Chicago Ale House

Chicago Ale House opened about a week ago. Here are some pre-opening comments from the Openings and Closings, Comings and Goings thread.

eatchicago wrote:

schenked wrote:

whiskeybent wrote:Also coming to the Square: Chicago Ale House at Leavitt and Lawrence.

Metromix says it's being run by the powers in charge of Cy's Crabhouse/Chophouse, and "60 beers from around the world" won't dent the menu at Quenchers, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they've got to offer.

Metromix page.

It will rival Quenchers in that those 60 beers are all on tap.

It'll do more than rival Quenchers. It'll blow it out of the water. I don't think Quenchers has more than a dozen or 15 taps.

Blow it out of the water? Maybe numerically but I found the tap list to be staggeringly pedestrian. There are some (precious few) interesting beers but the list is heavy with America's and the world's most boring brews. Here's the current list.

Miller Lite
MGD
Bud
Bud Light
Old Style
Old Style Light
Coors
PBR
Leinenkugel Shandy
Shiner Bock
Goose 312
Berghoff Lager
Berghoff Solstice
Berghoff Dark
Black Dog Ale
Flying Dog Pale
Rolling Rock
Arcadia Whitsun
Great Lakes Dortmunder
Anchor Steam
Sam Adams Lager
Sam Adams Summer
Sierra Nevada Pale
Alpha King
60 Minute IPA
Honey Brown
Hardcore Cider
Fat Tire
Blue Moon
Blue Moon Summer
Grolsch
Peroni
Affligem
St Pauli Girl
Steinlager
Warsteiner
DAB
Pilsner Urquell
Carlsberg
Amstel Light
Newcastle Brown
Harp
Bass
Guinness
De Koninck
Smithwicks
Stella
Boddingtons
Kutscher Alt
Heineken
Kronenbourg
Konig Ludwig Weiss
Hacker Pshorr
Franziskaner Weiss
Julius Echter
Wurtzburger Hofbrau
BBK
Steigel
Spaten
Delerium Tremens

Oh, there are some bottles too. Here's the complete list of those.

Miller Lite
MGD
Miller High Life
Michelob
Michelob Light
Bud
Bud Light
Corona
Corona Light
BBK

Almost enough to make you cry in your beer, isn't it?

Chicago Ale House
2200 W Lawrence Av
Chicago

Even the Yard House, a chain with an outpost in Glenview, has a better beer list:

BLACK & TAN Bass Ale & Guinness Stout
BLACK VELVET Woodchuck Pear Cider & Guinness Stout
CHOCOLATE CHUCK Woodchuck & Young’s Chocolate Stout
ECL IPSE Blue Moon & Guinness Stout
HAL F & HAL F Harp & Guinness Stout
SNAKEBI TE Woodchuck Pear Cider & Harp
YOUNGBERRY CHOCOLATE Lindeman’s Framboise &
CLAUS THALER (bottled)
O’DOUL S (bottled)
ABITA PURPLE HAZE
ALLAGASH WHITE
AMSTEL LIGHT
ANCHOR STEAM
ANDERSON VALLEY BOONT AMBER
ANDERSON VALLEY HOP OTTIN IPA
BASS ALE
BECK’S
BELHAVEN SCOTTISH ALE
BITBURGER PILS
BLUE MOON
BODDINGTONS PUB ALE
BUD LIGHT
BUDWEISER
CARLSBERG
COORS LIGHT
DAB DORTMUNDER
* DE KONINCK ALE
* DELIRIUM NOCTURNUM
* DELIRIUM TREMENS
DOGFISH 60 MINUTE IPA
DOS EQUIS AMBER
DOS EQUIS LAGER
ERDINGER HEFETRUB WEISSE
FOSTERS
FRANZISKANER HEFE-WEISSE
FULLER’S ESB
FULLER’S LONDON PRIDE
GEORGE KILLIAN’S IRISH RED
GOOSE ISLAND 312 WHEAT
GOOSE ISLAND HONKERS
GOOSE ISLAND IPA
GOOSE ISLAND SEASONAL
GREAT LAKES BURNING RIVER PALE ALE
GREAT LAKES DORTMUNDER GOLD LAGER
GREAT LAKES EDMUND FITZGERALD
GREAT LAKES ELIOT NESS
GROLSCH
GUINNESS STOUT
* GULDEN DRAAK
HACKER-PSCHORR WEISSE
HARP
HEINEKEN
HOBGOBLIN ENGLISH ALE
HOEGAARDEN WHITE
JW DUNDEE’S HONEY BROWN LAGER
KIRIN ICHIBAN
KONIG LUDWIG
LABATT BLUE
LABATT BLUE LIGHT
* LEFFE
LEINENKUGEL'S HONEY WEISS
LEINENKUGEL'S RED LAGER
LEINENKUGEL'S SEASONAL
* LINDEMAN'S FRAMBOISE
LOST COAST ALLEY CAT AMBER
LOST COAST DOWNTOWN BROWN
LOST COAST GREAT WHITE
MAGNER'S IRISH CIDER
MICHELOB ULTRA
MILLER GENUINE DRAFT
MILLER LITE
MONTY PYTHON’S HOLY GRAIL
MOOSEHEAD
MORETTI ITALIAN PILSNER
NEWCASTLE
NEW BELGIUM FAT TIRE
N. COAST RED SEAL ALE
PAULANER HEFEWEIZEN
PAULANER PILSNER
PERONI
PILSNER URQUELL
* PIRAAT ALE
PYRAMID APRICOT ALE
PYRAMID HEFEWEIZEN
RED HOOK BLONDE
RED HOOK ESB
RED HOOK LONG HAMMER IPA
ROGUE DEAD GUY
ROGUE DRY HOPPED RED
ROGUE HAZELNUT BROWN
ROGUE SHAKESPEARE STOUT
ROLLING ROCK
SAM ADAMS BOSTON LAGER
SAM ADAMS SEASONAL
SAPPORO
SIERRA NEVADA PALE ALE
SIERRA NEVADA SEASONAL
SKA PINSTRIPE RED ALE
SKA TEN PIN PORTER
SKA TRUE BLONDE
SMITHWICK'S
* SPATEN OPTIMATOR
SPATEN PILS
SPATEN LAGER
SPRECHER BLACK BAVARIAN LAGER
ST. PAULI GIRL
STAROPRAMEN
STELLA ARTOIS
STIEGL PILSNER
SUMMIT EXTRA PALE ALE
TENNENT'S
THREE FLOYDS ALPHA KING
THREE FLOYDS ROBERT THE BRUCE
* TRIPEL KARMELIET
TUCHER HEFE WEISS
* VICTORY GOLDEN MONKEY
VICTORY HOP DEVIL ALE
WARSTEINER DUNKEL
WARSTEINER PILS
WITTEKERKE WHITE
WOODCHUCK AMBER CIDER
WOODCHUCK PEAR CIDER
YOUNG'S CHOCOLATE STOUT
YOUNG'S OATMEAL STOUT
Young’s Chocolate Stout

At least you can get Alpha King at both!

They forgot Coors Light. Guess they'll have to pull the DT tap to make room for it.

Chicago Ale House has me conflicted. I went there, saw the beer list, and I was very disappointed. I thought, being the beer geek I am, that at least ten of the taps would be obscure/intense beers. A couple of saisons, a double IPA, maybe a wacky flemish sour, perhaps even a lambic. So, when I went there and saw macros taking up several taps and some other tired standards - your Blue Moon, your Stella - taking up others, I was sad.

My wife, who appreciates a good beer as much as the next person, looked at me and said I was being an ass. She pointed out that I am now three blocks away from both Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and Alpha King on tap. She also noted that if those beers were at a bar with, say, 12 taps, I would be giddy.

I reluctantly admitted she had a point, whilst still mumbling under my breathe that it wouldn't kill them to have Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel on tap. The 60 taps set my expectations high. Very high.

I do think, with some nudging from a few well-versed beer geeks, they could take a few of those underutilized taps and add some beers that would make even the most refined beer palate take notice. But, until then, I will order my pint of Alpha, a burger (which was pretty good, I must say), and be happy I am but a short walk from my front door.

I went there once, and this might be the only time unless they fix their beer selections.

schenked wrote:
She pointed out that I am now three blocks away from both Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and Alpha King on tap. She also noted that if those beers were at a bar with, say, 12 taps, I would be giddy.

Although, at a bar with 12 taps, 60 minute and Alpha King are a lot less likely to be stale and/or soured by sitting in the tap lines.

Jay@HG wrote:I went there once, and this might be the only time unless they fix their beer selections.

Fix them how?

Old Style Light on tap? How bizarre!

I echo the sentiment about way too many macros, but I would be content starting with a couple DT's and then drinking BBK all night.

We just went back to the Chicago Ale House after several months, and I am happy to report that the tap list has greatly improved. Gone are all the macros:

Miller Lite
MGD
Bud
Bud Light
Old Style
Old Style Light
Coors
PBR

In their place are many superior beers, such as Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Anchor Steam Christmas Ale, Goose Island Matilda, Leffe Blond & Brune, St. Bernadus Abt 12, etc. It still is not the Map Room, but they clearly have gotten the message that their tap list needed improvement.

On top of that, they make a great burger. I had a beautiful medium rare burger with blue cheese, grilled onions and mushrooms. Consiering this place is all of three blocks from me, I will definitely be back.

Thanks to Schenked's update, we went to Chicago Ale House for the first time last night to watch the Pats-Jags game.

He is quite right about the improved taplist. Of the 32 domestics, 28 are legit micros (with 2 being Macros and 2 Blue Moons).

The Sierra Celebration is now the Sierra Anniversay, which is a even less common smooth and balanced malty beer that challenges its "American IPA" categorization. They also have a piney, rich dark brown ale from Govnors called Absolute Rat Bastard which you won't find anywhere else outside Govnors own pub up in the Lake in the Hills.
Other notable additions were Sierra Nevada Porter, Two Brothers Cane and Ebel strong rye ale, New Holland Stout, Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, and the Dogfish Head 90 minute which replaced the 60 minute.

Another great thing they do is offer 4 oz taster sets of 3 or 6 beers, which is quite rare outside of brewpubs and is a great way to get more people trying new beers.

We liked the buger, but the meat needs some seasoning. The steak fries others mentioned have been replaced by "regular" fries, and although they accepted my request for "well done" fries it didn't seem neccessary given the crispness of other people's fries. The entree portion of the mussels (20+ for $15) is a better deal than the app portion (10 for $10). The Mussels were fresh and plump, but the wine sauce was rather dull.
I reccommended to the owner that he add a thai version of the mussels, which will make more sense when you read on. The owner is a Thai gentlemen which explains the unexpected thai noodle dishes on the menu. He said 90% of his lunch bussiness is for thai food.
The thai dishes look pretty decent, but we didn't try any. I'd also love to see a citrusy, ginger thai version of wings added to their Buffalo and Teriyaki wings. They would pair quite nicely with many of their hoppier beers.

The service was great.
The owner was playing host, seating people and walking around to tables
making sure peole were happy. He seems very open to feedback.
Our waitress had an above average knowledge of the beers on tap, and gave us just the right amount of attention. She also unhesitatingly replaced my wife's Arcadia Stout with a different beer when we told her it had gone sour. Yeah, one of the 10 beers we tried had condition problems. I don't know if it was a tap line issue or just that it had been on tap too long, which could become a problem for them with that many beers, unless the beer-geek community starts going there more often.
I just posted a positive review over on Beer Advocate, to try and prompt those folks to give this place another look, since I think most had written it off after the initial bad press that confirmed their pre-opening suspicions.

It is basically a sports bar with restaurant type seating. There are flatscreens everywhere. They do play the sound (at a reasonable level) during big games, but that's better than the conversation-killing, blaring music. Some have knocked it for this sportbar vibe, but I (gasp) enjoy watching sports while I drink beer. It serves a different function than the neighborhood bar vibe, but its a great place to drink good beer while watching a game.

griffin wrote:Thanks to Schenked's update, we went to Chicago Ale House for the first time last night to watch the Pats-Jags game.

Sorry to be off topic, but.......


GO PATS!

that is all

SSDD

Griffin - Glad you liked it. I love your thoughts on expansion of the Thai side of the menu. Having well executed Thai food and access to an array of nicely hopped draft beers would be great.

The Sierra Celebration is now the Sierra Anniversay

It was Anniversary Ale when I was there as well. I just had Celebration on my mind whilst typing. My mistake.

Some have knocked it for this sportbar vibe, but I (gasp) enjoy watching sports while I drink beer.

I am completely with you. Do not get me wrong - I love the laid back feel of Hop Leaf, Charleston, other old school-non TV bars, but the fact that I can go to a bar on a Saturday afternoon and watch lots of college b-ball AND drink exceptional beer is a real treat.

I was excited when I saw the signs going up for this place, sorely disappointed when I read the initial reviews here, and now very excited again. I don't expect food of TAC's quality or, necessarily, as good a beer selection as Hopleaf. But the uniqueness of a place that combines what I hope will be decent thai-ish food with an immense, mostly good beer selection and a caring owner might very well turn me into a neighborhood regular. I'm greatly looking forward to going tonight! Will report back.

We went Friday evening. I created my own beer sampler -- Allagash White, Goose Island Matilda and something else that escapes my mind. I agree with Griffin that the beer sampler is a great thing. Food-wise, our table tried a variety of items. Started with the spinach-artichoke dip and potstickers (both fried and steamed.) The dip was good and we all agreed that the steamed potstickers were better. It seemed they had deep-fried the other order. I thought the filling wasn't anything to write home about. For entrees, we had a burger, ribs and pad thai. (I tried the Thai Vegetable soup. Pretty salty, but I felt I needed vegetables.) The overall verdict was that the food was mediocre. We did appreciate the owner coming over to check on us a few times. Our server was very good. I'd go back because I like beer and (watching sports!), but it's not a food destination in my opinion.

I stopped by last Sunday again as well, and can mirror the updates:

The beer selection is much, much better. Keep in mind that if you want your macrobrews (but why?), they still have 'em in bottles. They seem to have caught on to the idea that they should rotate a few different seasonal bottles each month or so as well. Food is still average.

Service is pretty good - I had a very personable server and the manager was making the rounds as well. Of course, there were only a handful of tables at 4pm on a Sunday.

<edited for pricing>

Has anyone else been back since my last post?

We stop by a couple times a month or so, and I've found that the bar pizza is surprisingly good. In the semi-open kitchen, you can see people throwing out fresh dough - obviously not a frozen pie straight off the truck.

It comes straight from the oven tongue-burningly hot, the sausage is of good quality, and a medium 'za for about $9 is a good price for what you get. Pair that with a couple good beers, and it's a solid way to spend $20.

The beer rotation still seems to be a little hit-or-miss. Sometimes you can find some interesting microbrews, other times it's just a Schlitz special. But as far as bars in the neighborhood go, it ain't bad.

Does anyone know where I can get an Adnams Broadside Ale (UK I think)? Bar or store. They have it at Silvercreek in Urbana, but that's a little out of the way.

I haven't been to this place since the summer of 2007, but a few friends and I were looking for a place to watch some March Madness last night. When we went in 2007, I thought the place was okay and just ironing out a few kinks. I have to say last night was definitely a comedy of errors at this place.

When we got there, we were seated pretty much immediately but told by the hostess that she needed to find some menus for us. After determining a beer selection from the paper with the specials on it, we ordered beer and then the same hostess (who was also now playing waitress for us) asked if we wanted to order. We stated again that we didn't have menus yet. She went and found one for us....there were five of us at the table. My friend began to read the menu aloud to all of us.

For appetizers, my friends ordered potstickers and hummus (not together). The potstickers were fine; the hummus came with approximately 6 wedges of pita for what appeared to be a pound of hummus. Something is a bit off about the sizes of things (to be continued....).

We finally got around to ordering the meal. My husband ordered ravioli. There were four pieces of ravioli covered in a huge amount of red sauce. My husband needed a non-meat meal and the waitress couldn't even tell if the sauce was a meat sauce or marinara. My friend ordered duck, which was enough food for 3 meals for her. Again, the sizing is really strange here. The food was okay, but nothing amazing.

As we, as well as most of the bar, were there to watch basketball, a number of tvs were blank for a good part of the night, only being turned back to games when we went to the bar and specifically asked, at least 2-3 times. Then a band started playing loudly in the back, drowing out any sound from the televisions. Not that it would have mattered much considering that the sound was turned on for multiple televisions, meaning that any sound was a garbled mess. Also, at one point, I noticed that they began to run out of glasses and were using styrofoam cups to serve water.

Lastly, I am not a stickler for decor by any means. But the floating booths in this place are hilarious to me. Not only do they not match anything else in this place, they are not bolted down also, which my friend demonstrated by tipping it backwards. Sure, they have lots and lots of beers....which I would have to drink a lot of to enjoy this place. I would love to give them the benefit of the doubt that they were just severely understaffed, but for me, it's only two strikes and they're out.