Burning Bush Brewery: From Sermons to Sours and Spruce Tip IPAs (Plus: What is Tree Wrestling?)

Learn how Burning Bush Brewery crafts its unique brews, including their spruce tip IPA named after a true story of “tree wrestling.”

Burning Bush Brewery’s Brent Raska, owner and brewer, and Scott McElhenney, head brewer, discuss their unique transition from meeting at church to brewing together, the surprising similarities between running a church parish and running a brewery, and the art of crafting kettle sours. They also delve into why they typically have about 12 of their own beers on tap, ranging from lagers to stouts to IPAs to seasonal brews, and how they became known for their sours and IPAs in particular.

After the beer break, Brent and Scott discuss their signature beers, such as the fruit-forward Red Sea Raspberry Kettle Sour and the spruce-infused Tree Wrestler Spruce-Tip IPA. They explain the difference between a regular sour and a kettle sour and the difference between a regular and a hazy IPA. More importantly, Brent shares the unbelievable story of “tree wrestling” that inspired the Tree Wrestler Spruce-Tip IPA and how actual spruce tips are involved in its brewing process. Plus: the unique use of hops like Mosaic in creating distinct flavors, growing basil on-site to use in their beers, the science behind crafting Hazy IPAs with specific yeast strains for desired haziness and flavor profiles, and how to strike the right balance with additions like peanut butter, as experienced in their St. Peter Peanut Butter Porter.

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About Burning Bush Brewery: Located in the North Center neighborhood of Chicago, their mission is to provide high-quality Craft Beer, generous hospitality, and to serve their neighborhood and the greater Chicago community. With 12 rotating taps, there are always a variety of styles available including IPAs, lagers, sours, stouts and seasonal and unique offerings like an apple ale, a spruce-tip IPA and an amber ale brewed with homegrown basil. Learn more on their website at https://www.burningbushbrewery.com/

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Crafty Brewers is a production of Quantum Podcasts, LLC. Is your brewery or business looking to capture a loyal audience to drive business results with the power of podcasting? Then visit https://quantum-podcasts.com/ to learn more.

Our executive producer and editor is award-winning podcaster Cody Gough. He insists that we tell you that in this episode, you’ll learn about: St. Peter peanut butter porter, Hazy IPAs, brewing techniques, spruce tips, spruce-infused beer, beer flavor balancing, peanut flour, powdered peanut butter, basil-infused amber ale, St. Basil Amber Ale, maple bacon imperial red ale, craft beer community, brewing innovation, home-grown basil, beer naming, India pale lagers, cold IPAs, brown IPA, growler sales, beer pairing, beer and food pairing, River Room event space, brewing equipment, fermentation, dry hopping, lactobacillus, Brettanomyces, and the brewing process.