Great Chicago Fire Brewery & Tap Room

Hole in the wall in Leesburg (also a hole in the wall). Small operation.

Owner was sitting there eating lunch when I arrived. Decent fellow - proud of his place and beers. Experience shows that such boisterousness is usually a bad sign. NO SO here though :-)

I hit the place during their annual Marzen production. I must say I was surprised it was one of the best Marzens I've had -- VERY GOOD. I unfortunately did not have time to try another different beer (I think they had a dozen or close to).

Had a nice lunch (a superior hot dog). I plan to go back.

The Great Chicago Fire Brewery & Tap Room is a small place that may have very well once been a breakfast place or something similar. As you step inside there's a small bar to the right and center that seats around 8, and tables all around it. Straight through takes you past the kitchen on the right and the bathrooms on the left. Where they make the beer I don't know, I didn't see any brewing equipment, but then again I didn't look around too much. There is an outside area though by the kitchen, and there are several tables out on the street.

They have 10 of their own beers on tap including a year-round house IPA and a well balanced mix of other beers that remain pretty basic (blonde, amber, brown, porter/stout). They don't seem to do a lot of newer style beers but they do mix up what they've got. On my recent visit I enjoyed a Black Forest Imperial Stout that had cherries added, and a Peppermint Porter.

The food consists of Chicago style foods, although their pizzas are thin crust rather than deep dish (who wants a deep dish in Florida anyway?). Some highlights include the Chicago style hot dog done right ($5.65), the Italian Beef & Sausage sandwich ($8.85) which is again done right, and a Polish Sausage sandwich ($6.65) which is hard to mess up unless you use a really bad sausage, which they don't. The pizzas are good, and slightly unusual. For $8.95 I'd say it's worth trying. Ask for what the locals usually order.

The service is surprisingly good for such a ramshackle little place, and overall the experience is quite good although the beers aren't the greatest. Worth a stop!