Brewery Showcase | Schmohz Brewing Company

Schmohz Brewing Company is one of the lesser known breweries in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In a field of highly recognizable names, it’s not surprising, but it is unfortunate because the beers are stellar and the people are good fun. It is possible that part of the reason for their lack of publicity is that the atmosphere at 2600 Patterson SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan is a little different from what you might expect at a modern microbrewery. Read More

Mikerphone Brewing, Toppling Goliath Talk Beer Releases

Beer releases are a tricky thing. As more and more people take an interest in craft beer, the next release of a hazy NE-IPA, mix culture barrel-aged wild/sour, or big barrel-aged stout are getting more hyped, more complex and trickier for the brewery to manage. There is no such thing as a perfect release, however, breweries today are doing their best to figure out how to get their beer out to their customers.

Whether it’s a smaller/newer brewery like Mikerphone Brewing, or a more established one like Toppling Goliath, the logistics behind releasing highly sought-after beer are nothing simple.

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Chicago Quick Sips | September 18

Quick Sips is our way of highlighting beer events, tap takeovers and other notable beer news around the city of Chicago. If you’d like to submit something to be included in the next Quick Sips, please email us at [email protected].

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Event Preview | Toppling Goliath GABF Tap Takeover at Tap and Handle

Toppling Goliath Brewing Company, a brewery that RateBeer has awarded several “best” categories including double IPA, strong stout and American amber or pale, will be making its Colorado debut during the week of the Great American Beer Festival. The esteemed Iowa brewery will have a special GABF tapping at Tap and Handle in Fort Collins, Colorado at 5 p.m. on Monday October 2 (the brewery will also make its way down to Denver on October 4 at LowDown Brewery). Read More

Dovetail | Bamberger Dunkel

Fans of Bavarian-style beers will want to check out Dovetail’s new beer, Bamberger Dunkel. It’s released just in time for Oktoberfest celebrations in the city of Chicago or just kicking off the fall season. This beer will make you feel warm with the windy city chill. It is medium bodied, so the drinker will not feel too full after a glass, thus leaving room for plenty of German sausage. If you forgot to BYOS (bring your own sausage) to Dovetail, don’t worry. They will have plenty of Landjäger for sale.

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Saint Errant Brewing | Strange Loops

Like many other new (or soon to be open) breweries, Brent Banks and Ryan Jacobs of Saint Errant Brewing started as homebrewers with full-time jobs. After repeated trips to Vermont … Read More

Chicago Quick Sips | September 11

Quick Sips is our way of highlighting beer events, tap takeovers and other notable beer news around the city of Chicago. If you’d like to submit something to be included … Read More

Rockmill Brewery | Tripel

Ask most people to picture Ohio, and they’ll probably think of flat farmland covered in soybeans and corn stretching for miles toward the horizon and broken up only by farmhouses and small towns. That’s an accurate enough image for much of Ohio, but as you head toward the southeast corner of the state, the landscape becomes something else entirely. This region is hilly and rugged, wooded and more wild than the tamed crop lands of the rest of the state. These are the foothills of the Appalachians, and this region of the Buckeye state feels like it has more in common with its neighbors, Kentucky and West Virginia, than its does with the rest of Ohio.

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Missouri Wineries Also Brewing Beer

Despite the heat, Labor Day symbolizes the transition of summer to autumn. For me, the arrival of cooler temperatures and fall foliage makes fall one of Missouri’s more glorious seasons. It’s also my favorite time of the year to visit our region’s wineries, and now many of them are also brewing beer.

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WarPigs Brewing | Lazurite

In 2015, 3 Floyds Brewing Co. and Mikkeller opened up WarPigs Brewpub in Copenhagen. Now the two have teamed up to open up a location here called WarPigs Brewing in the United States, and now their beers are available throughout the Midwest. Their flagship beer, Lazurite, is a big fruity IPA that is quickly becoming a fan favorite.

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Beer Label Art | Yellow Springs Brewery

When it came time for Yellow Springs Brewery in western Ohio to redesign their logo and cans, they wanted designs that would express both the experimental freedom of the brewery and the intricate, complex precision with which master brewer Jeffrey McElfresh crafts their excellent range of beers.
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Brewery Showcase | Sun King Brewery

“As a startup, you have the opportunity to self-distribute since nobody knows who you are,” said distributors to Sun King Brewery co-founder, Clay Robinson in 2009. Now, as Indiana’s second largest brewery and with numerous, prestigious brewing medals to its name, plenty of people know about Sun King Brewing.

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Chicago Quick Sips | September 5th

Quick Sips is our way of highlighting beer events, tap takeovers and other notable beer news around the city of Chicago. If you’d like to submit something to be included in the next Quick Sips, please email us at [email protected].

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Terrestrial Brewing Company | Saison D’Peppar

With Labor Day weekend behind us and as summer gives way to fall—and inevitably the annual avalanche of all-pumpkin everything—it’s best to make the most of the waning long days of warmth and sun. To me, it’s tough to beat drinking a cold one on a patio after a long day at the office and that’s exactly where I found myself not long ago. Read More

Church Street Brewing Expanding to the Caribbean #LocalGoesGlobal

Sand between the toes, hammocks, sunshine, rustling palm trees and now Church Street Brewing — that could describe your next Caribbean vacation. The suburban-Chicago brewery is taking its beer to the tropics!

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Event Preview | Chicago White Sox Craft Beer Night

White Sox Craft Beer Night continues the year-long, maturing relationship between craft beer and the White Sox at its home, Guaranteed Rate Field. It started with the introduction of the Craft Kave prior to Opening Day, but anyone going to games has seen craft beer at almost every corner. Now, by hosting its own craft beer festival on Sept 9, the White Sox are demonstrating their active participation within the broader aspects of Chicago’s craft beer scene.

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Chicago’s Beer Denotes its Rich Labor History

Chicago developed its big shoulders through the effort of those who toiled and labored, initially for little pay and having to endure horrendous working conditions. Railroads, meatpacking, printing and construction … Read More

Hurricane Harvey Relief Party in Chicago at The Walk-In

With a slogan of “Friendly as Fuck,” it’s no surprise The Walk-In bar in Chicago would help those ravaged by Hurricane Harvey. It’s even less surprising when you realize the bar’s General Manager, Phillip Smith, recently arrived to Chicago from Texas.

Thus, what was planned as a Labor Day party on Sept. 3 (2pm to 8pm) has transitioned to a relief party. All you have to do is walk in and order a few drinks; 15% of the total sales plus 100% of all gratuities will help support the Greater Houston Community Foundation. So, tip your servers well and help restore some lives
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The Curious Case of Nisei Lounge, the Oldest Bar in Wrigleyville

Nisei Lounge is one of the most unique dive bars on the Northside, and it’s also one of the best spots to grab a beer near Wrigley Field. Opened back in 1951, Nisei Lounge was around long before craft beer took hold of the bar scene and smack dab in the middle of the Cubs’ 108 years of mediocrity. Enter the present: Nisei Lounge still has the same toilets it had when it opened over 60 years earlier but has also added some new elements like five new flatscreen TVs and a new affinity for local craft brews that makes the local joint more than appealing for a loyal Cubs fan or everyday Chicago craft beer lover. Read More

Schlafly Marks the Return of One of its Originals

I’ve always been intrigued by pilsners. I feel this category of beer has sort of gotten the shaft. Like its first cousin, the lagers, pilsners may be suffering from a case of mistaken identity. As the population of beer lovers continues to embrace the art of craft brewing, it is this writer’s belief that lagers and pilsners are often incorrectly linked to macro breweries, especially in St. Louis, the city that Budweiser built. Read More