From Brewing Barleywines and Stouts in a Closet to Winning Best New Brewery in Illinois (Foreign Exchange Brewing Company)

Learn what happens when a homebrewer starts with barrel-aged barleywines, defies style rules, and stocks up on high-end bourbon.

Ricky Cervantes, Founder and Director of Brewing Operations at Foreign Exchange Brewing Company in Aurora, Illinois, explains how he went from aging barrels in a climate-controlled apartment closet to building a homebrewing reputation that led to 400 people lining up for his first commercial batch. He explains how Foreign Exchange’s beers deliberately float between styles, and breaks down barleywine for newcomers.

After the break, Ricky covers the brewery's full range from 4% lagers to a 17% ABV imperial stout, the fermentation-science origin of the name "Foreign Exchange," cocktails on tap, a serious bourbon program, and the story behind Aurora Beer, a German-style golden ale honoring a pre-Prohibition Aurora brewing giant, hand-bottled with a paper label for historical accuracy. Plus: Foreign Exchange’s unique Indian-Mexican fusion food menu and future plans, including wild ale experiments and a homebrew side project.

0:00 Intro

1:07 Welcome to Foreign Exchange Brewing Company in Aurora, Illinois

2:08 What Makes Foreign Exchange Different From Other Breweries?

3:31 Aurora Beer: A German-Style Tribute That Floats Between Styles

5:53 The Pre-Prohibition Brewery That Inspired Aurora Beer

7:33 Why Ricky Cervantes Built His Brewery in Downtown Aurora

8:22 How Ricky Got Into Contract Brewing Without a Professional Background

10:17 The Home Brewer Whose Beer Drew 400 People to a Release

11:52 What Black Tuesday Taught Ricky About Barrel Aging

12:28 How to Build a Barrel Room Inside an Apartment Closet

15:00 Finding the Right Imperial Stout Recipe (With Help From Energy City Brewing)

16:27 What Is a Barleywine, Exactly?

17:52 How Word of Mouth Built Ricky’s Homebrewing Reputation

22:35 Beer Break

23:28 Brewer’s Choice: Clockwork English-Style Barleywine

25:07 English vs. American Barleywines: What’s the Difference?

26:15 Running a Beer Program From 4% to 17% ABV

28:17 How Kittywampus Converts Dark Beer Skeptics

30:04 Why Foreign Exchange Added a Kitchen to the Taproom

32:04 Cheese Curds, Tacos, and Indian-Mexican Fusion at a Brewery?

38:18 How Indian Business Partners Inspired the Food Menu

41:29 The Nerdy Fermentation Reason the Brewery Is Called Foreign Exchange

42:08 How Cocktails Work on Draft (And Why the Old-Fashioned Separates)

43:10 Why a Craft Brewery Has an Entire Bourbon Program

44:13 What’s Next for Foreign Exchange Brewing?

45:23 Slow Magic, Wild Ales, and a Barrel-Aged THC Barleywine

46:38 Ricky’s Next Barrel Aging Goal: A Library for Blending

47:46 Final Four: Barleywine Is Life, and Kettle Sours Can Wait

49:11 The Beer With a Cursed Origin Story Ricky Will Never Brew Again

50:53 Ricky’s Go-To Beer When He’s Off the Clock

52:37 The 100-Year-Old Bottle That Changed Aurora Beer’s Packaging

56:14 Favorite Beer and Food Pairings

60:20 Final Toast: Good Beer and Being True to Yourself

About Foreign Exchange Brewing Company: A microbrewery specializing in innovative small-batch and oak-aged ales, this Aurora, Illinois brewery was named 2020’s Best New Brewery in Illinois by PorchDrinking.com. Learn more at https://www.foreignexchangebrewing.com/

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Our executive producer and editor is award-winning podcaster Cody Gough. He says that in this episode, you’ll learn about: Kittywampus coffee milk stout, Primo Pils jalapeño lime pilsner, triple IPA, Sweater Weather old-fashioned on tap, habanero lime Chicago-ish, Church Street Brewing, Energy City Brewing, foeder mixed culture fermentation, Riverlands Brewing.