Chicagoland Best Stout Alternatives to BCBS This Black Friday

For years, Black Friday has been a day for craft beer fans to hunt down Goose Island Bourbon County and its variants. 

But as more and more breweries pop-up, the options for prolific barrel-aged beers are becoming greater and greater. If you don’t want to stand in line or feed big beer’s coffers by purchasing BCBS in Chicago, you have plenty of other options. Here’s our roundup of barrel-aged beers available in the Chicagoland area that you don’t have to wait in line for.

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Event Recap | Stone DRK Beer Fest

The Stone DRK Beer Fest was set to kick off right at 6 p.m. The grounds of the Stone gardens is beautiful, tranquil and primal. Rocks and boulders are everywhere with the natural landscape coming through between the ponds and small brooks. On the site there are multiple tasting booths, some serving straight from bottles, other serving from keezers and kegerators, and of course one of the bars.

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Event Preview | Uppers & Downers

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.

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Deep Wood vs. Bourbon County | Who Won in Chicago?

With Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout now fully released and Revolution’s Deep Wood series with one more small release in January, we can take a step back and see how these beers stacked up against one another this year.

In no way am I saying that these are the best and only barrel-aged Stouts coming out of Chicago that we should talk about this season. However, when you have two behemoths like Revolution and Goose Island in one city, it’s hard not to compare them side-by-side with their biggest releases.

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Five Great Chicago Stouts You Don’t Have to Line Up For

We have officially entered that time of year where breweries begin releasing their big, barrel-aged beers. Many come with massive release events that can draw large crowds and (of course) long lines. The beers might be hard to get and if you don’t get them on release day…you’re out of luck.

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Beer Debate | The Great Groundhog Day Results Showdown

When Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his slumber, the fate of the winter is in his furry little paws. Will spring come early, or will winter be sticking around for six extra weeks? This change in season doesn’t only affect the weather but also the beers that we’ll be drinking. Northeast Region Editor Dan Bortz and writer Constance Del Rio are about to engage in a verbal Battle Royale about whether or not they’d like the groundhog to see his shadow. This is the Great Groundhog Day Showdown!

Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Let us know in the comments! Read More

Staff Picks: Colorado’s Best Stouts

Much to the dismay of Colorado’s powder hounds, its taken a little longer than expected for the Centennial State to feel full effects of winter this season. However, as we’ve inched toward February (Colorado’s official Stout Month thanks to the Mountain Sun Breweries), temperatures have dropped, and it’s finally time to embrace the bounty of prolific dark and roasty stouts this state has to offer. As we look back on all of the tremendous beers consumed in 2017, our staff took some time to share their picks for Colorado’s best stouts from the past year.

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FoBAB Releases Brewery Lineup for First Time Ever

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Festival of Wood & Barrel-Aged Beers (FoBAB), event organizers have released the complete list of breweries that will be pouring prior to the event for the first time ever. While the specific beers can’t be listed due to the competition and judging aspect tied to the festival, more hype has been added for the November event as festival-goers now have a preview of what’s to come.

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Beerology | The History of Stouts

“Studying the history of Porter is like staring into the multidimensional universe of theoretical cosmology, with multiple shifting parallel worlds constantly warping and shifting with the flow of time. The … Read More

River Horse Brewing Co. | Oatmeal Milk Stout

When the cold weather begins to settle in, for me the craft beers tend to change from light to dark. Fall has come and when fall arrives, “everything” pumpkin comes … Read More

Festival Recap | Parade of Darks Festival 2014

Over the last five years, Parade of Darks has become a Denver staple, helping with the transition from Thanksgiving into the holiday season. This year’s event switched gears from year’s past by moving from the comfortable confines of the upstairs area at Wynkoop Brewery to the exciting and bustling Bindery on Blake.

The complex at 29th and Blake was extremely busy, hosting both a flea market open to the public and the ticketed beer festival. The Parade of Darks was separated from the Flea Market in a large open-space area as well as a long hallway. Breweries lined the large area as well as the backside of the hallway.

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UPDATED with beer list! Event Preview | Parade of Darks 2014

What: 5th Annual Parade of Darks Beer Festival
Where: The Bindery on Blake – 2901 Blake St, Denver, CO 80205
When: Saturday, December 6, 2014 – 1:00pm to 4:30pm
Ticket link: http://www.imbibe-events.com/event/2014-parade-of-darks/

Parade of Darks, the beer festival for lovers of ambers, porters and stouts, will return for its fifth year on December 6 from 1-4:30 PM. Wynkoop Brewing Company has changed the location from their downtown brewery to the Bindery on Blake (2901 Blake St.). Your $35 ticket includes unlimited samples of more than 60 brews from 25+ breweries, a commemorative festival tasting glass, and that warm feeling inside that comes from knowing all the profits go to Metro CareRing.

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Roundtable Discussion | Favorite Stout

Sadly, 21st annual Stout Month at the four Mountain Sun locations in Colorado comes to an end this month. Don’t forget to stop by Vine St. Pub this Thursday as they round out the month with their Chops Competition and the final tappings of stout month. In honor of the awesomesauce that was this past month, we asked the staff about their favorite stouts.

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Lexington Brewing Company Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout

Lexington Brewing Company’s Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout – (8.0% ABV)

A snow day has allotted me the time to bring you another beer review this week (lucky you). And, as optimism amongst most writers on and readers of this blog spikes about the impending Spring, my job, nay, my duty is to drudge everyone back down into the pragmatic and dark depths of Winter. So hold your daylight savings horses one minute, while the white still blankets the ground because the only green I see on the horizon is that of St. Patty and his drunken band of rabble rousers. What does all of this mean? It is only quarter to Spring and we still have a good fifteen minutes of darkness before the wheats inundate our gustatory cells and leave those forlorn Bocks, Stouts, and Porters to hibernate for the summer.

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Mountain Sun Brewing’s Stout Month

Mountain Sun Brewing’s Stout Month is coming. And as the immortal Samuel L. Jackson once said, “Hold on to your butts.” Every year, amidst the cold bitter winter months shines a beacon of hope and happiness. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Stout Month for the Mountain Sun family and it promises to be bigger, bolder and more stout than ever (see what I did there?)

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I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream! And Beer!

My dad (like most dads I would imagine) has a thing for beer, so every time he comes to visit, we take him to Flipdaddy’s, a burger joint that’s anything but ordinary. Not only do they have amazing burgers (you can even create your own!), but they also have 24 beers on tap, all craft brews. The last time we were there, he had a glass of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, and then he ordered a pint of The Poet.
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