New to Chicago, have a few questions

I'd recommend developing a relationship with a bottle shop. Talk to the beer manager and/or owner. But with the insane popularity of limited releases it's still difficult.

 

The better shops in that vicinity are Rogers Park Fine Wines, Hollywood Spirits, and La Primera. All are listed here on BA. For a good homebrew shop, check out Brew Camp further south on Damen.

 

Welcome to the neighborhood! If you see a long haired dude swigging Sidekick right from the can throwing darts at Norse Bar, say hi.

And dont worry about limited releases, there's plenty of other beer to drink.

 

Dorthy,You aren't in Indiana anymore!

 

This comments speaks more to the culture of craft beer in Chicago than it does your specific question -- don't take this personally -- but the market for limited releases is utterly cutthroat around here. If someone has a lead on a source, I wouldn't expect that they would share it with anyone else (certainly not before they pick up their allotment). Like Vav said, you may enjoy things more if you focus on enjoying the beer you can get without too much trouble rather than the newest and most recent limited release.

Also, whatever you do, don't walk into a store and just ask about the most recent limited release. That's an easy way to potentially get on someone's bad side (or, rather, it certainly won't help you get on their good side).

 

You'd probably need to regularly shop somewhere for a year and get to know the manager and/or owner before you'd really have a shot at that sort of thing (and not all stores are willing to hold stuff back either). You'll be much happier if you just punt on the really sought-after limited releases entirely. It's completely insane around here for the sought-after limited stuff. Be a regular at your local store, drink the many great beers that don't require ridiculous amounts of effort to obtain, and maybe eventually your local store offers to put you on a list or something like that, or they don't, either way there's plenty of great beer on the shelf.

 

HELLYEAHMUNCIE

 

Welcome to Chicago and you'll be glad to now you can get your home town brew, Three Floyds, here.

 

Welcome to the city! As someone from your area (New Castle), look out for lots of great stuff that you can't get in East Central Indiana. Limiteds have pretty much been covered, but there's tons of great stuff to try. And definitely follow Vav's advice and check out the Norse Bar on Devon & Clark, it's pretty stellar.

 

Hahn's... Those have been sitting there for months due to the ridiculous rip-off prices.

 

Sound advice.

 

There's so much quality beer to drink that's readily available.

To focus on limited stuff right off the bat, IMO, you're doing it wrong.

 

Well that's good, maybe he realized no one was buying at those prices. I never bothered going back after seeing singles there for $10-12 ea. 6 months ago.

 

I wanted to second the Brew Camp recommendation for a great home brew shop. Good inventory and great people.

 

welcome to the shit show

 

Perfectly said....Shit Show is the definition of Chicago. F'ing crazy.