Goose Island Clybourn tour

Never done it but I've been sitting in the pub a bunch during them and it doesn't look like a ton of fun. The glass is nice but it just looks like 50 people piled into the small brew room while one guys talks for 20 minutes. Am I wrong?

 

You also get 4-5 ~4oz. pours (if I recall correctly) of whatever they feel like pouring that day (or, cynically speaking, whatever product they need to move). But yeah, the brewhouse is tiny and once you've seen one brewhouse...

If you want something different, consider Koval: http://www.koval-distillery.com/ind...id=2&vmcchk=1&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=72 . Personally, I think the whiskey is not the greatest but it's worth trying. Not exactly beer-related but, uh... lots of local breweries are using old Koval barrels these days? See where they come from?

I would see if Metropolitan is offering a tour, to be honest. Their beer doesn't get enough attention (IMO) and I think you might get a better value for the cost (or, at least, more room to walk around). But they don't tend to offer tours that often (http://www.metrobrewing.com/site/index.php/tours). Maybe Half Acre instead? Or, shoot, Revolution -- tours are free! (The Kedzie Production Brewery will be offering free guided tours every Wednesday through Saturday at 6pm.)

 

Although the beer is not quite as good as Revolution, Half Acre's is definitely one of the most fun tours I've been on:
http://halfacrebeer.com/tour.html

$10 gets you a pint glass, 3 full pours and a 1.5 - 2 hour tour. I've never actually done the GI tour, but the Clybourn brewpub is nice. But for Chicago tours, I'd definitely go with HA.

 

If you do a Saturday, i'll be sure to pound on the glass at 1pm on my way in for a braised pork enchillada lunch

 

just make sure you are there by 12:15 or so (depending on the weather) to guarantee you will be one of the 60 people to get in. line usually starts forming around noon.

 

And if you need a place to eat afterwards, Bad Apple is across the street. One of the strongest set of taps in the city and amazing burgers. Very family-friendly, too!

 

But that's not disparaging clybourn, stop by and get a few pints and eat something delicious off their menu, just skip the tour.

 

I'd never steer anyone away from a brewery tour unless it was truly terrible.

Goose Island wasn't terrible at all but it was kind of boring and a little sterile. It's a very small brew setup so it's about 25 people crammed into one room. Friendly guide. No drinking on the tour.

After the tour you sit in a private room where a few choices are pre-poured for you. Blah.

 

$10? Wow -- last time I took the tour I think it was 5, and that wasn't that long ago!

What I always did was get the brewmaster talking beer at the last/tasting stop; his history, his likes, ask questions about the process and what he likes that's coming up... odds are you'll get a couple more freebies to see what you think. It's your basic schmooze.

 

did you do the HA tour or is that this weekend? let me know how it went. its been a year and a half since I've gone, so I wonder if its still the same (I know they are slowly buying up space on that block).

 

I was there this weekend actually, and had a good time. The staff there are really great. Plus, they were pouring Galactic Double Daisy for the tour attendees.

The only negative thing I would say is that bros and young ladies just cannot seem to shut the fuck up after two beers. The crowd got really rude for the last third of the tour. I guess that's just par for the course, but I felt bad that our tour guide was having to yell over some peeps who can't handle their booze.

Oh, and I have not done it before, so I can't speak to differences. The tap room is not yet open for touring, but the tour guide did mention it would be open by end of summer, with 10 taps, seven of which would be constantly rotating.

 

I can totally see that being the case, which is a bit unfortunate. But what are you going to do. Great to hear about the tap room though. Stoked for that. And cheers to having GDDC. That would have been a great surprise.

 

The few times I've done it there wasn't a huge crowd. Late winter, early spring on a Sunday afternoon. Quite pleasant.

 

I got in line at noon and was about tenth in line. By 12:15, the 60 person capacity had been reached. I think the days of small crowds is long gone for Half Acre tours.

 

get in line by noon. note taken.