🎙️Welcome to episode twenty-six of Liquid Liner Notes! On this episode I chat with Dylan Melvin, one of the founders of My Dear Friends Wine.

Dylan is the director of adult beverage for Foxtrot Market, and one of the partners of is/was brewing which is where I first met him.

After spending much of the shutdown in environments conducive to bagged wine he became fond of the format. Going so far as to fill bladders with bottled wine to take to hangouts. This sparked an idea, quality affordable wine in large formats.

Next week, after nearly two years of planning and work, that initial idea launches in Chicago as My Dear Friends Wine. In effort to find value that makes this project work, Dylan and his patterns will be sourcing grapes from South Africa’s Western Cape. A region that, due to political and socio-economic variables, has been forgotten in the wine world. Those grapes will be turned into wine using traditional minimal intervention methods.

South Africa has a deep history in viticulture due to its soil composition and use of various techniques like dry-farming and bush vines.

My Dear Friends will begin distribution in Chicago & Dallas through Foxtrot Market locations with three different wines. The three include a Sauvignon Blanc, a skin contact white, and a red table wine. The wine will be packaged in 1L bottles and 1.5L bagnums, with a price that comes out to what would be $15-$16 for a regular sized bottle of wine.

You can find My Dear Friends on Instagram at @MyDearFriendsWine and on their website mydearfriendswine.com.

🎙️Welcome to episode twenty-five of Liquid Liner Notes! This weeks episode is with Doug Veliky - @BeerAficionado on Instagram/TikTok, creator of Beer Crunchers, and now partner of BrightBev.

Doug is one of the leading voices in the craft beverage industry focusing on economics and business strategy. He’s also one of the most prolific voices in the industry’s social media world. Recently he announced he was leaving his position as Chief Marketing Officer at Revolution Brewing to join BrightBev, a platform for emerging beverage brands that helps founders with route to market and distribution.

During the conversation we dive into Doug’s background and how he fell in love with craft beverage. We further discuss his professional experience and how it, and his persistence, prepared him for this role with BrightBev. Starting with his time at Reyes, one of the largest distributors in the country, Doug then made a switch to Revolution Brewing here in Chicago as Chief Financial Officer. During his time at Revolution Doug became involved in strategic planning outside of finances, and eventually switched into a full-time marketing role.

Moving to BrightBev along with Doug is his award winning data-driven blog - Beer Crunchers! You’ll have to listen in, but the result will be more content!

You can find Doug on Instagram & TikTok at @BeerAficionado, on his blog https://beercrunchers.substack.com, and through BrightBev at https://www.bright-bev.com.

🎙️Welcome to episode twenty-four of Liquid Liner Notes!

This week’s episode is a little different! I sat down with Marty Scott, the barrel manager of Revolution Brewing. We tasted through and chatted about Revolution’s October 2025 Deep Woods releases which include: Deth’s Tar, Café Deth, Vanilla Deth, and Cocoa Vanilla Deth.

Coming off of a bronze medal at the Beer World Cup, we discuss Rev's process to create the base to many of their Deep Wood releases - "Deth's Tar". Blending sweet and dry components of the bourbon barrel aged base imperial oatmeal stout. As well as their partnership with their barrel brokers @MidwestBarrelCo.

For "Café Deth" we discuss the coffee selection process with @DarkMatterCoffee, as well as how Rev adds coffee to extract the best parts of coffee in the beer.

For "Vanilla Deth" we discuss the addition of not only hand split whole vanilla beans, but a unique addition of "vanilla toasted" oak from @CreativeOak_. This additional oak helps impart vanilla flavor, while also aiding the drinking experience with a dry finish....you'll have to listen in to learn about oak and hydrophobia!

"Cocoa Vanilla Deth" is a "Twenty Ten Variant Collection" release in a 19.2oz can. It is an imperial oatmeal stout aged in bourbon barrels with the addition of chocolate and vanilla. The chocolate comes from @SleepWalkChocolateria, a sister company of Dark Matter. We talk about this selection process as well as how adding cocoa beans differs from coffee.

Finally we talk about the preview parties and release day! On October 3, 2025, local record/book store @BucketOBlood helps turn the taproom's vibes spooky. To celebrate Halloween month there will be a limited edition Rev horror themed shirt as well as three extra special draft variants! Vanilla du Fou, Vanilla Mocha Deth, and Stoopermassive Reserve!

Pre-orders open September 30, 2025 at 9am central!

You can find Revolution Brewing at their taproom (3340 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago, IL 60618) and online at https://revbrew.com.

🎙️Welcome to episode twenty-three of Liquid Liner Notes! On this episode I chat with Ray Stout, the executive director of the Illinois Craft Brewer’s Guild.

The Guild is a non-profit trade union representing Illinois’ craft brewers since 1997. Ray (@JustRayIV) has been the executive director since November 2021.

First we get to know Ray’s professional background before his time at the Guild. Then we talk about the Guild’s structure, including the different memberships.

The Guild’s main focuses are Promotion, Advocacy, and Education. Ray and I discuss each in detail.

Some things we discuss for Promotion are the different events held, including Illinois Craft Beer Week (@ILCraftBeerWeek) and the upcoming Festival of Barrel Aged Beers (@FoBAB) that is November 7th & 8th this year. We also discuss their partnership with the @IllinoisBrewing Magazine that is released quarterly - physically and digitally.

Advocacy may be my favorite thing we discussed. We discuss the Guild’s legislative work at the local, state, and Federal levels. These initiative include increasing self-distro abilities and modernizing beer laws in Illinois. We also discuss the increasing prevalence of canibus and Hemp derived beverages in the industry, and some of the legal hurdles that exist.

The Guild also does a lot of work to increase diversity in the industry via the workforce and consumer. This includes their Diversity in Brewing Scholarship in partnership with the @SiebelInstitute.

Finally we discuss some of the concerns facing the industry, and end on what excites Ray for the future of Illinois beer, and what the Guild has coming up.

You can find the Illinois Craft Brewer’s Guild on Instagram at @ILCraftBeer and online at https://www.illinoisbeer.org.

🎙️Welcome to episode twenty-two of Liquid Liner Notes! On this episode I chat with Miles Bonny - multi-instrumentalist, producer, and community activist.

A great conversation with an inspiring artist and human. We discuss his familial roots in music, his journey as an artist from college in Lawrence, Kansas, to Kansas City, world wide tours, and now in Taos, New Mexico where he calls home.

We talk about his newest project "Letters from the Desert", released in 2024 with the amazing vocalist Shhor (@shhorishere), Mile's wife & partner.

We wrap up discussing Mile's community work, which includes being the Director of Taos Alive . An organization that works to prevent and help Taos youth with substance abuse issues through mental health, mentoring, and organizing education opportunities for fellow adults in the community.

You can find Miles on Instagram at @MilesBonny as well as on Bandcamp at: https://milesbonny.bandcamp.com/music

Outro song is "Honor My Love" off Letters from the Desert.

🎙️Welcome to Episode Twenty-One of Liquid Liner Notes!

On this episode I chat with Emily McGill, the lead singer, guitarist, and mastermind behind the psych-rock/dream-pop music project Milou Moon (@MilouMoon_).

Our chat starts with how she became interested in music and what her early inspirations were. Then we talk about starting music school at Chicago’s School of Rock, and traveling parts of the US playing classic rock covers.

Next we talk about how she turned years of ideas into reality with under the name Milou Moon during the pandemic. We discuss how moving to Naarm (Melbourne), Australia impacted her musically, how she was welcomed into the city’s music scene, and eventually found bandmates.

We then dig into how she finds inspiration for song writing as well as her personal process for creation. We talk about playing gigs in both Australia and her returns to Chicago, which involved finding new bandmates for live shows.

Finally we talk about what’s next for Milou Moon, including a new single releasing this Thursday (2/20) that is part of a forthcoming album, future tours, and even a vinyl pressing of the next project.

You can find can find Milou Moon on Instagram at @MilouMoon_, on Spotify, as well as on YouTube

🎙️Welcome to Episode Twenty of Liquid Liner Notes!

On this episode I chat with Eric Hobbs (@EriclHobbs), Co-Founder and CEO of Blind Corner Brewery (@BlindCornerBeer) in Naperville, Illinois.

We start with Eric's professional background in the brewing industry. He began right out of college as a sales rep for a distribution company, and then moved to Joseph Huber/Berghoff Brewery as an Illinois State Manager.

Next, he moved to Goose Island Brewing Company, first as a Market Manager and eventually moving to a Key-Account Manager. After the buyout he moved to AB InBev for just over a year as a High End Manager before leaving to start his own brewery, Penrose Brewing Company. After three years the decision came that it was time for him to leave. His next stop was with Solemn Oath Brewing as Vice President and then Chief Operating Officer. Eric spent eight years at Solemn, before deciding to leave, growing their distribution footprint, opening a Chicago taproom, and starting several sub-brands.

Utilizing his two decades of experience, Eric co-founded Blind Corner Brewery with his two partners, Head Brewer JP Vander Veen (@ofthepeat), and Sales Director Nick Scofield (@nick_scof). Blind Corner operates as an alternating proprietorship with state of the art non-alcoholic brewery @GoBrewing and shares their taproom. Eric and I discuss what beers to look forward to, as well as carefully thought out processes like self-distribution, and top tier customer service.

You can find Blind Corner at their taproom, 1665 Quincy Ave, Naperville, IL 60540, as well as many boutique craft beer shops around the Chicagoland area.

🎙️Welcome to episode nineteen of Liquid Liner Notes!

On this episode I chat with Adam Vavrick (@Adam.Vavrick), the Corporate Buyer and Business Development Manager for Beer on the Wall (@WeHaveGreatBeerEH).

We start with how he became interested in craft beer, eventually working at Sam’s Wines & Spirits and then @BinnysBev after the purchase. We discuss being the beer manager at one of the largest beer shops in the Midwest during the time of exponential craft-growth. During his time at Binny’s he also oversaw the initial Goose Island bourbon county Black Friday release, with several to follow.

Next Adam moved to Waunakee, Wisconsin, to become the Director of Sales & Marketing for @DrinkOctopi, a state of the art contract brewery. Missing Chicago, Adam moved back to the city, taking the Beer Director role at @PublicanChicago. Working at Publican gave Adam his first experience in a restaurant, further developing his love of the experiential side of beer. While there Adam got to collab on beers with the likes of @FirestoneWalker, help open the O’hare location, and be named one of @WineEnthusiast’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2017.

Next Adam decided to go into the distribution business, founding Do Right Distribution Company in 2019. A boutique craft beer and cider distributor that focused on local Chicago breweries, as well as great European breweries from the defunct Shelton Brother’s portfolio. We talk about the adversity (physical, emotional, & financial) he faced during this venture, including a global pandemic. We also talk about finding his place in the industry again after closing the business.

After picking up bartending shifts at Revolution for a short time, Adam joined Beer on the Wall as Corporate Buyer and Head of Business Development. Beer on the Wall is a boutique craft beer, wine, and spirits store with three suburban locations in Chicagoland. We chat about building a beer program across multiple locations, and what it means for him to be back in customer facing side of beer.

Adam is also involved extracurriculars in the beer world, including being on the Board of Directors for the @BeerCultureCenter_, tasting with the Beverage Institute, and judging multiple global competitions.

Additionally, we talk about Adam’s love of music and synths. Be it creating and documenting sounds, working as a project manager at @WaxTraxChixago, or flying to help reconfigure synths for TOOL.