Dovetail Set to Release Chicago’s First Commercially-Produced Kriek

Dovetail Brewery’s Kriek beer has been in the works for almost as long as the brewery has been open. After two years in production, the Kriek, believed to be the first Kriek commercially produced in Chicago, will be released in bottles tomorrow at the brewery.

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Chicago Quick Sips July 9-22

Quick Sips is our way of highlighting beer events, tap takeovers and other notable beer news around the city of Chicago, IL. 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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2018 Bourbon County Labels Hint Possible Neapolitan, Horchata, Reserve Variants

While there are still 137 days until the 2018 batch of Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout will be released, the hype has started with the approval of a variety of labels by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau last week.

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Chicago Quick Sips | June 25

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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Surly Brewing Upping its Chicago Presence With Three Summer Beers

Last year Surly Brewing made it clear — Chicago was a market they wanted to have a stronger footprint in. They switched distributors in January from Windy City Distributing to Lakeshore Beverage, AB-InBev’s High End distributor, and have subsequently made an immediate impact on the Windy City’s craft beer scene.

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Book Review | Barrel-Aged Stout & Selling Out

When Goose Island was sold to Anheuser-Busch in 2011, the craft beer industry was a sliver of what it is today. Just a handful of breweries were operating in the city and the idea of a hazy beer would have been blasphemous.

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Inside the Tank | Empirical Brewery

A lot has changed over the past year for Empirical Brewery. They moved to self-distribution, the brewpub, just a stones throw away from the taproom, is in full-swing, and they are moving from bottles to cans. There’s a lot of great beer coming out of the small taproom in Andersonville so we went out there and spoke with CEO Bill Hurley and Head Brewer/Taproom Manager Jacob Huston about Empirical, craft beer in Chicago and the industry in general. Read More

Ballast Point Set to Open New Chicago Brewery

The West Coast meets the Midwest on Tuesday when Ballast Point Brewing Company opens its Chicago brewery in the West Loop neighborhood. The long-awaited opening adds another well-known beer name to the city’s beer scene.

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Event Preview | 2018 Illinois Craft Beer Week

While it seems that Illinois is celebrating craft beer every week of the year, there’s one week in May that is set aside to specifically recognize the role that the Prairie State is playing in the greater world of craft brewing.

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Event Preview | Mikerphone Brewing Smells Like A Beer Fest

By the time you’re done reading this sentence, tickets for Mikerphone Brewing Smells Like A Beer Fest would have sold out. An exceptionally lucky 400 people obtained tickets to the inaugural event that will be held at the brewery on April 28 which features a star-studded lineup of breweries both local and from around the country.

The festival replaces Pale Pauper Day which had been held over the past few years as an alternative to the popular 3 Floyds Dark Lord Day. 

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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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PorchDrinking Co-Hosting Two Events During Illinois Craft Beer Week

This year PorchDrinking.com is pairing up with two local Chicago bottle shops for two great events during Illinois Craft Beer Week. Both events are designed to introduce the city to breweries that are new to Chicago or are out in the suburbs and might not be well-known to people living in the downtown area.

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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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Chicago’s Howells & Hood | One Last Summer Fling

Chicago’s Howells & Hood restaurant and pub, with its 119 beers on tap, lies at the confluence of two Chicago icons—the “Mag Mile” and The Tribune Building. Besides the lauded culinary program and extensive beer list (and draft wine, and cocktails and more), H&H boasts of a fabulous patio that provides patrons with an exceptional, photogenic view of the Chicago skyscape. On March 1, Howells & Hood raided the Bourbon County barrel cellars of Goose Island for its five-year anniversary. The Goose presence served to be somewhat symbolic, sort of speak, as is proved to be Howells & Hood’s Anniversary Party swan song; renovations to the Tribune building will force H&H out on September 30. That leaves fans of the pub (and tourists) one more summer to drink beer surrounded by Chicago’s architectural big shoulders.
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Two Brothers Adds Three New Beers to Their Lineup

For over two decades, Two Brothers Brewing Company has been making solid beer and is a mainstay in the Chicago beer scene. Just recently, they added a new year-round beer to their rotation as well as two seasonal/limited releases.

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More Brewing | Henna S’MoRE (Batch 3)

Rarely do I geek out over a specific beer. There’s a lot of great beer out there and getting to live in Chicago, we get the next “must-have” beer more often than not. But when I had More Brewing’s Henna Batch 3, I had a beer that I knew was truly special.

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Marz Community Brewing Officially Opens a Taproom in Chicago

Just minutes before Marz Community Brewing Company was set to open for the first time this past Saturday, a line stretched from the door and around the corner with craft beer fans ready to welcome the long-awaited taproom to the Chicago beer scene.

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Stem Ciders Celebrates One Year in Chicago, Looks Ahead to 2018

At the 2017 Cider Summit in Chicago, Denver’s Stem Ciders was officially introduced into the Chicago market. One year later, they’ve carved out a nice foothold in the growing cider offerings throughout the city and have been able to stand out in a very crowded space.

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Inside the Tank | Open Outcry Brewing

One day on Twitter I asked our followers which brewery we should visit for the next Inside the Tank. Almost immediately my notifications went off with people telling me to visit Open Outcry Brewing. I’ll admit I had never even heard of the brewery, but the support they got on Twitter got me curious.

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Off Color Brewing | Coffee Dino S’mores with Dark Matter Coffee

Over the past three to four months Chicago has seen a plethora of great coffee stouts released from local breweries. Off Color Brewing’s Coffee Dino S’mores made with Dark Matter coffee continues the boom we’ve seen of java-forward beer.

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