What's your favorite Chicago area brewery?

Hey everyone! I'm looking for local breweries to feature on my blog. I know there are a ton in the Chicago area and I'd love to hear which ones are your faves so I can check them out!

Thanks!

Three Floyds (in Munster, IN)
Goose Island (go to the Clybourn location)
Half Acre
Revolution
Metropolitan
Two Brothers

Roughly in that order for me. Although, to be honest, I think Goose has become my favorite overall for its breadth and depth of styles, but you wouldn't necessarily think so if all you know of them is their standard 12 oz bottle offerings.

I'm a fan of Goose, 3Fs, Half Acre and Revolution.

I think Piece is vastly underrated for their beer and I can only guess this is because people think of them more as a pizza place. love the pizza too.

I don't love Haymarket as a venue, but really enjoy their beers every time I'm there.

It's a big stretch to call it Chicagoland, but I absolutely adore Greenbush in Sawyer, MI just across the Indiana/Michigan border.

Have heard great things about Pipeworks and Spiteful but haven't had much from them yet.

Binko pretty much covered it for me

Three Floyds
Half Acre
Goose Island
Revolution
Two Brother's
Flossmoor Station

I like Haymarket. They have decent food and good beer within walking distance of the blue line. Works for me.

I agree Piece should be on list. But so should Pipeworks, and the new guy, Spiteful. If you're including brewpubs, also consider Atlas.

A brewery , that I have never been to but has a really unique business model is Begyle Brewing, which refers to itself as Community Supported Beer. It operates on the CSA model (probably to get around pesky licenses) and like a CSA is a non-profit that distributes growlers of its beer to "subscribers" on a weekly basis. I don't know if their beer is any good, but I really like the concept.

Another area brewery doing great things in 2012 was Solemn Oath. Only available in kegs right now. (I'm not sure what their plans are, hopefully they'll start bottling.)

I more or less agree with the breweries people have mentioned already, but I have to give some love to Metropolitan. They specialize in lagers and I love that whenever I'm in the mood for a crispy fresh pilsener or a malty red Metropolitan is easily available. I hope they branch out into some more German styles (a bready dunkel would be awesome), but for now I feel lucky that I can grab a six pack of fresh pilsener whenever I want.

These are an awesome start to my list. I'm not a beer drinker by any means so this is a big help. Now I've got to learn what I can about beer before I approach these breweries.

Thanks a bunch!

Here's three from the 'burbs.

Small Town, in Wauconda. Known for their potent Root Beer beer, they also produce other sweet ales.

Church Street, in Itasca. Producing clean, solid beers in sessionable gravities.

Tighthead, in Mundelein. Good lineup of a wide range of styles, all done very well.

Seconding Two Brothers.

Lunar Brewing is my go-to for growlers.

If you make your way up north, Mickey Finns in Libertyville have been around for a while, and their beers have always been solid.

412 North Milwaukee Avenue
Libertyville, IL 60048
(847) 362-6688

Also, the Rock Bottom on State & Grand tends to always have a good brewmaster. I don't know who's running the ship there now, but their specialty beers have consistently been top-notch when I've been there. Many people don't think of it because it's a chain, and their regular offerings are just okay, but they do good work with the specialty brews.

I also second the recommendations of Flossmoor Station, Piece, and Lunar. I can't believe I forgot about Flossmoor Station.

I'll say much of the same as above:

-Half Acre
-FFF
-Goose Island
-Revolution
-Two Brothers

But also don't overlook 5 Rabbit.

tyrus wrote:But also don't overlook 5 Rabbit.

So true. They're 5 lizard was one of my favorite summer beers.

If you want to cover a place that hasn't already gotten a lot of attention/press and deserves more, check out One Trick Pony in Lansing, IL.

www.facebook.com/OneTrickPonyBrewery

pancake wrote:Another area brewery doing great things in 2012 was Solemn Oath. Only available in kegs right now. (I'm not sure what their plans are, hopefully they'll start bottling.)

They do have a brew pub or tasting room, don't they? I've been wanting to get out there. I think BellyQ had one of their beers on tap a few weeks ago.

chgoeditor wrote:They do have a brew pub or tasting room, don't they?

They have a tasting room. I believe its open Wed-Sun, and not late (9 pm). It's hard to find, located in an industrial park behind a car dealership. They only take credit cards, no cash. Lately they seem to be more crowded. Probably after the Tribune gave them a write up a few months ago.

They offer a tasting flight of 4 beers, which is a great way to sample their variety.

Solemn Oath Brewery
1661 Quincy Ave
Naperville, IL

As far as breweries where you can buy their beer at a store my spending goes in this order

Goose Island - Bourbon County and its variants can't be beat, the sours are solid if not a bit overpriced for me now unfortunately and Sofie & Matilda are mainstays in my fridge

Pipeworks - I've really been enjoying their berliners and hoppy beers, Abduction was solid (got a sneak peak last week at the Coffee Break Abduction that is just starting to hit shelves and it was great). I love that they're putting out a wide range of styles of beer.

Revolution - Anti-Hero and Eugene cans are go to beers for me. Cross of Gold is a favorite when it comes to light, easy drinking beer. The barrel aged bottles have been tasty so far.

Half Acre - Daisy Cutter is probably my all-time most consumed beer. I just don't live close enough to anywhere that gets it fresh regularly to buy as much as the others above.

Three Floyds - Availablity and lack of bottle dating push them farther down the list than what my taste buds would like.

Metropolitan - I'm a big fan of the Kolsch, usually get 3 or 4 sixers of it throughout the year.

Two Brothers - Cane & Ebel is the only beer I usually buy from them.

5 Rabbit - Waiting for their brewery to open up so I can revisit their stuff. Had some bad bottles when they first came out.

Finch's - Not a fan of their beer or their marketing


As far as where I like to drink, the order is a bit different

Revolution - The brewpub or the tap room on Kedzie top my list of places that I like to drink at when I get into Chicago. The food at the brewpub is top notch. The beer lists at both places always have something special on tap.

Half Acre - The new tap room is great. I've probably been there 4 or 5 times since it opened.

Two Brothers - Despite not enjoying their beer all that much, it's still a fun place to drink at. The food at the brewpub in Warrenville is solid and the bartenders are great.

Three Floyds - I don't get here much but always have a great time when I do

Goose Clybourn - The beer list is usually pretty pedestrian and I feel the food is overpriced. I love the bar though.

Haymarket - Mathias is a great beer, haven't been enamored with much else I've had (although I haven't had all of their barrel aged beers). Food was pretty mediocre. Usually too crowded for my liking

Piece - Pizza and beer are both solid, but I don't go out of my way to get here

Solemn Oath - I like the space, but it's small and usually crowded. None of their beers have wowed me. They're clean beers, nothing off in them so that's good, but I haven't found anything that I have to go out of my way for.

Flossmoor - I pretty much gave up on this place after the way they got rid of Shimkos and his beers were a pretty big departure from when Matt Van Wyk was there.

I have never tasted anything made by 5 rabbit, that I thought was worth the considerable effort that it took to swallow. In fact I would have to vote their ancho chile pepper flavored brew (I won't even call it beer), the single worst thing I consumed all last year. The place has great credentials ,but it certainly proves the adage of too many chefs spoiling the broth (or in this case, brew). At a certain point too many add-on flavors makes a beverage turn from a beer into an over-the-top wine cooler. Kind of like salsa flavored Zima. I would not consider 5 rabbits' products beer, by any stretch of the imagination. Still I defend their right to produce their abominations, especially as long as there are people stupid enough to pay good money for it, just do me a favor and refer to them as Mexican themed malt beverages and not beer.
Oh well, to each his own. Still it is good to see that in just a few years, what would be considered a dearth of breweries in the former brewing capital of America, is now rapidly approaching an excess.

d4v3 wrote:I have never tasted anything made by 5 rabbit, that I thought was worth the considerable effort that it took to swallow. In fact I would have to vote their ancho chile pepper flavored brew (I won't even call it beer), the single worst thing I consumed all last year. The place has great credentials ,but it certainly proves the adage of too many chefs spoiling the broth (or in this case, brew). At a certain point too many add-on flavors makes a beverage turn from a beer into an over-the-top wine cooler. Kind of like salsa flavored Zima. I would not consider 5 rabbits' products beer, by any stretch of the imagination. Still I defend their right to produce their abominations, especially as long as there are people stupid enough to pay good money for it, just do me a favor and refer to them as Mexican themed malt beverages and not beer.
Oh well, to each his own. Still it is good to see that in just a few years, what would be considered a dearth of breweries in the former brewing capital of America, is now rapidly approaching an excess.

I agree that there beer hasn't been anything worth drinking at this point, but I also think they deserve another chance in the future. They now have their own brewery and a brewmaster with a fairly solid reputation (John J Hall formerly of Goose Island). Once he gets things up and running to his standards and they dial in their system, I'll give their beers another shot.

I have nothing but respect for Randy Mosher, and I think Greg Hall is brilliant. I just think the initial concept of flavored brews was bad. At last year's Glunz expo, there was a plethora of "savory" flavored beers that (to my taste at least ) were awful. I made a special point of trying out their (5R's) offerings, and it took hours to get the flavor out of my mouth. I look forward to what Greg Hall has to offer. We have always seen pretty eye to eye on his concoctions.

the wimperoo wrote:I agree that there beer hasn't been anything worth drinking at this point, but I also think they deserve another chance in the future. They now have their own brewery and a brewmaster with a fairly solid reputation (John J Hall formerly of Goose Island). Once he gets things up and running to his standards and they dial in their system, I'll give their beers another shot.

d4v3 wrote:I have nothing but respect for Randy Mosher, and I think Greg Hall is brilliant. I just think the initial concept of flavored brews was bad. At last year's Glunz expo, there was a plethora of "savory" flavored beers that (to my taste at least ) were awful. I made a special point of trying out their (5R's) offerings, and it took hours to get the flavor out of my mouth. I look forward to what Greg Hall has to offer. We have always seen pretty eye to eye on his concoctions.

Just a note that John J. Hall and Greg Hall are different people (and I believe they are not related). JJH is at 5 Rabbit. GH has founded Virtue Cider.

It is Greg Hall that is from GI, correct? Is John J. Hall also from GI, or are we confusing our Halls?

d4v3 wrote:It is Greg Hall that is from GI, correct? Is John J. Hall also from GI, or are we confusing our Halls?

Greg Hall and his father John Hall founded Goose Island. John J Hall was a brewer at Goose Island for many years, but they aren't related.

Greg Hall left Goose when they sold to AB-InBev to start Virtue Cider.

John J Hall left Goose Island a few months ago to become the brewmaster at 5 Rabbit.

d4v3 wrote: and I think Greg Hall is brilliant

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/1 ... 48178.html

Clearly a mark of brilliance.

deesher wrote:

d4v3 wrote: and I think Greg Hall is brilliant

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/1 ... 48178.html

Clearly a mark of brilliance.

LOL, I was thinking the same thing.

=R=

I have to say y'all totally rock! I have an absolutely huge list of breweries to contact. I'll definitely come back to share what happens.

ronnie_suburban wrote:

deesher wrote:

d4v3 wrote: and I think Greg Hall is brilliant

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/1 ... 48178.html

Clearly a mark of brilliance.

LOL, I was thinking the same thing.

=R=

Like I said...

the wimperoo wrote:

d4v3 wrote:I have never tasted anything made by 5 rabbit, that I thought was worth the considerable effort that it took to swallow. In fact I would have to vote their ancho chile pepper flavored brew (I won't even call it beer), the single worst thing I consumed all last year. The place has great credentials ,but it certainly proves the adage of too many chefs spoiling the broth (or in this case, brew). At a certain point too many add-on flavors makes a beverage turn from a beer into an over-the-top wine cooler. Kind of like salsa flavored Zima. I would not consider 5 rabbits' products beer, by any stretch of the imagination. Still I defend their right to produce their abominations, especially as long as there are people stupid enough to pay good money for it, just do me a favor and refer to them as Mexican themed malt beverages and not beer.
Oh well, to each his own. Still it is good to see that in just a few years, what would be considered a dearth of breweries in the former brewing capital of America, is now rapidly approaching an excess.

I agree that there beer hasn't been anything worth drinking at this point, but I also think they deserve another chance in the future. They now have their own brewery and a brewmaster with a fairly solid reputation (John J Hall formerly of Goose Island). Once he gets things up and running to his standards and they dial in their system, I'll give their beers another shot.

Speaking of 5 Rabbit, I just caught this distressing story about a fight between its founders, which has now turned into a lawsuit:

at ChicagoTribune.com, Josh Noel wrote:Its founders — Mexican and Costa Rican nationals — found a fresh niche in the industry: the first Latin-themed craft brewery in the United States. Renowned beer expert Randy Mosher agreed to come on as a minority partner and write their recipes. The partners hired a well-regarded brewer from Goose Island to run their new Bedford Park brewery. They even won two medals at the Great American Beer Festival, one of the world's preeminent competitions.

But in recent months, the relationship between co-founders Isaac Showaki and Andres Araya has frayed so badly that Araya filed suit against his partner in Cook County circuit court this week, claiming defamation.

5 Rabbit lawsuit rooted in months of discord

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