Imperial Oak Brewing

Discussion in 'Great Lakes' started by Italy61587, Mar 21, 2017.

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  1. Italy61587

    Italy61587 Initiate (0) Apr 4, 2015 Alabama

    Imperial Oak is one of my favorite local breweries and I noticed it didn’t have its own thread. The brewery just recently had a big expansion and looking to extend their sour program. What I love best about this place is that the beers rotated weekly and there’s always something new to try. Their barrel-aging programs have been pretty consistent and solid as well.

    Did anybody get out to the BA Udder Madness release this past weekend? This was their largest bottle count release to date at /548.
     
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  2. GrumpyGas

    GrumpyGas Grand Pooh-Bah (4,393) Apr 7, 2009 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I have also been pleased with their beer so far. I grabbed a couple bottles of Madness on Saturday and Lord Humoungous last month. Very well run operation.
    I have yet to get on the sour bandwagon, but I will continue to enjoy their other offerings and I revel in their growth.
     
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  3. Karnivool1

    Karnivool1 Initiate (0) Dec 28, 2014 Illinois
    Deactivated

    Love this place. Quiet Giant should be soon....
     
  4. stevegoz

    stevegoz Savant (1,110) May 5, 2008 Illinois
    Trader

    Beautiful space. It's been too long since I've gone!
     
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  5. Wowzors

    Wowzors Initiate (0) Feb 19, 2015 Illinois

    Conflicted on this place getting bigger because I used to go there all the time when no one was around. They have always made great beer and their sours are awesome. Im excited to see how these new customers and the expansion treats them. We had our engagement party here prior to the new expansion and everything was awesome.
     
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  6. Italy61587

    Italy61587 Initiate (0) Apr 4, 2015 Alabama

    Can’t wait for quite giant this year. The event keeps getting bigger every year. I went last year and the allotment price was really good, hope they continue that as well.
     
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  7. chicagogooner

    chicagogooner Initiate (0) Feb 5, 2014 Illinois

    Good to hear about the sour program.

    I have only had their beers at events, do they bottle sours regularly for pickup or is it mainly releases?
     
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  8. toastjeff

    toastjeff Devotee (380) Mar 27, 2014 Illinois

    They've never bottled any of their sours. They do one bottle a month. Depending on the yield, it's 250 or so 22oz bottles at a time of something barrel aged.
     
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  9. whatruDOINdragic

    whatruDOINdragic Zealot (670) Aug 22, 2013 Illinois
    Trader

    Had never heard of Imperial Oak until about a week ago and since then heard positive reviews from a handful of sources. Is the taproom kid friendly? Want to stop by at the next opportunity and need to know whether I can bring the kids (who are well behaved so long as they're not over-served). TIA.
     
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  10. evoljetta

    evoljetta Initiate (0) Aug 5, 2005 Illinois

    Many people bring their kids and Ive never seen any issue with that. Believe they even have some coloring books for the young ones or just young at heart
     
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  11. Dankacheese

    Dankacheese Savant (1,026) Nov 8, 2015 Illinois
    Trader

    June is their anniversary. Should be then.
     
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  12. Ken134

    Ken134 Initiate (0) Nov 19, 2013 Illinois

    Didn't make the bottle release but they still had 4 or 5 cases left yesterday.
     
  13. kreg02

    kreg02 Savant (1,210) Nov 19, 2012 Illinois
    Trader

    Yea this spot is near the house and love their beers. Always doing different things with their base beers and it keeps things interesting. FYI they do have a canner as well for crowlers!
     
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  14. Redsunsx01x

    Redsunsx01x Initiate (0) Jul 5, 2016 Illinois

    I was there on Sunday and got a couple bottles. I thought it was a pretty good ba milk stout. Had a good amount of barrel and was a bit sweeter than the non ba.
     
  15. Italy61587

    Italy61587 Initiate (0) Apr 4, 2015 Alabama

    I usually hit all their stout releases if I’m available. Wasn’t able to make it on Saturday and with the St. Patrick’s Day party they were having I was almost certain they were going to sell out, that was until I found out the bottle count was almost double what they usually are. I’m not complaining though, was able to stop by there on Monday and picked up a bottle.
     
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  16. Italy61587

    Italy61587 Initiate (0) Apr 4, 2015 Alabama

    I’m hoping with this new expansion and promise of sours to come, that they experiment with fruited sours and do some bottling of them.
     
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  17. Socalfan21

    Socalfan21 Pundit (870) Aug 1, 2013 Illinois
    Trader

    I was here last night. Very solid brewery. I had a flight +1 of all of their hopped up stuff and tried their BA milk stout, which was very bourbon-y. Overall good IPAs. Their crowler designs were really cool.
     
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  18. rchenoweth23

    rchenoweth23 Aspirant (296) Oct 13, 2010 Illinois
    Trader

    Great spot and they hand make all of the tables, lighting fixtures, etc. The beers are solid. They always have a lot of varieties of their "Crank it" series IPAs. And they typically tap a specialty keg every Friday night and another one on Saturday mornings. Also, for any endurance athletes, it's right down the street from the Palos trails, so always lots of runners and bikers on the weekends.
     
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  19. Dankacheese

    Dankacheese Savant (1,026) Nov 8, 2015 Illinois
    Trader

    Lord Humungous BA on tap again This Friday.
     
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  20. Italy61587

    Italy61587 Initiate (0) Apr 4, 2015 Alabama

    I could be wrong but I don’t think it’s the barrel aged version being tapped on Friday.

    1 keg of Almond Joy Madness tapping Saturday. Milk stout w/ coco/coconut/almonds sounds pretty interesting
     
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