Tonality Brewing Company

New brewery just down the street from Tighthead, so thought it would be good to check out. The atmosphere is relaxed yet modern. High tops galore with rainbow on the walls. Good menu is ambitious for pub food, doesn’t deliver on every iota but better than most. The beers however have some technical flaws, like many new breweries there needs to be some ironing out the recipes. Service was fantastic though: attentive, friendly, quick, and knowledgeable.

Thanksgiving Eve means there's only a half-day to work, so plenty of time to hit up the newest brewery nearby, right? Right? Shit, I forgot I rely on public transit, especially when the 'cohol is involved. Don't canonize me yet, I can still snap. Trains directly to Mundelein have one of the worst schedules of any of the local Metra lines, and I pity the absolute downtrodden folks who rely on those meagre timetables (unless, of course, your schedule allows for perfect timing, in which case, it must be nice to live in such a fantasy world); better to take the earlier-leaving ride up to Libertyville and bus it on down. Want to meet up with your buddy for a lunchtime tackling of the new spot? Tough nugs, boyo! As per usual, even after the interim period of nearly an hour after arrival, the bus is late to every stop. My heart yearns for Europe in these moments, when the public transit actively fails you and then taunts your family afterward. Fist-shaking is no good, I'm afraid, I've tried: they just go harder, making your parents cry (that's my job, dammit!). Finally dropped off, it's a three-ish-block walk down to the spot, just under the ol' water tower. And with maybe 10 minutes to spare before my ride home arrives (buses and trains do not dare venture out toward my town, lest they be actually embraced by the denizens, a shame we will never tolerate!).

I say all of this to provide some context for my visit, which was abnormally truncated by the journey to just get there in the first place. Though relatively short, there was plenty to glean from my sojourn. Inside the brick (well, it looked like brick, it could have been some other sort of masonry or even *gasp* wood framing, I cannot perfectly recall) building is an unassuming bar surmounting a room that features a smaller bar off to lone side of the back, possibly for the troll and goblin folk, possibly as a weigh station for servers, possibly as a source for non-hooch-related fare. Who's to say for sure? Tables fill the rest of the space, with the added fun of a patio slab that will most assuredly provide some space for some outdoor seating once the weather returns to the warmth of the kinder months (April, obviously, not included). Opposite the nascent patio is the brewing apparatus. No idea what that's for, but I was assured that it was, indeed, the brewing apparatus. One day I might take a tour to learn, but likely I'll just continue to revel in my ignorance, as I must continue to push the façade of a proud Amerikaner. Yes. Over at the bar, where my fat ass ponied, a couple screens provided the ability to witness any fantasy team of mine plummet in the standings (difficult for my last-place football squad (I blame Justin Jefferson for not being invulnerable), but more than possible for my league-leading basketball battalion) whilst the suds do their best to ensure I remember nothing later. As the place is younger than DiCaprio's newest thing, only four house beers were on tap, alongside a few guest offerings - including the venerable Dragon's Milk. Comprising a west coast IPA, an east coast IPA, a kolsch, and an amber/red (colors are hard, okay?), nothing truly stood out as knee-buckling, but finding out that these are essentially the first batches of the place, it's actually pretty impressive that they came out as drinkable as they did. The balance of the amber/red was particularly welcome, as nowadays the idea of a red is to load the fucker with as many resiny hops as possible and then just kinda tint the color a bit in the southerly direction: this one, on the other hand, was mild, crushable, and decidedly even-keeled. As a bit of additional flavor, my aforementioned buddy (who stopped in with his wife and kids maybe a couple of hours before I sloped in) felt the east coast IPA was rather sub-par, providing naught else in the way of reasoning, but I thought it was fine (though, admittedly, my tongue can barely discern between those damn hazy bastards these days, what with them overflowing the goddamn world with barely-detectable radially evolving splatters of the same flavor components, so it's possible I was just on autopilot). Still, gotta say, having been to several rather new breweries in my day - as well as a handful of established joints - that this place has promise, and I look forward to being able to return with more time to give their future offerings a shake. People-wise, the vibe is eclectic; the staff can meet your imbibulatory needs as they come, and they get to deal with a seeming range of clientele from the schmoe to the Josephine. I'd tear if my eyes weren't averse to allowing me emotion, you're gonna haveta trust me here. There's food afoot, but I had neither the time nor the properly-empty belly (get yer jokes out now, ya joggers!) to partake; my buddy's son thoroughly enjoyed the cheeseburger, though mostly for the inclusion of a pickle spear, the madchild.

Like MacArthur, I shall return to update.