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Episode 161 - Dank vs. Dark
2 Playsin 1 day
This week Brandon and Tony sample some "dank" IPA's followed by some "dark" stouts in what they are dubbing "Dank vs. Dark".
Beers on this episode:
Lagunita's Brewing Co. - Waldo's Special Ale
Pipeworks Brewing Company - Double Fudge Barrel Aged Abduction
Energy City Brewing - Hop Buoy Hazy Triple IPA
Mikkeller - George
Theme music provided by Myke Kelli (@mykekelli)
Outro music provided by @FluidMinds
Check out all our episodes at www.themaltinghour.com
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:01
Speaker
There is there's a party going on in here. What is happening?
Introduction and Theme
00:00:05
Speaker
What is that smell? What is that taste? I don't know. I don't know if i like it. I don't like it.
00:00:13
Speaker
This week we bring you Dank vs. Dark. This is episode 161 The Malting Hour. 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.
00:00:27
Speaker
And if we get drunk, well, we might slur our speech. Got the gift of gab, the friends who wish you had. Join us for a drink. Join us for a laugh. Time is never wasted. When you're getting wasted?
00:00:37
Speaker
The molten hour here. People, people taking places. People, people taking places.
00:00:46
Speaker
Welcome to
Hosts and Setup
00:00:47
Speaker
the Malting Hour. i am one of your hosts, Tony Golick, joined always with... Brandon Winninger. know what's interesting, Brandon? Why? Being able to see the sound waves on the computer now, i can control how loud i need to be.
00:00:59
Speaker
Yeah, we're in a unique situation where ah some race in the computer is being a little bitch. And not taking both mics, so we're just doing the one mic.
00:01:11
Speaker
Like we used to do back in the day. yeah We're sitting very close. I can't watch the TV like I normally do. We could have just went to the couch. No, that's not cool. This is better to sit at the bar and do It's like we're sitting at the bar together talking. Oh, yeah. Think about it that way.
00:01:25
Speaker
We should have set up a camera over there.
Holiday Chat and Personal Stories
00:01:27
Speaker
like This is how the podcast should be. Oh, remember when we were going to do something like that? Yeah. R.I.P. idea. Memories. Anyways, how's it going, Brandon?
00:01:36
Speaker
Good, how are you? Doing alright, man. When this comes out, it's Easter Monday, so Jesus is back, baby. Is that a thing? oh wait. He went back. Did they call it Easter Monday? i don't know. Somebody else told me that they... i was like, oh, yeah, we were in school. We got Easter Monday off. I was like, Easter Monday? Well, it's... I think...
00:01:51
Speaker
In Canada, that's when they... i don't know. don't know. The people I know in Canada were off are off tomorrow, I know. Oh, really? And then ah my employee in Costa Rica is off today and tomorrow. So they get Good Thursday and Good Friday off.
00:02:10
Speaker
Are you off? No. Yeah, neither am I. No. Easter Monday, yeah. but luckily Easter Monday is a thing. I've got one meeting tomorrow at 11 a.m., so. Well, it was very slow today. and I didn't do anything, and I'm expecting to do the same. Maybe get out a little early.
00:02:26
Speaker
Easter Monday is the second day of Eastertide. Eastertide. Eastertide. And a public holiday in some countries. In Western Christianity, it marks the second. No, we're going to. This is not a... Anyway, yeah, so how how are things going? Things good?
00:02:41
Speaker
Good, man. ah The weather was nice today until it started raining. I was looking forward to walking to pick up my kid, but I could not do that because it started raining, and i was like, all right.
00:02:52
Speaker
But I had to go and pick up a big-ass picture of my mom and dad for my mom's memorial service. Oh, nice. In a couple weeks, so...
00:03:03
Speaker
That's very nice. Yeah. And i was like, I was grabbing it. He's like, be very careful with it. If it hits the ground, it will dent. And I'm like, oh, yeah, it's that like squishy foam board that's like printed on. Oh, yeah. That makes sense.
00:03:16
Speaker
But I did it at a local printer. So I was proud of myself for doing that. Oh, man. Yeah. my My day is less less exciting, less interesting. I mean, it worked all day, too. But yeah this was at the end of it.
00:03:27
Speaker
I made Paula Saucers that I bought from Kenosha. Hey, you know what? It was good. i appreciate that. Yeah, it was really good. I don't appreciate the fact that you should bring me any fucking Polish sausage.
00:03:39
Speaker
Hey, I told you I'd bring you some prime rib. Oh, no, he took away the jerky. Please. Get a bag over there, too. Yeah, but you said I could take that home. All right.
Dank vs. Dark: IPAs and Stouts
00:03:49
Speaker
So this week, we are going to do something that AI helped me think of because we were going to do something else, and that ended up getting changed. Those plans had to change, and that's all right. So we decided to do something we're going to call...
00:04:04
Speaker
Dank versus dark. Ayo. Yeah. And so what we're going to is have two interesting IPAs and then I guess two interesting stouts. What are you looking for? I'm looking for the bottle, but you put it over there. Oh, yeah.
00:04:18
Speaker
Sorry. You want to look it up? Because I know what it is. i mean, I know what it is. I think I know what it is, but... Oh, I tell you. Is it Waldo? Yeah. This is... and i always look forward to when this comes out This is from Lagunitas.
00:04:31
Speaker
It is the Waldo Special Ale from this year. It is a triple IPA, 11.4%. eleven point four It is 100 plus IBUs. That's what it says. The original gravity on this... Dang, original gravity on this beer is 1.107%.
00:04:46
Speaker
It says, the Dankness uses the most sulfurous hops around. it's a close It's as close to smoking as you can get while drinking a beer. Citrus, balancing the Dank, taking cue from... Smoking?
00:04:58
Speaker
Smoking weed, dude. Oh. Taking cue from high-balanced IPA. We layer orange and grapefruit notes via hops, making it way too drinkable for the uber high ABV. And then ponderous pine.
00:05:10
Speaker
Oddly specific, yes. But if you know anything about the wondrous ponderosa pine, you know it doesn't smell like the generic pine. Once you get up in the tree, you'll notice the sap smells like vanilla.
00:05:21
Speaker
Mmm, vanilla pine. do too. Yeah, so ah there we go. That is Waldo's special. when was the last time you had one of these, Brandon? Oh, I don't know. Been a couple years at least.
00:05:33
Speaker
oo I think I have had this once a year for the last, i don't know, since the pandemic. um I had started seeking it out when it came out because I do love this
Lagunitas Waldo Special Ale
00:05:45
Speaker
beer. I feel like it's the closest I can kind of get to brown sugar these days because we haven't seen brown sugar in a long time. And I don't know if that's ever coming back and that makes me sad.
00:05:55
Speaker
Oh, yeah, that sucks. They did sucks for a long time. La Guanita sucks, which was fine, but it definitely was no brown sugar. And I miss brown sugar a lot. But, yeah, I love this beer. i think it's it's a good way to start off our Dank vs. Dark episode here because it is, as they say, very dank. It it comes off very resinous, very piney, very almost weed-like.
00:06:26
Speaker
Brandon's stoned right now. He can't answer. No, I'm like just thinking through my head because like I've almost finished my board. I'm getting through it fast too. Because... Yeah.
00:06:38
Speaker
So I just looked up like when the last time I checked it in was in 2019. I don't know if that's necessarily the last time I had it. I'm not great with checking in beers, but the last time I had it was at Fishman's too.
00:06:49
Speaker
Interesting. Yeah. um But I do love this beer. Like it's super hoppy. It's almost syrupy. Yes. I only checked it in once. Yeah.
00:07:01
Speaker
And that was in 2014. What? I have had this numerous times. I don't believe you anymore.
00:07:10
Speaker
There's no proof. You have to check in every beer to legitimately know that you had it. I'm almost positive I've checked in different years. Come on. Okay, there we go. 2016. Yeah, I did not. 2019, 2021. I did not check it in 2022.
00:07:26
Speaker
I checked in at 2023. So it looks like 2022 was the last time I didn't. No, I didn't do that kind of research. Yeah. Checking the different years. you just got Come on, man.
00:07:37
Speaker
That's what this is for. Oh, they did a Waldo special with pear, with pineapple, with mango. The Waldo special, ale a.k.a. Waldo's 420 back in the day. Can I just say how upset I am still that Lagunitas is no longer in Chicago? I know, buddy.
00:07:54
Speaker
It makes me sad. It's funny. so I saw in one craft beer group that I think we're both a part of on Facebook, someone posted, well, Lagunitas is not here. They still somehow managed to get beer here in Chicago. I'm like, Lagunitas has been in Chicago forever.
00:08:10
Speaker
Yeah, it was here before the brewery. Come on, guy. Get it together. but yeah But yeah, it was limited amounts. I guess this is a bit more limited than I remember it being. So I'm actually going to try, and not try, but I am going to stop at Benny's tomorrow.
00:08:25
Speaker
See if I get a six-pack this. Because this is a beer that, and actually, I think it's a really good temperature for it. Because I guess while we're drinking it kind of fast because it's a small amount. Yeah. If I had a full pour like this, I think this would be more of a sipper.
00:08:39
Speaker
For it coming to like as an IPA because I'm not trying to sip IPAs. I'm trying to pound them. I'm trying to pound IPAs. Especially 11.5%. Pound the beer.
00:08:51
Speaker
But it's good. I mean, it's it's sweet. it It's fruity. um It's got that dankness, as I say. I love the smell of it. It's it's just a very, don't know.
00:09:03
Speaker
It's a pleasant beer. Yeah, it's it's definitely not for but everybody, especially with it being a triple IPA, but I i think it's fantastic. Yeah, there's there's like a stickiness that resides like on your lips and in your mouth.
00:09:15
Speaker
And I mean... A glass. Well, probably. But I enjoy... i enjoy i can't Again, I can't can't remember the last time I had it, and I can't believe 2019 would be really the last time that I had it. but I doubt it was. It's probably the last time you checked it in. Yeah, but I i do i do enjoy this. you know Sorry. Go ahead.
00:09:39
Speaker
I'd like to have Hopslam next to this, because I feel like there's yeah similarities between between oh these. Oh, there's definitely similarities. I'm glad Hopslam is available more often than it used to be like instead of just being the one special release so think they release it like a couple times a year now uh which is kind of cool pretty excited and i still haven't had a hop slam in like two years something like that i think it's longer than that probably because i think i remember telling you oh hey i got hop slam like oh hey yeah i haven't had that in a year hey i got hop slam i haven't had that a couple years i it was during the pandemic that i bought it and they were doing like a hops a hop slam thing online where you oh yeah but a drink yeah it was like ah
00:10:16
Speaker
And I got online with them and I was like sitting there drinking Hopslam and they were talking about it. I was like, this is great. That may have been the last time. Things like that are what makes me miss parts of the pandemic. I don't miss the pandemic, but things like that that were going on. It's like, hey, this is the one thing you're to Like, here's stuff online where people were interacting that way. I remember...
00:10:40
Speaker
Afro Beer Chick had something going on and there was like nine or ten people on and I happened to hop on at the same time and like I guess she was hosting it oh yeah yeah were you on for a little bit or did you I think so but I remember her doing that a couple of times Yeah, that was that was a lot of fun. We tried doing live stuff. That didn't really work. Yeah.
00:11:00
Speaker
Who's going to listen anyways, right? Yeah. You, the listeners. That's who. Thanks for chiming in on that, everybody. um Yeah, overall, I think this beer is fantastic. the The pininess, the dankness, and then you get those citrus notes, all of those, and the sweetness. like All of it really makes it a really enjoyable experience. Like i said, of There are people who aren't going to like this because it's a triple IPA. If you don't like IPAs, you're not going to like this, but you're at your loss. but for what it is, very well done. Would you say it's zesty, Brandon?
00:11:29
Speaker
Yes. I would too. That's funny that it's on that packaging there. That's not from the Waldo. Brandon, how many nugs of weed are you going to give this one? I'm going high, man. Yeah, going high. I know you're talking about that.
00:11:43
Speaker
Like four seven? Yeah. I'm going to go 420, dude. No, I'm going to go 4.5. 4.5 on this. Yeah, it's really good. I like this. Like i said, I'm going to try and grab some more. If I see some, I'll bring you that and the Doppelbox.
00:11:59
Speaker
Nice. So ah with this episode, we said it's Dank vs. Dark. So the next beer we're going to go into is going to be a dark beer. Yes.
Meals on Wheels Chicago Recap
00:12:09
Speaker
It's not really a versus, but... Yeah.
00:12:12
Speaker
I mean, we could make it a versus. Yeah. So Tony will answer a minute. Yeah, I'm going to talk about stuff. um Yeah, and what I'll talk about is that we did the Meals on Wheels last week. Anybody who made it out to Meals on Wheels Chicago on tap, thank you very much. It was sold out. It was a lot of fun.
00:12:29
Speaker
ah The layout, as we had discussed, with it being extra space was super, super cool. I think it was super, super helpful that that's the way it it turned out The food was awesome.
00:12:42
Speaker
One of my favorite things that I had there was a spicy pork belly taco. That was one of my favorite things for sure. I'm trying remember some of the beers that I i really liked. Oh, you know, was Go Brewing had... um No, wait, I didn't try to think Go Brewing. I'm sorry.
00:13:03
Speaker
I had something from Pilot Project, their NA beer, which was really, really good. Their NA Pilsner. ah so Like I said, you and I have talked about this numerous times that NA beers are getting better and better and better. And I think that this that having that was just another proof.
00:13:18
Speaker
Hey, I recognize that, Kim. It was proof that you know that's what's... ah We're going in the right direction with NA beers. But yeah, overall, it was great. Looking forward to doing it again next year. And thank you, ah everybody, for coming out and for Corey for making us a part of it yet again. Thank you.
00:13:40
Speaker
ah Welcome back, Brandon. Oh, thanks. Long journey. the next beer that we have up is I bought this, I think, when we talked to Corey. I brought it that day. No.
00:13:52
Speaker
No. Well, before that. All right. Well, this is sitting there for a while and I avoided it. Oh, wow. It was a canned last July. Yeah. Or is that the Best Buy?
00:14:03
Speaker
Doesn't matter. That was the Best Buy. i don't know those this was canned or when it's Best Buy, but this is Pipeworks Double Fudge Barrel Age Abduction. what was the last time you had an abduction? Been quite a while.
00:14:14
Speaker
Yeah. This is an imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels with cocoa. And as you know, there's going to be no more information probably than that. Or other than that, I should say.
00:14:24
Speaker
It is 12.5% ABV. Oh, and look who did the label art. BJ. How nice. Our old friend BJ Olsen. Never been on the show, but we actually know him.
00:14:36
Speaker
So we can say that. There's a little bit more feedback. We know Garrett, too, but he doesn't come on. yeah, what Yeah, and the description is perfect. Yeah. Like, why do we need, ooh, man.
00:14:49
Speaker
Like, why do we need any more? And thank you for letting me use this 2020 Prop Day glass. Yeah, you're welcome. I was going through, when I was unpacking at my place in March. Yeah, you smell it? Did you smell it or did you take a sip? No, I smelt it.
00:15:03
Speaker
That means you dealt it. yeah That means you dealt it. If you smelt it, you dealt it. Indeed. Anyways, I thought we did every single year of Prop Day since 2020 or 2019 or something, whenever Prop day started.
00:15:14
Speaker
But there's one year where I didn't have a glass and I thought, oh no, someone stole my glass or someone broke my glass. And it turns out it was the year that you and i didn't do a Prop Day, which is 2023. Okay. three
00:15:28
Speaker
Is that a thing? We didn't do prop day or anything? Yeah, we didn't. I think that was the year that we got... No, we did 2023 because... There's one year we didn't. That was the first year we got invited, and then we got invited again last year. But I think we didn't get the glasses. The glass, I should say. Well, we got the pack. No, there's one year that we didn't get the glass, though. It was the year they sent us. Remember when they sent us the...
00:15:50
Speaker
Oh, yes. yeah That was the year. That was 2022. Yeah, 2022. And I was confused on like, I thought I had... That's right, because it's 2025. Yeah, 2022 when we didn't have it. Anyways, I do love these little glasses. Let's get into this beer.
00:16:03
Speaker
little cold. It's my own fault. I'm okay with that. But that is... oh That's tasty. That's really good. Speaking of Bourbon County... Honestly, like, the first... Not necessarily Bourbon County, but taking a sip from this, it...
00:16:20
Speaker
I don't know if I've i've had a couple random barrel aged beers recently, some better than others. But I feel like they haven't been what I've been craving when wanting a barrel aged beer. Yeah.
00:16:33
Speaker
you hear that everybody? It's me tapping glass. Yeah. This this particular beer, this is transporting me to like winter, like November Fobab. Yeah.
00:16:44
Speaker
That time of the year, I'm like, oh, finally, I can have... you know It's been a whole hot summer, and now I can start drinking... yeah like I don't drink barrel-aged beers in the summer, but like it's more welcoming and inviting. like This is exactly what I want from a barrel-aged stout, like a bourbon barrel-aged stout. This is really, really, really, really good.
00:17:03
Speaker
I really like this.
00:17:07
Speaker
I was like, and want to say something, but I want to take another sip. Yeah, take another step first. And the date on there being 7-19-24...
00:17:14
Speaker
i mean we I mean, we've learned with barrel-aged stouts that the date means not much of anything. But, like, it's in a can, too. Yeah. Which is even more... Like, it's very interesting to me because i feel like I'm getting...
00:17:27
Speaker
Chocolate. Like, I'm getting a lot of chocolate. Indeed. And it says, you know, it's called the Double Fudge Barrel Age Abduction. That's coming through. Yeah. Like, um i want to know what it was like. Super fresh. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, when was the last time someone checked it in? Looks like right there, Global, which probably was recently because I know that people on to stuff.
00:17:48
Speaker
April 14th? Yeah. Two days ago. Yeah. Three days Three
Pipeworks Beer Discussion
00:17:52
Speaker
days ago. Yeah. so But yeah, this is this is fantastic. Like I said, this is this is what i love about barrel-aged beers. You get that...
00:18:02
Speaker
It's like almost viscous for how thick it looks. You know what mean? yeah It coats the glass nicely. It gives that nice little brownish, reddish film down the sides. There was no head on it.
00:18:13
Speaker
Nice carbonation. It looks a little oily. It's just... i in It's not too sweet, but there's a mild sweetness to it from the beer itself. i'm a I have to assume there's no lactose in there because I'm not really getting that super sweetness from it.
00:18:30
Speaker
Barrel comes through nicely. um More bourbon than barrel, I would say. ah but yeah, this is this is why Chicago remains an awesome barrel-aged town.
00:18:43
Speaker
Yeah, everything you said I agree with. um And that sweetness... I feel like it's tempered by the barrel. it's but And it's tempered by the bourbon.
00:18:56
Speaker
And then, like, the chocolate that you're getting is, like, a deep, dark chocolate. Yes. Yes. So, like, it's double fudge. I don't know what double fudge means. But... Dude, it's double the fudge.
00:19:07
Speaker
don't know what to tell you. like, this is... Extremely well done. Yeah. like i you know i was The other day I was like, what's going on with Pipeworks?
00:19:20
Speaker
like what are they What are they doing? Because remember like when Pipeworks was... like the thing and like people from out of town that I knew were messaging me and be like, Hey, can you get me pipework spears? And I'm like, no, like why i was like, because it's, it's hard. Like they release stuff and it flies off the shelf. And i don't think it's like that anymore, which I don't want to say that's a good thing. It's also not a bad thing. Right. Um, but like they're, I think they're producing enough to like meet the masses and,
00:19:56
Speaker
But, like, the, you know, I don't see the hype that was there. what are you What are you doing? I'm going back in time, baby. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about what i'm doing. You focus on what you're talking about. But, yeah. But, like I said, like, most of the, like, I don't think there's been a Pipeworks beer that I've never really, like, disliked.
00:20:14
Speaker
Yeah. um ah I remember the first time I had End of Days. And that was the first time I had, like, a spicy beer. And I didn't like it at first because that was just, like, to anywhere between 2010 to is I had it. Well, and when I was prepping for this episode, the goal was like, hey, pull stuff out of the cellar and like see what you got.
00:20:39
Speaker
And I literally went and looked, was I was looking at the pipework stuff and i was like, I have bombers. Yeah. Pipeworks. I'm like, that's a little much. Yeah. um I mean, they would be great to have, but I was thinking, you know, just drinkability and for us both drinking them because we don't have a guest.
00:21:01
Speaker
Real quick, the first check-in on Untapped is from October 2024. Okay. Tony. October 25th, 2024. I'm wondering that's canned on date. don't know. october twenty fifth twenty twenty four um wondering if that's a canda date
00:21:16
Speaker
i don't know Probably. That would make more sense. Because if that's the first check-in. But anyway, that sorry, i was trying to get to that. to your point about pipework stuff, they had some stuff going on behind the scenes. where they trying to open up stuff and open up a tap room? Yeah, they had a tap room that was going to happen that didn't happen. Unfortunately.
00:21:37
Speaker
Hopefully one day. Yeah, hopefully one day. Because that would have been awesome. I would love to go and... like have all their stuff um i know that i do know that they did reopen they call it their dojo so if you go to their location you can actually go inside now and purchase merchandise and pick up beers and stuff like that so it's like an open location now it's not just pickup only um but yeah i mean they've they've i feel like they what i don't know who did it first um But I'll say it like this only because of who I recognize they've adapted almost like the hot butcher method where I see...
00:22:13
Speaker
not every week, but maybe almost every other week or every two weeks or something like that, i see new beers from Pipeworks at Beer on the Wall. And Hot Butcher puts out one to two, maybe even three beers a week, and then they move on to the next one, and they move on to the next one. So beers aren't sitting around.
00:22:32
Speaker
Now, I still see Lizard King. Like, there's still there's still regular run-of-the-mill, i not run-of-the-mill, that's like almost flagship or regular beers that you would see for them, like, Ninja vs. Unicorn, Lizard King, and i believe there's something else that I see regularly. But Ninja vs. Unicorn and Lizard King are the two beers that I see regularly.
00:22:53
Speaker
at stores regularly and they're fresh because I've purchased them and I've gotten, you know, Oh, there's like lizard King is one of my favorite. That's not mistaken. Is that citra mosaic or is it just a mosaic? I don't remember, but I think it's a mosaic pale ale. It could be a citra and mosaic pale ale.
00:23:09
Speaker
Either way, lizard King is really good. Cause it's a, it's a nice fruity pale ale and Ninja versus unicorns. Just an awesome IPA. Agreed. So I don't know if That has anything to do with it, but everything that I've tried, because when I see, i would say in ah any given month, I would get one to two Pipeworks beers.
00:23:30
Speaker
Yeah. um Regularly from Beer on the Wall because I stop in there and that's there towards the front where I work my way down of all the beers that are available. And I always kind of check and see what they have. And they're always doing very interesting things. Like there's a lot of cryo stuff I've seen. There's <unk> still sticking with like the unicorn and ninja stuff. And they have a lot of crazy beers too that just sound interesting. Either, you know, hit or miss for me whether or not want to try them. But the barrel age stuff is fun too because they seem to be releasing just single cans.
00:24:02
Speaker
And if I'm not mistaken, think for the most part, these single cans have been like $10.99 $12.99 a can. And cans.
00:24:14
Speaker
i I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the whole, like, the way things are sold. If see a 16-ounce barrel-aged beer for under $15, sign me up. I'm going to try it.
00:24:25
Speaker
Because i kind of treat it as like, oh, that's one that's a special treat. That's a 16-ounce can I'm going to. you know, this is 12.5%. Like, I'm going to sit here and enjoy this. I'm going to crack this open, you know, on a Friday night at 7 o'clock.
00:24:38
Speaker
And, you know, finish it by nine. You know, that's what I say. um But, you know, like it's it's kind of a drink like that. It's like making a cocktail. um So I don't, I enjoy paying, I don't enjoy paying, but I don't mind paying that amount for, or that price point for that amount of beer.
00:24:56
Speaker
Yeah, and I do know they they do a collaboration with Fry the Coop. Really? Yep. It's called Chicken vs. Unicorn. What? Yep. i just thought about this now and i don't i don't know if that is sold in stores but i think it might be like at their locations only the the location here in portage park does not sell beer but yeah uh chicken versus unicorn is a thing because i know like they've posted it on fry the coop has posted it on their social media about like oh come get this beer
00:25:30
Speaker
And the last time they posted it, the guy was walking down the street in Portage Park in front of that location. And i was like, why are you posting it here? Can I get the beer there? He's like, no, I can't. No, you can't. We don't have a liquor license. I was like, all right, then let me come pick up that four pack that you got sitting there probably right now.
00:25:46
Speaker
So the one that I, no, that's not the one. I, they have it in their picture there. Yep. I work out in Wheeling. I would, I think Prospect Heights would be the one that is by me.
00:26:00
Speaker
so looked up Fry the Coop beer. yeah come on, show me. Show me the map. Yeah, Prospect Heights. Okay, show me the Prospect Heights. So going to see if, yeah, they sell alcohol there.
00:26:11
Speaker
They have beer. So maybe I'll have to, probably can't take it to go. No, I think you can. They said come and pick up a four-pack take it home with you. like all right.
00:26:23
Speaker
If that's the case, Brandon, I'm going to stop there. Maybe I'm not going grab the Lagunitas, and I'll grab... Oh, sorry. I don't see nothing there.
00:26:35
Speaker
I'll have to stop in there. I'll have to stop in there and see, because they do have pictures of beer, and all the extras are just random shit. They don't have a section for... for beer. So I'll check it out. If that's the case, I'll grab a some and we'll have to have it on an episode. Yeah. Cause that sounds, uh, that sounds awesome. Yeah. See, like they have it in the picture here.
00:26:53
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, they have blood versus unicorn. They have all, Oh, they have one, two, three. What is this picture from? Two years ago. One, two, three, four pipeworks beer, old style and paps.
00:27:03
Speaker
And they have gumball. They had gumball head on draft and something else. Okay. That's cool. Yeah. You want to know secret Brandon? I've never had fried the coop.
00:27:14
Speaker
Ah! it's pretty good. Yeah. Pretty damn good. Which is crazy because it's here in the neighborhood, so I probably should go. Yeah. to i We've gone there a couple times, and I've ordered it for lunch a few times. It's fucking tasty.
00:27:26
Speaker
It's spicy, right? No. I mean, depending on the level. And I've even gotten the hot, and the hot was manageable for me. Okay. And I've also gotten the level above hot, and that was like, that was hot. Yeah, I've heard the real hot is real hot.
00:27:41
Speaker
real But I've also gotten the real, real hot. And I was like, it took me a while to get through it. But I did. Yeah, I think I want to start with just like the regular old not hot and then work my way through. No.
00:27:55
Speaker
Okay. No, at least go to like the medium. Don't tell me what to do with my life, dude. That's like my job. Oh, yeah, that's right. um No, like you can tolerate. No, he but I would say start with the medium and then work your way up.
00:28:10
Speaker
with the medium and work my way down. Yeah, sure. Well, you mean it was okay, let me go lower. I gotta go lower than that. This one sucks. ah To quote the Christmas story, how many double fudge are you giving these?
00:28:30
Speaker
I'm gonna go so... I think I'm gonna go four. Four, huh? Yeah. I'm gonna go up to 4.4 on this. Okay. I really like it. I like the way...
00:28:41
Speaker
but it's It's funny because I didn't really care about how... like I can drink a cold barrel-aged beer, and it's it doesn't bother me that much. But obviously, you know we try and get it you know to open up a little bit more. i was just talking about this recently, about like how...
00:28:55
Speaker
different temperatures you know will change. Yeah. Someone who doesn't really drink that much beer. ah Or beers like this. ah Temperatures change. ah And I wish this was a little warmer because I feel like I'd get a lot more of the chocolate. So I might try and see if this is still sitting around.
00:29:14
Speaker
I think it still might be a beer on the wall. guess I'm making a lot of stops tomorrow. Before I celebrate Good Friday. Yeah, I like the way that the chocolate...
00:29:26
Speaker
is represented in this beer. As I've just warmed it up now in my hands, because there's not a whole lot left in this glass, like the the the chocolate stands out a little bit more in the back, and that sweetness really helps it. It's not like...
00:29:40
Speaker
I like a cacao nib type chocolate. Now it's like cocoa. You know, it's got a sweet type of chocolate to it. So I really like this. Four and a half. Thank you, Pipeworks. keep Keep on making those delicious barrel-aged beers.
00:29:54
Speaker
Abductions. It's great, Kim. Artwork, too. Yeah. Good job, BJ.
00:30:01
Speaker
And with that, we will take a quick break and be back with our next. Yeah, quick break. I got to finish the rest this fucking barrel-aged stuff that's in my glass. Enjoy the edit.
00:30:13
Speaker
And we're back. Welcome back, everybody, to Dank vs. Dark. We are now in the second bracket of Dank vs. Dark. The next beer up here is from Energy City. And I think it's the first Energy City beer that we're having that's not a cobbler or pie of some sort.
00:30:29
Speaker
that's exciting. This is Hot Bowie Hazy Triple IPA because I'm crazy and I got two triple IPAs. This is a hazy triple IPA brewed with Simcoe and Citra hops. All right.
00:30:40
Speaker
This is our hop series beer that features hops with juicy characteristics that cast a glowing haze. It's 9.5% ABV. I should have walked. Good thing I had all that kielbasa before I came over here. The lowest ABV beer we've had, I think.
00:30:54
Speaker
It is. Ooh. That is an interesting aroma. Yeah. i
00:31:02
Speaker
I have concerns. I have concerns. i'm I'm questioning what I'm tasting.
00:31:11
Speaker
What is going on? Yep. Okay, that was my concern was different because I thought for sure this was going to be... This is best by the day before my birthday next year. Interesting. Interesting.
Critical Review of Energy City Beer
00:31:29
Speaker
Oh, this is Energy City Brews at Church Street, huh? Didn't know that. So this is a hazy IPA with Simcoe and Citra. And Simcoe and Citra are very familiar hops. There is... There is a... There's a party going in What is happening?
00:31:46
Speaker
What is that smell? What is that taste? I don't know. I don't know if i like it. I don't like it. Oh. Sorry, Energy City.
00:31:57
Speaker
it is... Like a weird
00:32:02
Speaker
chemical plant. It starts off as like citrus and then literally goes into weird everything.
00:32:18
Speaker
I wish Matthew was here to help tell us what this is. I can't even put my finger on it. It is like... Jesus. Well, it's definitely not like Jesus. No, it's not like Jesus. Sorry. He's he's back in heaven now. um My fear was that I was going to get like this major like hot burn from that aroma.
00:32:41
Speaker
No. But I don't get that. In fact, it's very smooth, except for that weird... Hold on. It tastes like a sunshine that burns your face.
00:32:52
Speaker
Like, I'm almost getting, like, suntan lotion, like... Without the coconut. Yeah. Oof. Oh, boy. don't know if i can finish this. I can't. I'm sorry, Energy City. I don't know what is going on with this, but, um... What the hell?
00:33:11
Speaker
ha I have triumphantly my glass to the back. I'm pretty good at finishing beers that I don't necessarily like.
00:33:22
Speaker
I need to look. Okay, we got to look this up real quick. Untap. What is... God, almost want to buy another one just so we can have other people try this. Okay, Hot Bowie.
00:33:36
Speaker
What are people saying? Grass seem grassy seems like a fair note. Definitely some tropical flavors behind some of this. Some of the harsher hops have potential, but this triple IPA isn't quite there.
00:33:49
Speaker
Pineapple starts turn tart finish. Oh, that. ah Let's see other people. There is a taste. I can't figure out. Yeah. That's is the camp. Yes.
00:34:01
Speaker
Pronounce it. late ge you Can't figure out. What is it? Tell us what it is. Yeah. Oh, man, that's so sad. Great variation for EBC.
00:34:14
Speaker
I oils love to see me forays. Okay, that was drunk. Unique. Can't decide if I like it or not. Interesting citrus flavor. Yes, it's definitely... Because, like, right now, in my mouth, that weird taste is gone, but I have, like, this, like, I just had orange juice. Yeah. Or a citrus drink. Yeah.
00:34:34
Speaker
I can't put my finger on this, but there is something about this that is not, uh, not pleasant for me. And unfortunately i am just, I'm just not going to rate it. Um, if I had to rate it because I'm going to be real mean if I had to rate it on a hazy, I would put this at like, uh, yeah, I am going to rate it. I'm sorry. I just said, Hey, I'm going to rate this.
00:34:54
Speaker
If I had to rate this, which I'm going to do, there's things about it. Like it looks like a good hazy beer. Agreed. Um, Like I said, the aftertaste my mouth is very good, but the aroma and the whatever that weird, odd flavor is, this is like a two for me. Dude, two is exactly what I was thinking. Because we both had like three or four big gulps of this. And you know what? I'm not mad because it's another high ABV beer, which the lowest of our high ABV beers.
00:35:24
Speaker
But that's a bummer. Sorry, Energy City. This one's not it. At least for us. I yeah didn't didn't enjoy it. That's how many buoys I'm giving it to.
00:35:36
Speaker
There's a foghorn. woof All right. You're going to grab one more and I'm going to go ahead and just. Oh, God. See, I just burped and I can taste it. You're right. It's like a weird.
00:35:48
Speaker
Suntan lotion. Even like if something was wrong with the coconut and the suntan lotion, that's what this has like got me feeling. And I... don't know what this is.
00:36:02
Speaker
Bummer. Well, I will say this. ah We were going to have our old friend Ray Stout on, but he could not make it this week. And hopefully we're gonna have him on next week to talk about this year's Beer Under Glass. And one of the big things that we're going to talk about with Ray is that...
00:36:18
Speaker
It has moved to a new location this year. and obviously we're a little late on this, but you know what can we do? we're not always oh ge We're not always ah hip to how quick things are going, which I'm surprised we didn't think about it sooner because of how close we are to when Chicago Craft Beer Week? Illinois Craft Beer Week.
00:36:39
Speaker
Illinois Craft Beer thank you. Illinois Craft Beer Week is coming up. But, you know, oh well. But yeah yeah, Ray should be here next week, and we're goingnna talk about beer under glass, and we're looking forward to that because that is always the sign of summer starting for us here in Chicago, at least for us beer drinkers.
00:36:57
Speaker
Brandon, what are we drinking next? We are drinking... Wait, real quick. Just so know, I think that's the fastest we've ever gone through a beer. like I thought for sure we were going to reach an hour on this episode. I don't think that's happening. No.
00:37:10
Speaker
It's a bummer. So this is McKellar's Imperial Stout. Oh. George. Okay. And that's it? That's all the information that's got in the the bottle, huh? Yep. All right.
00:37:22
Speaker
Well, it poured very dark. um It is, it's it's just an imperial style, right? It's not like barrel age or anything? I'm looking it up. Let's see. It didn't have much head on it. I'm swirling around in my glass.
00:37:36
Speaker
little bit of head comes up and it's that very dark, dark head. oy, oy. like that. How old is this beard, do you know? Well, let's see. Is this something, because that bottle does not look familiar to me at all.
00:37:50
Speaker
Did you pull that from your cellar or was it just sitting in there? It was in the cellar. Okay. I pulled it and I chilled it for about an hour and a half before we started talking.
00:38:03
Speaker
um This may have been gifted to me in that giveaway group that I had that like gave me beers, but yeah. This is interesting.
00:38:16
Speaker
Very interesting. I can't find notes on it either.
00:38:23
Speaker
the Brewered by Killingh-Onoi. Imported by Sheldon Brothers. Okay. Alright. Alright. Keith Shore did the artwork. Very cool. It's... Okay. So... he found it.
00:38:35
Speaker
It says an oatmeal stout brewed with coffee and vanilla. Okay. Interesting. Yeah.
00:38:48
Speaker
What are you getting this?
00:38:53
Speaker
I'm getting that kind of green coffee. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's an older beer. Yeah. But... nine But not in the worst way. Right. I was just to say that.
00:39:04
Speaker
Also, I switched mine around a bit. Do you have a lot of carbonation in yours? Or a decent amount of carbonation in yours? I poured yours first, so... No. Yeah.
00:39:14
Speaker
I'm lacking carbonation in this. But there is like a... I think the vanilla is all gone. I think this is a very old bottle. Yeah. This is because the picture that you've pulled up, it looks like a newer version and maybe even a No, it's not a bomber, but it's definitely a different different artwork.
00:39:33
Speaker
um What is it called? George? George. All right, let's see. Jorge. Jorge. Keller. George. I'm going to see... Not George Miller. George.
00:39:46
Speaker
Don't try and correct me, Google. All right, let's see. Makella George, images, let's see. that Oh, here's this one.
00:39:59
Speaker
That is the label. And this is from Beer and Brewing. Doesn't tell me when this was posted though. It's kind of know what that's what I was gonna say.
00:40:12
Speaker
Yeah, trying to find... um'm seeing a lot of older or different versions of this label. There's a George vs. Brian. Interesting. All right, what about this? When did this... Four ratings... Four years ago.
00:40:27
Speaker
Someone... Checked in this beer four years ago, at least. So there's a really old George bottle there. Everything that I look up, like the ABV, varies. you know And this one is... Well, it's funny because this one says, oh tasting Tasted in a remote tasting.
00:40:43
Speaker
Oatmeal, dark bread syrup, red berry, sour tannins, nice bourbon BA kick to finish when colder. More sour tannins when warmer. Clearly past its prime. Oh, he had a barrel-aged version of it.
00:40:55
Speaker
That's why. We do not. We just have the Imperial Stout version of it. Interesting. So people are saying that the barrel-aged version was past its prime. That's fine. That's what happens when we try some older beers here.
00:41:09
Speaker
ah yeah All I'm finding are the barrel-aged versions of this. I'm not seeing anybody checking in or posting about the this particular version, although there is one here.
00:41:22
Speaker
but it's in a different language and it's from 2015. Let's translate this. When to trust rate beer. I usually completely ignore the ratings available at rate beer unless I need to learn something about beer classics.
00:41:36
Speaker
Interesting.
00:41:39
Speaker
So this is saying, Oh man, I just burped that flavor of that energy city. Gosh. Oh, I'm sorry. Energy city. That is not good.
00:41:51
Speaker
Anyways, ah this could be from about 2015. So this could be almost 10 years old. Which, I will say this. If this is 10 years old, which is a good possibility, it's pretty good.
00:42:02
Speaker
Yeah. It's a good... like I'm getting like this rich, dark cocoa. Like a dark... without the sweetness. And if it's not a barrel aged stout... Like...
00:42:14
Speaker
I shouldn't say rich, but sorry, a deep, ah deep, like, dark cocoa flavor from this. Look at the bottom. There's, like, some sediment on there, too, you look inside the bottle. Oh, yeah. So I think 10 years sounds...
00:42:29
Speaker
so everybody. I'm going to blow my nose. And this is what? 12.12%. Yeah. yeah So, yeah. You know what? I got to say that for how old I believe this beer is based on when I looked on the internet, that's pretty damn good. Carbonation is is has has fallen off. i did That's why I asked if you pulled it from the cellar.
00:42:50
Speaker
Because that aroma on it has that little bit of like oxidation. Yep. Not terrible, though. like it's not And I was afraid also of that tinniness that I get sometimes
Aged Mikkeller Beer Tasting
00:43:01
Speaker
from Stouts. And I don't get that at all.
00:43:03
Speaker
Yeah. And like again, i'm I'm not entirely sure where I got this. I think it might be from the giveaway group that gave me a bunch of beer. And then ah it literally just went straight into the area I store beers.
00:43:17
Speaker
The cellar. Yeah. Well, yeah. Cellar. I mean, it's a cellar, dude. It stays pretty And it stays usually around 65 degrees. 65, dude. All year.
00:43:29
Speaker
But anyway, yeah. Like, i I don't know what I expected, but I guess this is on par, and especially if it's a 10-year-old beer. like i'm um I'm with it. like Yeah, I'm going to say for like a ah an old beer, yeah i think I think this would be one of the beers that it would have been another beer that would have been good for Matthew to try it with us because I think he would have appreciated...
00:43:52
Speaker
how well this beer kind of stands up to it possibly being 10 years which i do actually i believe that's a 10 year old beer i mean it's got some of those characteristics that come from a beer that has been aged for a long time that probably didn't have to be aged for that long yeah vanilla fell off um coffee a little green but not not super green peppery in fact i feel like that has gone away like i don't get i don't have a whole lot of that but overall it's pretty darn good yeah So how many Georges would you raise this? It's funny. i was gonna
00:44:23
Speaker
I was going to do the same thing to you. um For this being what I think it is, being a 10-year-old beer and how well it stood up, I'm going to say like 3.8 or this. Yeah, that's where i'm at. Like I feel like is an appropriate number for this,
00:44:44
Speaker
you know I feel like this would have been and the low fours had it been fresh, you know, like a 4.2 or something like that. Yeah. You know mean? Like, if it'd be nice how the vanilla would have complimented the bitterness of this stout.
00:44:58
Speaker
Yeah, it's not dated, so we can't tell. But I feel like, you know, for what it is, it's a pretty good beer. Gotta be honest, I'm really disappointed that we got ripped off here. Not ripped off, but shortchanged on having the Dank versus the Dark here in the second round. We just had one that just literally went down right at the beginning. Well, it's funny because it's like the second Dank wasn't great.
00:45:25
Speaker
The second Dark... It's okay. you know It's an age. We started off super strong and here we were in the end here. and Sometimes that's how... you know what Such is life. Such is life and and such is the podcast.
00:45:37
Speaker
But I would say Dank vs. Dark, Volume 1, pretty good. yeah I look forward to doing something like this again. We should. Especially like a nice summer evening, maybe.
00:45:49
Speaker
I'm with you. I'm there. Yeah, I think we can do something like this again. yeah we could do If we do Dank vs. Dark, what's another one we can do? Sour versus...
00:46:04
Speaker
well We'll think of something. We'll think of something. Lager versus... Not longer. Yeah, dang first dark
Episode Reflection and Future Plans
00:46:13
Speaker
spoon. have to ask chat GPT. Overall, though, this was very fun. I'm glad we got to do this. And I got to have Waldo this year. And the Pipeworks beer was fantastic.
00:46:23
Speaker
I don't think we need to rate him as far as like our favorites in order. No, we're good. The first two that we had, those are the top two. And obviously George is three. And then Energy City. Here we go, rating them. So sorry. Sorry, Energy City. But that was not a good beer.
00:46:41
Speaker
And I want to know what that taste is. I need someone to reach out and let me know what that's all about. Yeah, I don't know if we got a bad can or whatever. I mean, this is... If somebody can bring us a better example...
00:46:55
Speaker
I would love to try it. I'd love to try it. This is what i mean is this supposed to mellow out? Am I supposed to have a can of this that metal mellows out?
00:47:07
Speaker
I don't know. no I don't know. Keep cold, serve fresh. I mean, this is probably as fresh as it's going to get. It was one of the newer additions there at Beer on the Wall. But that's it. That's hot, booey, and that's it. That's what we're going to deal with.
00:47:20
Speaker
Such is life, as they say. Well, Brandon, I love you man. Love you too, man. And we'll see you everybody next week.
00:47:30
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.
00:47:48
Speaker
Tony can be found on Instagram and Untappd under Ace of Elps Chicago, on Twitter the Ace of Elps Chicago. Clark can be found as Clarkowski on all three. Dan can be found on Instagram as hip underscore underscore hops and the 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.