BuckleDown Brewing | Barbaric Blood Red Ale

BuckleDown Brewing and Vault Comics recently collaborated on Barbaric Blood Red Ale, launching Friday, Dec. 15. It’s an American Red Ale, offering rich malt flavor, subtle sweetness and a blood-reddish hue. It’s a well-balanced, approachable beer, clocking in at 6.5% ABV. Fans of BuckleDown Brewing and Barbaric can be the first to taste the beer at the BuckleDown Brewing taproom in Lyons, Illinois, on Friday, Dec. 15.

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BuckleDown Brewing Set to Release Four Varieties of its Significant BBA Series

On Black Wednesday (Nov 27), BuckleDown Brewing in Lyons, IL (just outside of Chicago proper) will release the third edition of its Significant BBA (Bourbon-Barrel-Aged) Imperial Milk Stout. The three-year-old program has transitioned from bombers to cans, and has grown from one bottled variety to four canned offerings:  the base and three variants. Each year, the brewery has used different barrels to store the beer with this year relying on Few Spirits, located in Chicago.

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Ultimate 6er | Beat the Heat with Chicago Summer Beer

Refer to it as mid-summer; the dog days; the height of summertime. Call it whatever you want, but the fact is that it’s hot outside in the Windy City. And so to beat the heat; we need a few refreshing beers. Whether you drink it watching a ball game while grilling or just basking in some air conditioning, it’s satisfying to have a beer that fits the season. Here are six Chicago summer beers sure to help keep the mind off the endless beads of sweat forming all over your skin.

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Brewery Showcase | BuckleDown Brewing

Enter the BuckleDown Brewing taproom and you’ll find, among other elements, an arrangement of leather furniture around a table (barrel) that makes one feel as if they have been invited into the BuckleDown home. It’s a fitting setting for an inviting brewery where the people matter as much, if not more, than the beer served to them. Ironically, BuckleDown opened with a production mindset in place rather than a brewpub or any concept intended to draw people through the door. Nonetheless, people arrived and relationships were forged. Catering to people isn’t a business strategy at BuckleDown: it’s organic and genuine. Read More

What We’re Drinking | March 23, 2018

Spring is here, but you would never know it by the various storms popping up in the news lately! The East Coast is covered in snow, and today in the Bay Area I drove through tough winds. I for one am looking forward to clear skies and higher temperatures so I can enjoy more time outside and not feel like I will be blown away. Join me in warming up with dog cuddles, crack a new cold one and see What We’re Drinking.

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Our Favorite Chicago Beers From 2017

2017 will undoubtedly go down as the year of the tap room for Chicago craft beer. Big names that have become synonymous with beer in the city finally opened their doors to the public. Off Color Brewing, Metropolitan Brewing, Maplewood and Half Acre’s new production facility are just to name a handful of places you can now go drink where you couldn’t before. Read More

What We’re Drinking | September 29, 2017

It’s almost October. Why is it so damn hot outside? I’m usually a lover of spring and fall, so this unseasonable warmth has to stop. Instead of enjoying Porters and Brown Ales outside, I’m drinking Session IPAs and Pilsners in the air conditioning like some kind of animal! When will the insanity end?! In an attempt to stay cool and kill time while autumn drags its feet, I prepared a special double-issue for you to enjoy. Fire up the AC, pack yourself in ice and get ready to see What We’re Drinking.
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Ultimate 6er | Chicago Summer Ale Varieties

The dog days of summer are upon us. With every drop of sweat comes a need for refreshment, and what better way to achieve that relief than with a beer? The citrus-laden and coconut-flavored brews are just begging to be enjoyed under the summer sun. Here are six summer ale selections to help carry you through July and onto the season’s dog days.

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Event Recap | Tullamore D.E.W. & BuckleDown Brew: The Beauty of a Boilermaker

A true celebration of fermentation — centuries of craft knowledge enjoyed one boilermaker at a time. I mean, who needs leprechauns and pots of gold when Tullamore D.E.W. rolls into town on March 15 with its decked-out tour bus and visits BuckleDown Brewing in the suburbs of Chicago? A host of people with thick Irish accents provided music to thirsty patrons’ ears with a chorus of Irish toasts and whiskey. Even better, the whiskey paired harmoniously with BuckleDown Brewing beer, orchestrated by its brewmaster and founder, Irish-American Sean Mahoney.

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Tullamore D.E.W. & A Brew Tour: Chicago-Area BuckleDown Brewing on March 15

Tickets: Click here to register for free

Few places embody the Irish spirit more than the local pub, which historically served as more than a place for grabbing a pint or sipping Irish whiskey; Irish pubs once stood as the community center, town hall, and anything else one can imagine. Americans, notably those without lineage tied to Ireland, are often accused of stomping on Irish traditions each St. Paddy’s day. But, that is changing, and few things demonstrate that evolution towards authenticity more than Ireland’s own Tullamore D.E.W Whiskey Distillery touring the United States. On March 15, that tour will take them to the bastion of blue-collar, neighborhood-style watering holes — BuckleDown Brewing in Lyons, IL (Chicago).

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March Beer Madness: Brewery Bracketology at Brass Tap Orland Park (Chicago)

Few places embrace local breweries like Brass Tap in Orland Park, Illinois (Chicago). But, this is no time to celebrate community — community, smoonity! This is March Beer Madness and it’s all about competition! One dozen breweries enter the tournament, but only one leaves a winner (and the lucky fans who picked it correctly). It starts with Chicago’s Maplewood Brewery vs. suburban Darien’s Miskatonic on day one, March 16th.

It’s free to fill out a bracket… so, who ya got?

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$10,000 raised for family of well-known beer industry volunteer

Rich Reynolds never earned a dime in the craft beer industry, but when he tragically and suddenly passed away, Chicago’s craft beer community came together to help his family.

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