Hop Cast

Chicago is home to a ton of amazing creative people that are creating great podcasts, video series, films, and more! The Hop Cast was invited to the February Let’s Create event at Blue Frog in Chicago to share their new media experience and spread the craft beer love. Ken Hunnemeder and Brad Chmielewski enjoy a couple great lagers from Metropolitan while they record a live segment with Elise Jaffe. Ken and Brad share their knowledge of the brewing process, ingredients, and tasting with the audience to show that there is more to beer then the average person would think.

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In episode 73 of the Hop Cast, Ken Hunnemeder and Brad Chmielewski sit down and chat with some local hometown beer heroes, Doug and Tracy Hurst of Metropolitan Brewing. Metropolitan Brewing is making some amazing craft lagers in Chicago. They are located in Ravenswood just along the Metra tracks. Doug and Tracy give Ken and Brad a little background on the brewery and give them the scoop on what they have planned for the up coming year. Keep an eye out for their beers either on tap or in the bottle because they are all outstanding.

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Brad Chmielewski and Ken Hunnemeder bring you some beer information as an intro to beer course in episode 72 of the Hop Cast. The two of them look at the differences between an ale and a lager. They explain that the key difference between an ale and a lager is in the fermentation. Lagers are fermented at a much lower temperature, and usually with a different yeast, than an ale. The lager Brad and Ken picked to drink is the Flywheel from Metropolitan. The Flywheel is classified as a German Pilsner and has an AVB of 5.5%. A Pilsner is a type of pale lager, or in this case a “bright lager”. After this excellent lager Brad and Ken move onto an ale. The ale they picked to talk about is the Third Eye P.A. from Steamworks, it is an American IPA and has a ABV of 6.4%. The important distinction for ales is that they use a top-fermenting yeast and are fermented at higher temperatures and thus ferment more quickly than lagers. Brad and Ken just scratch the surface in the differences of a lager and an ale. Hopefully you learned something and now can know a little more about what you might be drinking. Stay tuned for future beer 101 episodes like this from the Hop Cast.

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The taste of that Little Sumpin’s Sumpin’ Ale is still fresh on the lips of Brad and Ken. But with the month of August already underway the Hop Cast wanted to pick out a new beer to declare their pick of the month. Once again this month the Hop Cast is staying local and picking another Chicago brewery. This time the honor goes to the Flywheel Bright Lager from Metropolitan Brewing. Now I know this might sound strange that a couple hop heads like Brad and Ken choose a lager as the beer of the month but this lager is something special. The Flywheel pours out a light yellow that is almost crystal clear with a one to two finger white head that lingers for awhile. The aroma is light and clean with a little pine and a touch of hops and some sweet malts. There isn’t anything offensive here, you just know that you are about to drink something refreshing. The first sips are dry and crisp with some lovely sweet malts that leave you wanting even more. In the end you get a very light hop hit to cut the sweet and finally it finishes smooth and clean. There is just little you can say is wrong with this one. It is very well rounded and quenches that thirst you might of had. This awesome session beer comes in at 5.0% ABV with 45 IBUs.  Metropolitan Brewing and the Flywheel won best session beer at Midsummer Day’s Ale this past weekend at Murphy’s Blechers. I’m sorry to our out of Chicago audience but this isn’t going to be available at your local liquor store. If you talk with Brad and Ken, I’m sure they would be interested in trading you some.

This past Friday was the 2009 Yelp Summerfest at the Irish American Heritage Center in Irving Park. Brad Chmielewski and Ken Hunnemeder made it out to the event to represent the Hop Cast and to enjoy some of the free food and beer. Some of the breweries at the event were Metropolitan, Goose Island, Half Acre, Two Brothers, Harpoon and Magic Hat. Since there were going to be a few local breweries at the event Brad and Ken figured this was a chance to do a few interviews with some more people. When Brad and Ken first got there the first beer they went for was the Metropolitan Flywheel, it seemed like a perfect refreshing way to start of the evening. The plan was to interview a few brewers and see what was happening in the craft beer world. But unfortunately everyone who was pouring the beer was extremely busy all night and didn’t have a chance to talk with the Hop Cast. With 900 + people at the event there were just too many thirsty people. But Brad and Ken did run into Courtney Baldy who is the pastry chef at Three Floyds. Courtney gave a little insight into her love of desert and beer and the kind of things she is doing at Three Floyds. Over all the Yelp event was great. The beers were excellent, especially the Metropolitan Flywheel and the Half Acre Daisy Cutter. There could of been more food since they did almost ran out of pizza at one point. If you have a chance to make it to one of the yelp events do it!

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This is the final interview from the 2009 Alefest. Unfortunately the camera Brad Chmielewski and Ken Hunnemeder were using died in the middle of this interview so the second half is missing. Brad and Ken did have a chance to talk with Doug Hurst from Metropolitan Brewing a little and he explained the two beers they were serving up at the fest. Hopefully in the near future the Hopcast will be able to meet with Doug again, for an episode featuring Metropolitan brews. Metropolitan is brewing some great lagers so if you’re in the Chicago area, keep an eye out.

Download the Podcast (83.6 MB).