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ABV Chicago Craft Beer Podcast · ABV Chicago

On The Dark Side

·1 hr 5 min·6 clips
Goldfinger's Chela Negra delivers a coffee roast flavor with a creamy mouthfeel that's dangerously easy to drink.
Hosts Ryan and Craig of the ABV Chicago podcast open this episode by debating which two arcade cabinets they would install in a hypothetical pizza place. They sample five local dark beers, beginning with Brother Chimp Brewing's 4.3% Novia Schwarzbier, which they praise for its chocolate milk-like creaminess and clean lager finish. Next is Goldfinger Brewing's 5% Chela Negra, a Mexican dark lager noted for its aggressive coffee roast and perfect mouthfeel. The third beer is Flipside Brewing's 5% Blanket Fort oatmeal stout, which offers comforting notes of chocolate and light roast. Dovetail Brewery's 5.3% Czech-style dark lager surprises with a tart, fruity aroma reminiscent of Craisins and a thinner body. The final beer is Blind Corner Brewery's 6.6% Boreal Dawn Black IPA, which combines tropical Citra and Simcoe hops with a chocolate malt backbone. Ryan expresses a preference for old-school, bitter black IPAs over this fruit-forward version. The hosts spill beer on Ryan's Stay Puft Marshmallow Man socks during their informal re-tasting session. They reveal the actual arcade games at the pizza place were NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat, both mentioned earlier in their debate. The tone is casual and humorous, filled with personal anecdotes and friendly banter about arcade games and local brewery visits. Listeners who enjoy laid-back beer reviews intertwined with nostalgic pop-culture tangents will love this episode. Those seeking a highly structured, purely educational beer analysis might find the digressions distracting.

As heard by us

A pizza stop and arcade chatter frame a dark beer conversation with real tasting detail.

Episode 629 opens with a new-to-me pizza place and two arcade machines, then settles into a dark beer talk with enough tasting detail to keep it grounded.

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Why you'd press play

You want beer talk that starts with pizza and ends up in dark, warming pours.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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