Pints and Provisions

Valiant Brewing and the Marshmallow Quantarium

Lots of fun stuff here with Evan, Ryan, and Kyle talking first about the now defunct Valiant Brewing Co. and their Russian mega stout, Marshmallow Quantarium.  Seemed like a successful brewery but closed its doors and left a big wake behind it with this white whale which delivered a big vanilla bomb of a stout with a fullness and sweetness like many of the best out there.  So why do some good breweries fail?  We also discuss the reasons collaboration can build a brewery.  Shout outs to New Glarus Brewing and keeping it nostalgic when we travel to Wisconsin, the soon to open Hop Station in Mishawaka, IN, and Mook Meadery, whom we still are looking for samples from.  Ryan also touches on his brief trip up to this years Dark Lord Day at Three Floyds Brewery in Munster, IN.  Cheers from P+P!!

The 6th Annual North Peoria Craft Brewfest

The Fox Pub in Peoria celebrated its 6th annual brewfest where Ryan and Evan headed to enjoy some brews on a cool and rainy midwest day.  We ran down the list of some of our favorites of the day including beers from Lil' Beaver Brewery, Wake Brewing, Triptych Brewing, Pollyanna Brewing Company, and Bent River Brewing Co.  Nick of Bearded Owl Brewing shared some of his highlights of the day and we also spoke with Matt Rixner who continues his pursuit to bringing a great draft beer festival to Peoria.  It was a fun and loud time (pardon the background noise, but we were at a festival!!) with many great local and regional brews and fantastic people to enjoy them with, cheers!!

Marionberries and Blind Tastings

Ryan, Evan, and Mark head down to Pour Bros Taproom in the Heights to challenge each other with some more blind tastings.  Each submitted an interesting entry to put our palates to the test.  Our table beer today was Marionberry Table by Holy Mountain Brewing and various offerings from the Pour Bros Tapwall.  We also got to discuss the drama with the big beer brands and why corn is so important to the Midwest.  Tune in and enjoy, cheers from P+P!!

Blinded Bourbon

Hey Provisionists, new episode is ready and its a fun one!  Mark, Evan, and Ryan sat down to educate our palates on bourbon.  We each brought a bottle and taste tested them against each other.  Three very different bourbons with we do our best to describe how they taste against each other.  Lots of fun so tune in to hear us go through them and what we each brought.  Also enjoyed was a great beer from Fonta Flora Brewery called Local Snacks.  Cheers!!

Cherries, Honolulu, and Brackets

Evan and Ryan team up to taste some cherry wild ales, one from OEC Brewing and the other from Fonta Flora Brewery.  Similar style but very different beers, tune in to see how they stack up.  Also tasted was Honolulu from Asling Brewing Co., a barrel aged stout with coconut and coffee.  We did get a chance to go over our favorite match ups and games for the upcoming basketball tournament so see how we are doing with our picks!  Cheers from P+P!!

At Pour Bros with Rob

Here we go!  Mark and Evan were joined by Kyle to sit down and talk to Rob, co-owner of Pour Bros Craft Taproom in Peoria Heights.  Rob has been hard at work booking music for the upcoming season of Saturday night concerts at Pour Bros.  We got to hear what bands are coming and some exciting events on the schedule.  St. Patrick's Day festivities were on the docket as well in the Heights!  Kyle brought a blind tasting beer for the rest of us and we also popped our first barleywine on the podcast, Perennial's barrel aged Vermillion.  Cheers from P+P!!

Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. and Southern Grist Brewing

Mark and Evan welcome Bryan back to the podcast to share his experiences at the Southern Grist Brewing 3rd Anniversary.  We sample some beers he and our friend Spartan enjoyed from the festivities and how Nashville represents "the new South" with its elevated cuisine.  Our big props go out to Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.'s lagers and we highlight how their customer service shines when confronted with a cooler full of craft beers.  They graciously provided the amazing lagers we sampled on the recording and we get to tell you why they are the go-to German beer style brewers in the region.  Cheers from P+P!!

Holy Mountain, Floodland, and Madagascar

What a topic Mark, Ryan, and Evan discussed surrounding the issue of limited quantities of released beers and how breweries handle it.  Central to this is Floodland Brewing and how they handle keeping their beers out of the secondary market.  You may side with the brewer or with the consumer on this but we find this a great example of the controversy of the secondary market.  We did enjoy a Holy Mountain sour (where the Floodland brewer was before he started his own brewery), 4 Hands Brewing Madagascar Uganda variant, and some blind pours which challenged our palates.  Don't miss this one!  Cheers Provisionists!!

RateBeer Top 50

Daniel and Evan discuss the recent release of RateBeer's Top 50 Brewers.  It's a fun list to go through but there is a lot more, especially with big beers full acquisition of RateBeer, to discuss about the rating sites methods and results.  We both sip on a beer from a top 50 brewery including ones from Half Acre Beer Co. and Maine Beer Co. and dive into the pros and cons of RateBeer and what it tells us about craft beer.  Cheers from P+P!!

Our First Craft Experiences

Ryan and Evan discuss their first craft beer introductions and the breweries that first influenced their passion for craft beer.  We also discuss the beers we drink during these bleak winter months and sip on some of the beers we are most excited about which include some sours, lambics, and spontaneous fermented country beers.  Cheers from P+P!!