Half Acre Beer Company

Driving home through Chicago, we were seeking a dog-friendly brewpub with good beer and good food. The BA ratings were high, so we gave this place a shot. We were NOT disappointed! The beer garden was delightful, nice soft folk-rock music, great service.

We only drank two beers — still five hours of driving remaining tonite — and while the Oktoberfest was just OK, the Double Barrel Benthic (AIS) was almost unbelievably good (please see my review of it).

Food was good — we ordered the cheese curds (pretty good) and two Summer Salads (excellent).

Highly recommended!

 

 

A cool space, inside and out, and you won't have a sub-par beer. However, service can be a bit spotty, and if you don't like IPA / APA's you may have a bit of a limited selection. The kitchen has vacillated from not existing to being very limited to being decent, lately, based on staffing issues.

 

 

 

 

 

First, service is killer! Well staffed and well trained. At times it looked like there were more servers than customers and I fully support this.

Relatively low key place that is what you make of it. Enjoy a peaceful sip alone, or enjoy a group outing. Lots of space outside. Inside is more close. Bar seats ten or so with booths and tables for about 100. No tv, so be entertaining.

The beers are classic now, but they are experimenting with cultures so that is fun.

Food looks good, I only had the pretzel bites, but the cheese sauce was lovely, and the aroma of nearby food was intoxicating.

 

 

Sunday evening. Friendly staff, happy too help. Lights are dim, not too busy or loud. Beer is good, food is good but not as good as the beer. Pretty good selection of beer.

Visited at 6 on a Friday. 4th of July weekend, so maybe a little slower than a typical Friday. I sat inside at the bar, but ghee is also an outside area.

The inside space has a bar with a dozen seats, a dozen and a half tables and booths behind. Design has a feel I will call clean modern tiki. Wood and tile furnishings against white painted brick, but just enough royal blue accents to lighten the feel.

Vibe was very chill when I was here. Maybe a dozen people inside. Music playlist was 80s new wave, always a plus for me.

16 or so beers on offer, priced at $6-7 a pint, inclusive of tax. Good mix of styles, but leaning to the hoppy side.

Service was excellent and attentive.

Food is focused on Roman style pizza, with a few sandwiches and small snacks.

Comparing to the Lincoln location, this one seems much less busy (I haven’t seen the Lincoln location not packed in 5 years). Slightly more casual vibe here as well.

Overall I think I prefer this location, but it is a little more out of the way. Also nice that it is right next door to Spiteful, so you can hit two good spots easily.

 

 

 

 

 

10/14/18 (Chicago): First time in the Balmoral Brewery, one prior visit to the outside patio. Very nice room, long bar and significant tables to accommodate large crowds. Visited on a subdued Sunday, appreciated the absence of National Felon League games on the unobtrusive TV (Nature channel was on). They do show EPL on weekend mornings, and I'll try to catch a match in the future. Several different beer varieties available, everything I tried was excellent. Great to go options as well. Well staffed and servers are attentive. Didn't have food this visit, but what I saw on the menu and brought out for other customers looked really good. Overall, glad I made the trip and look forward to my next visit.

 

 

Location near Spiteful, easy parking late Saturday night. In brewing, they have gained and not lost a step in brewing. huge place. solid hoppy beers mostly and some other styles. Absolutely a must stop. Would like more beer to go (and in singles).

Fun eclectic space, amazing patio. Seriously if visiting in patio season get something light on tap and pair with the breakfast burrito, fantastic time guaranteed. Tap list is good yet often eclectic too, styles can be ipa or special heavy (benthic takeover FE) fun guest lines pop up once in a while. Like how they invest in other local business in their beer ingredients and food pop ups, when keeping together was in house that was awesome too. Friendly service, chill don’t expect speed. One of the favorites in the city

 

Really busy spot, next door to Spiteful Brewing. The food is good, but a little pricey. The beer is good, very flavorful with what seem like simplistic styles. Get there early, it gets really busy. A must stop in Chicago.

 

Was there on a Saturday afternoon and we were lucky to get a table. By the time we left, after 1 round, there was a line to sit down. The wait staff was very prompt and helpful. An eclectic menu. We didn't have anything to eat but, the food we saw looked good. There is some outside seating and a larger room that was closed off. I'm sure it could be used for private parties or for overflow from the bar when they are really full. Good selection of their beers on tap. This is just down the street from Spiteful Brewing!!

 

2022:
They got rid of Lee McComb last year who was doing their wild barrel program, their loss. No more wild ales, which were all really great quality and very interesting blends. No plans to restart. Keeping Together left too, both were a result of the Lincoln Ave. sale to Hop Butcher.

Food is okay bar food, but certainly far less exciting than what they were doing when they opened. Burgers, dogs, curds, rinse and repeat.

Beer, service, and atmosphere are still excellent. They brought the beer-to-go option back recently and opened a retail shop (entrance on Balmoral). Separate patio entrance and parking one block north on Rascher.

2017:
Entrance is through the parking lot on Rascher, kind of nondescript and easy to miss at night. Building doesn’t have a lot of signage, more signs were posted for deliveries than for the taproom.

The patio area was adjacent to the parking lot, and had some pine bough holiday decor. Once inside, you go down a ramp past the kitchen and a little bar adjacent to the kitchen and a maitre’d stand on the left. The space is open and airy with a wood structure built over the bar and dining room. The bar itself is smooth concrete, no rail for your feet though. A couple of flatscreens at either end playing soccer on the weekend. It was a little sterile, and not as eclectic as the original location but it’s fine. 2018: Sat out on the patio, nice atmosphere with picnic tables, patio lights, and nice garden planters surrounding the space. A garage door also opens for pizza service on select nights.

The food did not disappoint. I’d heard mixed reviews when they opened, but really enjoyed the chicken & duck liver paté and the seasonal roasted winter squash with pancetta and pumpkin seeds. Sandwiches looked pretty standard, though they were made with house baked bread, which they also sell to go. 2018: The brisket entree was really great. Not bbq-style, it was more like a thick slab of pot roast. Slow roasted and delicious, with a great chimichurri sauce on the side and house-made bread.

Service at the bar was friendly and timely. They offer tastes of the beers, and serve a variety of size options for all beers, as they do at the Lincoln Ave. location. Quite a variety of beers on draft, maybe 18 or so. A new hoppy lager called Southern Range was the highlight for me.

Will be interested to return and try more of the menu, and check out the patio in warmer weather.

I attended The Big North II party here on August 19, 2017. It's a huge facility with a big taproom and a kitchen that serves some unique dishes. Service was friendly and helpful. There are 18 different Half Acre beers on tap. I'm looking forward to going back. We visited the beer garden on May 30, 2021. The outdoor setting was comfortable on a warm sunny day. The quality and selection of beer is still great. The host and our server were both nice and attentive. The food menu is new but everything tasted good to us.