go to Cincinnati. Yeah.
00:34:38
Speaker
Understandable. But it's a really good double IPA. Yeah. I was looking for their, ah remember last year we met up we we met up with them and we got to try, i think it's whatever they have for the Bengals, the Cincinnati Bengals. Oh, yeah. Like that pure beer.
00:34:55
Speaker
I was hoping that was for some reason down there um because i remember that being really, really good and really refreshing. Yeah. I was hoping to find that. I would assume maybe that it's just probably keep it local. Absolutely.
00:35:08
Speaker
Nobody's really looking to buy that beer and drink it. Maybe buy it and break it. Indeed. Smash it. Not in fun way. See if I can look it up real quick.
00:35:18
Speaker
It actually has me really wanting to go to Great American Beer Fest now. They have truth idea, well, cheetah lager? Yeah, that's it. Yeah. yeah I think because they can't get anything very close to the first Cincinnati. It's like a cheetah lager.
00:35:34
Speaker
um But yeah, that was good. i was I remember really enjoying that over there. and actually They make good beer. Also, now thinking about Great American Beer Fest, we've got to back to that steakhouse.
00:35:46
Speaker
Oh, yeah. That was fun. It's so good. You have a standing reservation at Casa Bonita, too. That's right. I forgot about that. Yeah. Oh, man.
00:35:57
Speaker
Is this regular? it regular ah no, I did the same. like You did? yeah I mean, I'm probably i don't know about the same seats, but same area. I did the same like, you know, premium experience where it's like 45 bucks. Everyone just pays 45 bucks a person. Done.
00:36:12
Speaker
You're it's all included. Like whatever. So. No. OK. Well, now we really got to go. Yeah. but Closer to the cliff divers again. see if another guy cracks his head. Also, when we get plane tickets, let's talk about going to first class again. I'll give you money up ahead.
00:36:25
Speaker
i did I did make and made the reservation for six people, too. so Hear that, boys? oh ge If other folks are there that we know that want to tag along with us.
00:36:36
Speaker
oh come and join us. but But also, ah yeah, no, seriously, if we could get a deal on first class again, I will. I would fly. I feel like that was just, it made the trip that much more enjoyable. That was the way to go, man. Yeah.
00:36:48
Speaker
And also being able to hang it. Well, can, are you able to bring guests still into? Yeah. Cause I heard that they were stopping that for like certain clubs or certain airlines. But like, I have like my credit card gives you the access, gives me the access to the club and I can bring up to two guests or like immediate family.
00:37:06
Speaker
Yeah, so like when we went to... I'm media family. When we went to... Where did we go? Oh, we went down to Florida for our cruise. We ended up... like My dad was flying American too.
00:37:19
Speaker
And we were actually flying first class because I had upgraded us. And then my dad was booking a ticket. He was booking his separately and he was using, he's got like all of these credit card points that him and my mom had been accumulating that he never uses. And I was like, I was looking at flights.
00:37:35
Speaker
I'm like, hey, dad, $5,000 or 5,000 points difference if you want to fly first class with us. He's like, I'll fly first class with you. I was like, all right. So and that was, I think his first class experience. But anyways, we did go to the club and then my wife is an authorized user on my card. Oh, nice. She gets to bring in people. So like we were they're literally like, yeah, you guys are good. Go in. I was like, yeah, that was just so much fun. Like that experience. Uh,
00:38:00
Speaker
the Last year's American Beer Fest was probably my favorite time. yeah like i we I had so much fun. And I was telling ah somebody about it recently that we spent a lot of time...
00:38:15
Speaker
Doing stuff like at the fest that wasn't necessarily like drinking at the fest. Yeah. Until about Saturday. That's when we were like, okay, now we're going to drink. Yeah. But yeah, it was that was that was such a fun trip. i had a lot of fun with the guys from Old Irving too. That was a good time. yeah But yeah, first class, especially flying home, I felt like first class was really nice. These sound like really first word problems we're having right here. Sorry. yeah If you guys ever get a chance to first class, you should do it. It's totally cool. Yeah. And, you know, it's fun if you can do it.
00:38:46
Speaker
I told Virginia when we were flying to Florida, I was like, you know, for $400 more a person, we could have flown first class. and I'm like, could have really just made this a nice trip because it's a three-hour flight and we would have been fine. but But we did not do that.
00:39:00
Speaker
Yeah, sometimes it's worth it. Sometimes it's, yeah. I mean, I've taken flights. and don't I mean, I don't always upgrade, but like I've taken flights where it's just like, I don't care. I'm literally just going to sleep. Yeah, you don't need the first class. But I've had flights where like and because of my status, i've gotten you know I used to have a higher status when I flew all the time.
00:39:18
Speaker
But they would like I'd get automatic upgrades if there was space available. And there was times I literally would just walk into the plane, I'm like, first class, and I'd sleep. Yeah, like a four hour flight to like San Francisco. And but I was taking like a five or six a.m. Flight and I was like, I missed breakfast and everything. I was just out like, no. hey At least you had the big comfy seats. Yeah. I mean, that's really in all honesty. You can forget everything else.
00:39:40
Speaker
The big comfortable seat of that long of a flight is worth yeah every penny. And I've had a couple of instances where. I was on first and they had like the, it was, I forget what plane it is, but they're a larger plane. And then like first classes, individual pods, basically. Oh shit. Like walk in it's like a lay flat seat. Oh gosh. You got your own little TV and like,
00:40:01
Speaker
all your like charging station, your own remote for the TV. yeah I was like, this is great. I'm going to take a nap.
00:40:09
Speaker
That's pretty awesome. yeah I would say this. The flight was that we took to Florida was was pretty comfortable. with do American Airlines. so so It was good.
Fall Activities & Brewing Plans
00:40:17
Speaker
Able to charge our stuff right there in the regular economy seat. so yeah That was nice. i had a window seat, which I prefer.
00:40:22
Speaker
yeah and It wasn't a packed flight, but our row was full. so i was like, i have bummer. We got to sit by each other. Virginia's is Virginia's the size of my pinky. So yeah, works out.
00:40:37
Speaker
Anyway, so this beer is delicious. I love it. Uh, I would, um, yeah, I would, I would want to, it, it makes me excited to to try more Amber beers and it's an Amber ale, not an Amber lager.
00:40:47
Speaker
think like Amber lagers more than Amber ales. Okay. and Um, and I, I, ah wish I know it's not a popular style, but I wish more places would brew it and you brew it well, and then it could become a popular was somewhat popular style again.
00:41:04
Speaker
i would think. I mean, Sam Adams, Boston Lager. It's an amber lager. Boston Lager.
00:41:11
Speaker
Yeah, and that's it's you just said Sam Adams. I'm like, oh, we get invited to that thing again. That's why... That's the other thing. That's why... That is why Matthew wanted to go his media. He wanted to go to the breakfast if he brought us to the Rare be Beer Fest.
00:41:28
Speaker
ah That's it, Matthew. I remember now. Well, it's funny because I think they usually email us and ask us who's there. and We could probably just put his name on there. Well, I mean, he is a part of the show. i mean, because if he...
00:41:43
Speaker
like what if we had somebody that lived there that was a part of the show? yeah Like we have somebody in Denver. Like what if we wanted old friend Brian, if he was there? Yeah. Brian's part of the show now too. No, but Matthew, I mean, has been on more episodes that is year than anybody. Yeah. Um, yeah. So if that does come up and they're like we get that email inviting us, I'm going to be like, Hey, like he's on the show with us too. Can he come? No.
00:42:06
Speaker
hear that matthew there you go throw your name in there which means throw our names in there for that means you gotta to find a way to get out there matthew yeah get there and we're probably flying first class so see you there first um i would say what am i gonna what what scale should i give this uh what's the name of the beer sailfish tag and release sailfish brewing tag and release amber ale How many fish are you going to give it?
00:42:31
Speaker
Go simple. I'm give four fish. Four fish. Okay. Four, because it's it's very good. um i really like it, and i would it's it's I think it's up there for like amber beers that I've had.
00:42:44
Speaker
Like I said, there's a little bit of hoppiness. and the more I've been drinking it while we've been talking, I'm slamming it. Yeah, I don't even know the a v ABV. ABV on this? Oh, it was shit. It's 5.9.
00:42:55
Speaker
Hey. Cool. alright I'm doing awesome right now. I'm the only one drinking in the basement. It's good. Like I said, little bit of hoppiness, but nothing that's like, oh, it's like a like it's too hoppy.
00:43:08
Speaker
It's just um I wouldn't want You know, I... Words. You know what I'm saying, right, guys? Words. I'll tell you how pretty you are, Brandon.
00:43:19
Speaker
Thanks, man. Thanks. Trying to think... oh So, we talked about... Well, you and I talked about it. There's... This is usually our favorite time of the year.
00:43:34
Speaker
We're getting to it, at least. Yeah. Where... We have things like Oktoberfest, which one day you and I will go and attend. Maybe that's what I'll save my vacation for next year. Now that I've got my real ID, I can you know get my passport.
00:43:49
Speaker
see you, real ID and everything. Let me become a real adult at 43. But also, you know... but also you Pumpkin beers, now we're slowly slipping into stout season. We've already talked about this year's lineup for Bourbon County, which we're very excited for.
00:44:05
Speaker
and then get into winter stuff where i get you know I go deep dive into all those fall flavors and winter beers, heavier beers. I do want to try, and I really, really would like to try and brew something for fall or winter.
00:44:22
Speaker
Yeah, I was thinking about that. and what Part of my story when i started doing all this stuff with cleaning that keg, I was like looking at all my stuff and i was like, I kind of want to do my Oktoberfest again. like I mean, because I can turn that around in like three or four a weeks. i was going to say, if you did it next week, next weekend, somewhere around that, or even the first week of September, you're fine.
00:44:43
Speaker
Yeah. does I think the first time I did it was like mid-September. Yeah. It was ready by mid-October. Remember when you made that cider and then we were pouring Fireball into it? Oh, yeah. And Clark's wife really enjoyed it? Yeah.
00:44:55
Speaker
She liked those a lot. I think she drank most of that, not most that, but more than anybody else. But yeah, that was that was a good as a good cider. I would like to make another hard cider. It's so easy. yeah like that's It's <unk> good to have. I don't want to drink it all the time, so it's nice kind of have on tap. I think experimenting with the way we did, putting the fireball shots into it was kind of fun too. Yeah, I liked that.
00:45:19
Speaker
And fireball and cider seem to go well together. I mean, cinnamon and apples. It doesn't get better than that It's like an apple pie shot. Mm-hmm. Which I actually have like a moonshine version of it in my refrigerator.
00:45:33
Speaker
and I'm sorry, Everclear version of it in my... good. It's what everyone needs. Yeah. Everclear version. Where did that come from? Virginia's cousin made it ah during Christmas. And i so we still have a half a mason jar.
00:45:46
Speaker
Which I'm kind of glad it made all the way through because it's very tasty. And now that we're coming up on fall, I think it'll be a good time to break it back out. Yeah. I already started looking at places to go and pick apples this year. not sure where, but I might go do some apple picking as the September and October rolls around. There you go. And this is my favorite time year, man. Football is starting.
00:46:08
Speaker
Planning on watching a lot of football at the apartment. have to get up to Fright Fest. What's that? Fright Fest. 100%, please, God, do not leave me out of that. You just start telling me what weekends you're thinking about it. As soon as you have the idea, hey, we're going this weekend. Are you available I think the last weekend of September, Becca's going to Missouri. Missouri?
00:46:28
Speaker
ah Yes. So I think, if anything, like that'll be one of the weekends that we go. The 27th, 28th? Yep. Right on. weekend before that's Riot Fest. Yep.
00:46:39
Speaker
The weekend before that is Oktoberfest at Revolution and Oktoberfest at Double Clutch. Ooh. The weekend before that, I'll be kidnapped by Clark and...
00:46:50
Speaker
tucked away in Michigan. His non-existent house in Michigan. Never been there. Doesn't exist. Oh, it's true, Clark.
00:47:02
Speaker
He's never been there. She just texts me the address and one day I'll just just show up and be what are you guys doing out here? I'm just out here looking at houses. Or you just randomly show up at one of the breweries when we're there and be like, already be at Watermark and be like, guys, like Brandon? Like, yeah, I was just up here. I was driving back from, uh,
00:47:21
Speaker
I'm trying to think of what other... You're taking a day
Episode Closing & Appreciation
00:47:24
Speaker
trip, man. I was up in Kalamazoo and I decided to swing through here. and Up in Kalamazoo? You mean over in Kalamazoo? Very weird seeing you cats here.
00:47:34
Speaker
the first time you used the word cats with us. Oh, man. I'm trying to think what else is coming up. I don't know. We'll have our Oktoberfest episode. We're going to try and get Ray on because we need to talk about FOBAB.
00:47:49
Speaker
Again, that's coming up in November, so that'll be fun. Yeah, man, this is just a great time of year. This is my favorite time of year. Yeah. Because we're leading into the holidays. I'm a holiday person, so I love all this shit. too. Yeah, it'll be fun.
00:48:00
Speaker
Absolutely. um Yeah, man, that's all I got. you anything else, Brandon? No. I think we we covered all bases for us not seeing each other for a while, even though we've texted and everything. But, you know, it's good to be sitting back here in the basement. Yep. Welcome back. We're back, baby.
00:48:15
Speaker
We'll see. All right, Brandon, love you, buddy. Love you too, man. We'll see everybody next week. Bye. Bye.
00:48:24
Speaker
This has been The Malting Hour. Be sure to follow us on all social media by searching The Malting Hour and at themaltinghour.com. You can also follow us individually on social media. Brandon can be found on Instagram as bmdub81, on Twitter bdub81, and on Untappd as bdubdrinksbeer.
00:48:42
Speaker
Tony can be found on Instagram and Untappd under AsaFelpsChicago, on Twitter the AsaFelpsChicago. Clark can be found as Clarkowski on all three. Dan can be found on Instagram as hip underscore underscore hops and hip hops on YouTube. 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.