#chicago Archives - PorchDrinking.com
Event Preview | Ultra Fresh IV Brings the New New Beers
June 28, 2019 | Abby Schmeling
This Saturday, June 29, marks the fourth annual Ultra Fresh Fest, brought to you by our friends at The Hop Review. This Chicago craft beer festival is truly unique, featuring pours from (mostly) local breweries that have been packaged within one week of the event. You know what that means? Some ultra fresh beer!
Lake Effect Brewing Company | School of Brett
June 26, 2019 | Eric Oliver
Down an alley, on the Northside of Chicago, school was in session as two neighbors invited their friend Brett over for a unique experiment.
Lake Effect Brewing Company founder, Clint Bautz, and Omega Yeast founder, Lance Shaner, became neighbors and … Read More
Event Recap | Chicago’s Craft Brews at the Zoo
June 25, 2019 | Paul Lewis
A Saturday filled with thunderstorms and unseasonably cold weather did not stop a large crowd of craft beer enthusiasts from descending upon Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo after hours to enjoy the annual Crafts Brews at the Zoo.
The event featured several local Chicagoland breweries including a select few from across the country and beyond. VIP ticket holders were welcomed with a half hour-early admission complete with access to a light appetizer bar and special tappings from Pollyanna Brewing (including a thick, delicious Malted Milk Ball Pastry Stout). As we’ve come to expect from a Lou Dog Events! festival, the event was very well organized with brewery pouring stations located throughout the park, embedded into many of the zoo’s animal exhibits. This allowed ample space to move around, see some animals and sample some great beer.
The weather kept a few of the animals indoors, but festival attendees had the opportunity to see an eastern black rhinoceros, Japanese Macaque and, of course… penguins! In addition to entertainment, we had some great beers being poured from breweries both local and beyond.
Ultimate 6er | Grand Slam Beers for Baseball Season
June 12, 2019 | Dave Drury 1
Baseball and beer are a match made in heaven. Sure, you can have one without the other but it’s a hell of a lot more fun when you combine the two.
With the boys of summer starting to get into the full swing and more and more craft breweries partnering up with MLB teams, we rounded up some of the best baseball-themed beers from across the country. Read More
Moody Tongue to Open New Restaurant & Bar in Baderbrau’s Old Space
June 4, 2019 | Mike Zoller 1
With his culinary background and his craft beer experience, it was only a matter of time before Moody Tongue’s Jared Rouben opened a full-service restaurant to bring together two of his passions.
Eff Chicago: A Minnesotan’s Impression of the First, Funkiest and Favorite Breweries
May 30, 2019 | Adam Rozanas
It’s been a few weeks now since we made a quick beercation to Chicago and Milwaukee. We thought about compiling all 17 breweries we visited into a single post but decided that wouldn’t be any fun for us to write or you to read. We considered highlighting our top five favorite breweries in each city but thought that would be too cliche.
Instead, in a moment of clever wit, we decided to feature three breweries in two posts each — the first brewery we visited, the funkiest brewery and our favorite brewery in each city. We hope you enjoy “Eff Chicago”!
Event Recap | 2019 Beer Under Glass
May 14, 2019 | Mike Zoller
One of the most anticipated events on Chicago’s craft beer calendar is Beer Under Glass (BUG). Put on by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild, the event kicks off Illinois Craft Beer Week each year and brings together breweries from all over Illinois.
Lo Rez Brewing | Apricot Knockout
May 14, 2019 | Ana Plefka
Lo Rez Brewing released Apricot Knockout in March, but the weather in Chicago is just warming up enough to dive into this farmhouse ale fermented with apricots. This beer rounds out Chicago’s Pilsen-based neighborhood brewery’s current four-pack offerings that put tartness in the forefront.
Revolution Brewing Finds Sustained Success, Growth in Their Hero IPA Series
April 30, 2019 | Taylor Laabs
Sometimes you take the best things in life for granted. Chicago’s craft beer foundation is built on excellent ales like Anti-Hero and Daisy Cutter, but they no longer generate the lines and Untappd check-ins of past years. It’s not their fault—Chicago drinkers have so many great craft beer options at their disposal that it often becomes overwhelming. So how do you consistently churn out excellent flagships while appealing to the “newness” decree of today’s craft beer drinker?
One valid option is Revolution Brewing’s Hero series. With taproom-only releases, unique 6-pack offerings and comic-inspired variety packs, the Hero line has helped the city’s largest independent brewer stand out from the fray and consistently provide something new to the masses. Each new offering allows Head Brewer Jim Cibak a chance to flex his brewing muscles in new and exciting ways. His latest notable creation is Cryo-Hero. I spoke to Jim and the Revolution team about the new Hero variant, the complexities of that brewing process and what other exciting beers they have planned for the coming months.
10th Annual Illinois Craft Beer Week Kicks Off
April 29, 2019 | Mike Zoller
In 2018 a lot of changes happened to Illinois’ celebration of craft beer. For the first time, Chicago Craft Beer Week was renamed to Illinois Craft Beer Week (ICBW), Beer Under Glass (BUG) moved to a Friday and the event lasted two weeks.
2019’s Illinois Craft Beer Week will follow suit to the 2018 event as BUG will continue to kick-off the festivities on Friday, May 10, at the Garfield Park Conservatory. However, ICBW will last just one week.
Funkwerks Talks the Opportunities and Strategy of Launching in a New Market
April 8, 2019 | Taylor Laabs
Colorado makes a lot of good beer; thankfully, many of the brewers that call the state home have made it a point to distribute their goods outside of their state lines. As margins continue to decrease and shelf space continues to dwindle, the mid-size breweries that distribute on a regional basis have shrunk as well. Throwing your beer into a new state is a harrowing business venture that requires a variety of planning and strategy to ensure that your beer competes well on-shelves and on draft with more local options. Fort Collins-based Funkwerks recently made such a move, announcing that four of their offerings are now available in Chicago, tallying their total distribution presence to 11 states.
Michigan’s Jolly Pumpkin Creates Neighborhood Feel in Chicago’s Hyde Park
April 2, 2019 | Mike Zoller
As more and more breweries pop up, the idea of the neighborhood brewery is becoming increasingly popular. To wit: Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales’ only location outside of Michigan, their Hyde Park location which opened in 2017, is quickly become a gathering space for the community.
Event Recap | Uppers and Downers 2019
April 2, 2019 | Mike Zoller
To call Uppers and Downers “just” a coffee beer fest would be a disservice to how the event highlights both the coffee and the beer industry.
Inside the Tank | Crystal Lake Brewing
March 25, 2019 | Mike Zoller
While there are a lot of big name breweries operating inside the city of limits of Chicago today, the surrounding suburbs are producing notable beers that often fly under the radar.
Since 2014, Crystal Lake Brewing has been producing beers that have become a mainstay for McHenry County. In that time, the brewery has begun to make more of a name for itself outside of Crystal Lake, IL.
Mikerphone Brewing Opens Addition, Preps for Smells Like a Beer Fest
March 25, 2019 | Mike Zoller
Two years to the day Mikerphone Brewing opened its taproom, the brewery officially opened its new addition, called the Mikerphone Blue Room. The expansion more than doubles the total square footage of the brewery, triples the seating capacity, and opens the door to a future that founder and owner Mike Pallen never could have imagined.
Maplewood Brewery | Charlatan Pale Ale
March 22, 2019 | Dave Drury
For my first piece for PorchDrinking, I decided to revisit a beer that kicked off my love of craft beers.
I still remember the first time I tried The Charlatan…back before it was canned. Before it received its new look. Hell, even before Maplewood came to be known as Maplewood.
What’s In Store for Pilot Project, Chicago’s First Brewing Incubator
March 15, 2019 | Ana Plefka
Recently dubbed the “beer capital of America,” Chicago will soon welcome an entirely new brewing concept to the city. Pilot Project Brewing will be Chicago’s first formal brewing incubator – a space for experimentation and collaboration.
Set to open by early summer at 2140 N. Milwaukee Ave., Pilot Project introduces the city to the incubation concept, adopted at brewing spaces across the country such as Rocky Mount Mills and Labrewatory. All who brew are welcome at Pilot Project, from amateur homebrewers looking to kickstart a professional career, to existing breweries in search of an outlet for experimenting with flavors, styles, and peers.
More Brewing’s Head Brewer & GM Leave to Form Phase Three Brewing
March 14, 2019 | Mike Zoller
Nine years ago when Shaun Berns, his wife Brittany and best friend Evan Morris were working at RAM Restaurant & Brewery, they had talked about one day opening their own brewery. The three made their way from RAM to More Brewing which opened in July of 2017. Less than two years later, the three are ready to open up their own brewery – Phase Three Brewing Company.
Event Preview | Uppers & Downers
March 5, 2019 | Mike Zoller
Solemn Oath Brewery represented Chicago at the very first Uppers and Downers in Pasadena, California in 2015. Since then, the festival has been held in Chicago and on March 30, the premier coffee beer festival put on by Good Beer Hunting returns to Thalia Hall.
Chicago Quick Sips | March 4 Chicago Beer News & Events
March 4, 2019 | Taylor Laabs
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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