Chicago Craft Beer Week

Beer Temple Event was an absolute blast last night!

Started off the night with Hereafter which is Penrose's collaboration with Perennial, a Belgian Golden with Sage and Pear, which was very dry and delicious and Chris graciously provided some cheeses and bread. Then we took a seat while John and Tom went over some ideas and opinions about Lambics, American Wilds and Blending. This was really educational and much more than just your basic information you can find anywhere, which was refreshing. During this time we sampled Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze Golden Blend and Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza.
Then after giving a couple tips, they set us loose at tables of four to try a chance at blending a beer from materials provided. On each table we had two 12oz bottles of Green Flash Rayon Vert, pitcher of Virtue Cider's Lapinette, pitcher of Off Color Acidic Beer (sour mash for their Gose), New Glarus Raspberry Tart and Rodenbach Grand Cru. My group used about 2 parts Rayon Vert, 1 part Lapinette, 1 part Acidic Beer and just a touch of each Raspberry Tart and Grand Cru. We ended up placing fourth in the evaluation that Chris, Tom and John did, which I was pretty happy with.
After that everyone hung around for a bit finishing the bottles that we were given to blend with and chatting with everyone. Chris very generously opened a couple more bottles including a De Cam Gueuze, Cascade Noyaux and HORALs Mega-Blend Oude Gueuze. Plus a couple people walked away with a bottle of Cantillon Classic Gueuze. All in all, it was definitely a fun event and very educational having some hands on time blending like that and getting input from guys like Tom, Chris and John.

 

This sounds like it was an awesome event!! Especially the group blending activity!

 

cmoody91 pretty much summed it up pretty well. my table took second in the blend. i think we used about 40% lapinette, 30% rayon vert, 20% raspberry tart and about 10% acid beer. i had to bail after the blending activity though, so i didn't get to stick around for more bottle popping. really awesome, really memorable event.

 

I echo the statements above. Chris really went out of his way to put on an amazing event that changed the way I looked at blending as an artform. I think I can go out on a limb and say the gents from Off Color and Penrose are going to be putting out some great products, and were really lucky to have them. Cant wait to try more. Hats off to all parties involved.

 

Thank you all for the kind words. One more thing to add to the list: awesome to see most, if not all, of the folks who stood in line for tickets on May 5th attend the event. It made for an exceptionally attentive crew, really dialed into getting the most out of our few hours together. This makes it all worth it for those of us doing our best to share a unique experience. Thanks friends - we had a lot of fun.

 

Thanks to everyone who attended, and also to John and Tom for the awesome job they did. I hope everyone had a good time.

Side note: Lapinette and Hereafter are pouring at the store today. Stop on by and taste some!

 

For those looking for something fun to do tomorrow night in the western suburbs (Downers Grove) the bar I manage the beer for is holding a Goose Island night. Cellar Door is tapping a bunch of good GI beers including 2 different dates of Bourbon County and a keg of Bourbon County Coffee. Should be a good time. I'm tapping the Bourbon Counties at 6pm but everything else will be flowing when we open at 11am.

http://chibeerweek.com/event/?eid=399

 

The South of I80 gathering at Green Lady last night was great. Very relaxed crowd, tons of good beer to go around as well. It helps that the place is run by one of the most welcoming owners around and you find her behind the bar nearly every night.

 

Strolled I to Bangers and Lace on my walk from from a long day of work to check out the tap list....BA Stone RIS and BA Perrenial 17. My bad, ill take two. I mean is that wrong? I love this week!!

 

the BA stone was almost definitely infected.

 

They admitted the bottles were infected last year and pulled sales. Why would they send a keg if they knew it was infected too? Odd...

 

it's what it tasted like to me at least. when it was cold it was alright but a little bit 'off' in some way i couldn't put my finger on. as it warmed i figured it out.

 

Tasted like dark fruits to me, granted a lot of dark fruits. It was still tasty regardless of any infection.

 

I havent read through this thread in a while, but what is the general feeling of the West Loop beer fest on Saturday and will the VIP tickets be worth it?

 

Not to re-ignite the cost debate, but here's the menu from the Little Goat dinner if anyone is curious what the price got you:
https://twitter.com/haymarketbeer/status/337365830989918208/photo/1

 

did anyone go to this event? im curious if there were any additional pours or food items. im sure it was fantastic, but if thats all there was, then the price is a little unjustified.

 

I love trying new food, but not sure goat heart or beef heart marmalade would have been my thing. For a super foody, that is one interesting menu. Wonder what beer was with the smoked pork fat gelato dessert?

 

Revolution's 3rd year beer

 

some of the tastiest parts of the animal are the ones you don't commonly see. heart is actually pretty tasty cooked right (girl and the goat could pull it off). not to say they're all good. i still dislike tripe.

 

Some pretty good beers but nothing insanely rare or you couldn't get anywhere else. I don't want to pay $75 for a beer dinner, so $175 seems pretty ridiculous. I guess if you have the money why not. I would like a beer dinner that has normal bar food paired with amazing beers for $50 or less, now that I would be all for.