2 Days, 2 Nights | A Complete Guide to Chicago’s Craft Beer Scene

Chicago has always been a weekend destination as people look to explore the city’s rich history, culture and of course, have a slice of deep dish pizza. It’s also now a place where craft beer fans can indulge in the wide array of breweries that the city offers. If anything, it might be overwhelming when trying to think of how to tackle all the breweries within the city limits. Spoiler alert—it would be virtually impossible to visit every single brewery in a weekend.

So if you’re coming to Chicago for a weekend, here’s a guide on how to get the most out of the Chicago craft beer scene in a limited amount of time. Understand that like I said above, it would be virtually impossible to do every brewery, so I had to leave some out. It’s nothing personal and you can alter this itinerary however you like. You’ll also notice that there are no suburban breweries on this list. I’ll be doing another itinerary in a couple of weeks that will focus on just suburban breweries—don’t worry guys, I didn’t forget about you!

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Colorado’s Primitive Beer to Serve Méthode Traditionnelle Beer in a Box

Built upon the wings of innovation, Colorado’s craft beer scene has already gained a reputation as trail blazers and pace setters for the rest of the industry. But when Longmont, CO’s Primitive Beer opens this Saturday, it’ll distinguish itself with a number of different milestones from day one.

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The Grateful Gnome Sandwich Shoppe & Brewery is Finally Open

One of Denver’s most anticipated brewery openings in 2018 has also had to endure the indelible distinction of having undergone one of Denver’s most maligned opening processes to date. Despite multiple failed general contractors, innumerable licensing delays and a scaffolding that tore through its ceiling, The Grateful Gnome Sandwich Shoppe and Brewery is finally open.

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The Strategic Approach Behind Dogfish Head’s New Summer 12-Packs

We’ve written on here before about Dogfish Head’s passion to stand out amongst growing competition in the craft beer market. Heck, we even devoted an entire 6er to it. But crafting a beer with scorching hot chili peppers or moon dust can only go so far. At some point, you need to find new ways to set yourself apart from the beer lining the shelf next to you. In their latest move, Dogfish Head is doing just that by introducing the new Off-Center Your Summer Pack. The new pack signals their shift towards differentiation by presenting a more premium product that offers more than just a 12-pack of beer to consumers. Dogfish Head Founder and CEO Sam Calagione offered his thoughts on the new seasonal variety pack and what its introduction to the market means for Dogfish Head and the larger craft beer arena.

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REPORT | America’s 50 Fastest Growing Breweries By Volume in 2017

As we’ve begun detailing in recent months, the shine of the craft beer industry has dimmed in recent months for the country’s largest craft producers. With a growing trend of layoffs, scaling back, and in some cases, like this year’s facility auctions at Smuttynose and Green Flash, the country’s larger regional sized breweries have begun feeling pressures that sometimes amount in sale or closure.

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From Barrels to Cans | Fulton Brewing’s New Mixed Four-Pack

Back in the Spring of 2015, Minnesota breweries entered a canning frenzy, as brewers like Surly and Badger Hill realized the benefits of the convenient packaging format compared to the archaic growler variety. Fulton Brewing also joined the canning fray during that period, becoming one of the first breweries in the bustling Northeast Minneapolis area to do so. A myriad of canned Fulton favorites can be found on shelves across Minnesota. Now, they have announced a new aluminum-clad offering.
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Denver’s Mockery Brewing & Butcher’s Bistro Raise $1,320 for Charity

Mile High City brewery Mockery Brewing and Butcher’s Bistro collaborated during the month of March to support a favorite charity, Veterans to Farmers.

Throughout the month, for every pint of Mockery’s “Rock the F*ck on Forever” IPA sold at Butcher’s Bistro, $1 went to the nonprofit. In addition, at the end of the month Butcher’s Bistro hosted a silent auction and celebration for Veterans to Farmers great work.

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Allagash Brewing’s Barrel-Aged Curieux is Headed to 12oz Bottles

Allagash Brewing Co. is an eastern stalwart of craft beer’s “old guard,” most known for their impressive spiced Belgian-style wheat beer, Allagash White. But Allagash’s influence in the Belgian style runs much deeper than just its flagship beer. The Maine-based brewery has had a strong barrel-aged program since 2004, having churned out a variety of quality Belgian-style stouts and tripels. Their first ever barrel-aged beer, Curieux, a bourbon barrel-aged Belgian Golden Ale blended with Belgian Tripel, has been a prominent offering of Allagash for over a decade, but it had only been available on draft and in 750ml bottles—until now. Having sensed consumer’s demand for more choice in packaging, Allagash responded by putting Curieux into 12oz bottles – a first for the brand’s barrel program, and an impressive achievement given the complexity of Curieux. The new packaging format is an exciting shift for the craft beer stalwart; we asked Jason Perkins, brewmaster at Allagash Brewing Company, why they’ve decided to make the move and what craft beer drinkers can expect.

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The PorchCast | Ep 50 Collaboration Fest 2018

In episode 50 of the PorchCast Tristan, and Hunter broadcasted at Alamo Drafthouse Sloan’s Lake and were joined by Keanan Stoner of Two Parts, the organizers for the 5th Annual Collaboration Festival, taking place this Saturday, March 31, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency in Denver, Colorado.

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Trendy Fad or Innovation in Beer? Inside the Curious Case for Hazy IPAs

The craft beer movement in the US has forever changed the definition of beer. The grapefruit and pine flavors of the cascade hop catalyzed a revolution in the late 1970’s that couldn’t be stopped. Brewers revived old styles, improved on current styles, and created entirely new ones at an astonishing speed.

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When Craft Breweries Bite Back | Summit Brewing’s Unique Approach to its UnTappd Reviews

The growth of craft beer and social media have followed somewhat similar trajectories. Both have become dominant forces in the day-to-day lives of many Americans, and both have become intertwined – for better or for worse. In its best sense, the availability of social media allows craft brewers to connect with their patrons and for beer lovers to socialize and discuss with one another, expanding their passion and knowledge of the industry. In the worse sense, social media platforms like Twitter and Untappd offer anonymous critics a vehicle through which to hurl insults, often unwarranted, at breweries.

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6,266 American Craft Breweries in Operation Combine for Market Growth

Craft Beer’s continued quest to gain market share over Big Beer saw some strides in 2017. The Brewers Association, the craft beer industry’s national not-for-profit trade organization, released a look back on high-level trends for craft beer in 2017 this morning. The most notable of which, includes the fact that America now boasts a record 6,266 breweries in operation.

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Half Acre Beer Company Expands its Creative Studio – Here’s Why

Half Acre Beer Company has always pushed boundaries with their beers. Whether it’s experimenting with their hops or sourcing exotic ingredients, the folks at Half Acre are well aware that what ends up in your glass is only a small part of the overall process of a beer’s creative journey. This comprehensive approach to creativity has manifested itself in other avenues of their business as well. They’ve had a woodshop for a while that sourced the wood pieces and artwork in their new Balmoral space, but they never had a formalized program for it. That has all changed given Half Acre’s recent announcement that they were expanding their creative studio into a fully-fledged business. Here is what you need to know about Half Acre Build Company.

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WeldWerks Brewing is Primed to Disrupt Retail Market in Fourth Year

This weekend, WeldWerks Brewing, one of America’s most buzzed-about breweries, will celebrate its third anniversary with three days of special tappings and bottle releases.

During their first three years of operation, the Greeley, CO-based brewery has earned a gold medal victory at the 2017 Great American Beer Festival, in the Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout category for Medianoche, and a silver medal for their Hefeweizen in the American Style Wheat Beer with Yeast category at both GABF and the US Open Beer Championship in 2015, and a bronze for Puesta del Sol, their Vienna-style Lager at the 2016 World Beer Cup. They’re also currently in the finals for USA Today’s For the Win Craft Beer Bracket for the Best Brewery in America and was named USA Today’s Best New Brewery in a 2016 10Best Reader’s Poll.

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Cask Taproom & Wine Bar Grand Opening March 23, 2018 (Berkeley)

Brian Sheehy and Doug Dalton own three Cask Store locations: the flagship downtown on 3rd and Market, and another spot in the old Rincon Postal Building near the Embarcadero, and Cask on College in Rockridge. Sheehy and Dalton own a handful of other great bars in the Bay Area, including Bourbon and Branch, Pagan Idol and Local Edition. They have been influential to the cocktail scene in this area for the past decade and many great bartenders who have gone on to open their own establishments came up through the ranks of this company. Cask Taproom and Wine Bar is the name of the new drinking establishment within the Cask on College Shop. I spoke with taproom manager and beer buyer Josha Baker about the history of Cask, herself, and the Grand Opening on March 23, 2018.
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With More Space, Off Color Brewing Expands on its Uniqueness

So, there I was, standing outside on a cold March night in Chicago watching Off Color’s social media manager Ben Ustick and co-founder Dave Bleitner (lovingly called “The Other Guy”) methodically put together the fence that would block off their soon-to-be-open patio space. There was a palpable excitement shared between Ben and Dave as they hammered each 2×4 into place. The patio meant something more than just providing extra seating on a swanky summer day. It was validation that Off Color’s grand experiment had paid off.

The new taproom space, dubbed the Mousetrap, has been a smashing success as it has provided Dave and the other Co-Founder Jon Laffler (the one you usually see in the papers) with more room to share their craft beer genius with hordes of willing Chicagoans. While 2017 was an exciting year for Off Color Brewing, with more momentum and new experiments in the hopper, 2018 is shaping up to be even better. Read More

Amalgam Brewing Finds Permanent Home in Denver After Powder Keg Closure

Philip Joyce and Eric Schmidt, co-founders of Amalgam Brewing, have never been ones to follow convention. In its first year of existence, Amalgam immediately established itself as a formidable contender in Colorado’s bountiful landscape of elite level barrel-aged blended sour producers, all without a physical taproom, its own production facility, or its own retail space, until now.

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Illinois Craft Beer Week Set to Kick Off May 18

As the number of craft breweries expanded rapidly in not only the suburbs of Chicago but all across the state of Illinois, there was talk if Chicago Craft Beer Week was feeling a little restrictive.

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Sculpin Standout | How Ballast Point Crafted an IPA That Stands the Test of Time

I remember sitting on the patio of Ballast Point’s Little Italy taproom in San Diego a few years ago sipping on a fresh Grapefruit Sculpin. At the time, I marveled at how impressive that beer tasted – the combination of mellow bitterness and fruity overtones came together in perfect harmony. It was one of the best beers I’ve ever tasted, and it’s still a beer I weigh other fruited IPAs against. Introduced in 2005, Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA has become a pace setter in the American craft beer scene — especially for West Coast IPAs.
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Brewers Association Ranks America’s 50 Largest Breweries By Volume in 2017

Every year the Brewers Association releases their list of the top 50 breweries by volume based on overall craft beer sales for the previous year.

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