Chicago Microbrew Sampler

With the increased attention on the local craft beer scene, a popular gift request has been a sampler of local microbrews. Looking through a variety of threads, I have seen mentions of Half Acre, Piece, Goose Island, Two Brothers, Three Floyds, Metropolitan,and Flossmoor Station.

A.) Which local producers did I miss?
B.) If you were putting together a sampler, which beers would you include (please be specific as to which bottlings).

If you're willing to go with growlers, just about any local brewpub will work for you. If you're looking for local options in bottles, then your list is pretty complete (although Piece would be out - that's growlers only). But if Kalamazoo is considered local, you might add Bell's, and if you're considering Southern Wisconsin, add Capital, Sprecher and Lakefront.

What kinds of beers do your friends like? If they're into big, aggressive beers, consider almost anything from Three Floyds - especially the signature Alpha King (somewhat similar to Half Acre's Daisy Cutter), or even better, Dreadnaught.

If they're into more subtle, finessed beers, Metropolitan's beers are all great - I especially like the Krankshaft Kölsch. Domaine DuPage from Two Brothers is a nice example of a French Biere de Garde.

Goose Island's line of Belgian (esp. Matilda and Juliet), and any of their heritage collection beers, would be welcomed by any beer drinker averse to BudMilCoors, as would the Bourbon County Stout.

Have fun assembling your samplers.

Thanks nr706, the primary requester lives in SE Wisconsin. We have visited Lakefront and Sprecher with him. Great tours and choices. He leans towards more aggressive beers and doesn't blanch at hoppy beers.

To me, growlers would be fine and would indicate a relatively low availability, which would tickle him. If you have any growler specific choices, I'd love to hear them.

My initial list of beers to include would be:

Dark-n-Curvy Dunkelweizen from Piece
Alpha King from Three Floyds
Bourbon County Stout by Goose Island

After that I had heard very good things about Half Acre and Metropolitan. I will have to try some of your suggestions. That is the best part. Thanks so much for the suggestions, please keep them coming.

Emmett's Brewing (aka Emmett's Ale House/Tavern brewpubs in Dundee, Palatine, Downers Grove) is now bottling Victory Pale Ale. Not sure if it's available in stores yet but should be at the various pubs.

Goose Island often has a lot of beers not available in bottles but (presumably) available in growlers. If their current list is correct, the Midway IPA and Noire are real stand-outs.

I think the Dark-n-Curvy is all right, but I prefer the Dysfunctionale and Full Frontal Pale Ale. Then again, if you're already committed to Alpha King, that's a lot of American pale ales.

The new schwarzbier from Half Acre (Magnus) is very, very good. From the brewer's blog, it seems like they tend to have a variety of beer available at their brewery, including stuff that will never get bottled/distributed (so another option for growlers).

Local could also include Dark Horse (Michigan -- look for the Crooked Tree IPA), New Holland (Michigan) and Founders (and once more... Michigan) -- all three of which are pretty well-represented in Chicago's better liquor stores.

Goose Island Clybourn Brewpub
1800 North Clybourn
Chicago, IL 60614
312.915.0071

Half Acre Beer Company
4257 N. Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
773.248.4038

msmre wrote:Thanks nr706, the primary requester lives in SE Wisconsin.

To me this means beers you can't buy in Wisconsin. Goose Island, Three Floyds, and Two Brothers, while great breweries, are fairly easy to find in Wisconsin.

Also there are many great beers offered by the local breweries, but many of their best offerings are seasonal. Really you might just want to walk into Binny's or your local liquor store with a decent selection and just pick up some stuff from that list you made of local breweries. Nearly everything they make is high quality.

If you'd like to get stuff your friend can't get in Wisconsin then I'd buy whatever IPA is currently available from Flossmoor. Just go to a store that carries their beer and pick up the bottle with wax on it. If you're lucky they'll have two different ones. Then I'd grab whatever I can find from Half Acre or Metropolitan. Ideally the Daisy Cutter from Half Acre and the Flywheel from Metro, but you might not have that many options. Also be aware that these beers can be somewhat hard to find even in Illinois, so it's probably worth calling before you head to the store.

If you're willing to go to the breweries and get growlers, then Piece is a good option. Also Flossmoor has a ton more options at the brewery than they do in bottles, but I have no idea what's on the tap at the moment, why not taste for yourself at the brewery (woohoo!). Goose Island usually offers a couple brewery only beers as well, the Night Stalker comes to mind as a good one you can't get in bottles.

Of course if you don't mind picking up beer your friend can buy in Wisconsin since it is a gift after all my top picks would be Dreadnaught and Alpha Klaus from Three Floyds, Juliet and BCS from Goose Island, and Heavier Handed IPA from Two Brothers (don't get the Hop Juice, it was released in June, so even if you do find it, it's just not the same anymore).

I'm also a big fan of the stuff coming out of Evanston's Boilover Brewery™ - the just-released Potato IPA is an interesting example of the style. Bottles can be a bit hard to find, though.