The visiting Chicagoland resource thread (Spring 2018)

So, this is how you tell me you've blocked me on here?

 

Let me know if you do. I live 5 minutes from there. Maybe another idea for something to bring to the monthly share this summer...

Yes sir! Not sure what we're doing just yet, but there's a 100% chance it involves cold beverages before and after.

 

I see your points, but my counter point would be that Half Acre, Spiteful, and Corridor are also specialized toward, mainly, IPAs and very hop-forward versions of other styles, with the occasional adjunct stout thrown in. Goose Island is mainly on there because you can get Bourbon County (I also like their Belgian stuff, which gives them a little breadth) and because it's a fairly impressive space. I don't think that means they aren't must-hits, though, and that's exactly my point: Dovetail doesn't need to break away from specialization to be a must-hit (and they have a pretty wide breadth of styles anyway, just not styles that are in vogue and often get lumped together as "lagers" even though many aren't lagers at all), and neither do any of the other breweries.

 

I disagree, but no need to derail this thread further. If people think things have changed in the past few months since the OP compiled the initial list (which was done based on input from BA'ers and researching old Chicago recommendations threads), and that Dovetail should be included, then it certainly should. I just wanted to voice a counterpoint.

 

yes... come on down!

 

Hey I'm going to be in chicago for a few days this summer. I think we will be staying between downtown and the lake (my sister lives south of the zoo and a few blocks from the lake if i remember correctly?) I'd like to minimize motorized travel of any sort cause we will be with little children and the trip is already going to be expensive so I'd like to save cash for beer rather than uber. What think you chicagoans?

 

just take 5 minutes to google map the breweries on the "must hit" section in the OP and you'll get a clear sense of how unrealistic your plan is.

your only chance to minimize travel is to take an uber to one area and try to walk to as many places you can. for example, half acre lincoln square as a starting point and check out all the spots within a 4 block radius.

 

As said above, stuff is so spread out that it will be tough to hit a bunch of spots without getting a car involved. Knowing that I travel with kids as well, your odds of hitting many spots are probably pretty limited anyway, even if it were easy to get to all of them.

I would say that Corridor is very easily accessible from the Southport Brown line stop, and there are plenty of boutique shops in case your wife wants to browse while you have some beers (by no means are these cheap shops, though). Corridor is also very kid friendly - my family and I go there frequently, but we just try to get out of there by 7 (we typically hit it for brunch/lunch on the weekends).

You can take the blue line from downtown up to Revolution brewpub, which is also good for having kids at. You can take the Chicago bus over to Forbidden Root, and they also do a good job of catering to families. Goose Island Clybourn Brewhouse is accessible from the Red line as well and is kid friendly.

So, just about all of them can be reached by public transportation, but you can't really hit a bunch of them at once or use the same train/bus line to hit many of them.

 

If yuh want to hit multiple, your best bet is Lincoln Square (Half Acre/Begyle/Spiteful/Dovetail - all within walking distance, or Logan Square (Revolution, Hopewell and maybe Metropolitan and Maplewood).

Neither area is walkable from the lake though.

 

awesome that is what I'm looking for. sounds like lincoln square it is cause dovetail and half acre are the two i'm most interested in

 

One word of warning on Half Acre...I don't consider that location kid friendly. Everyone's kids are different, though, so maybe it'll work for you. It's not a huge spot, and there is no kids menu of any sort that I'm aware of.

 

Yeah. I wouldn’t call the Lincoln Half Acre Kid friendly kid friendly. It’s really small. The balmoral location on the other hand is.

 

My girls (and wife) love the Balmoral location...it's one of our regular spots when I want to have a lunch with a few beers and can take the whole family somewhere.

 

cool thanks for the tips. might just be a good excuse to ditch the wife and kid, you know for safety reasons

 

It’s a cool area, and super walkable, and Wells Park, which is one of my favorite parks in the city, is right down the block. The actual Lincoln Square is a few blocks north also.

They definitely won’t have any issues finding things to do.

 

I appreciate the organized nature of the opening post, but don't have the capacity to google map all of those places. Can anyone familiar with the area tell me if any of the *notable breweries/brew pubs have walk-in can sales on site or in a store nearby? This would have to be in the uber-able vicinity of Schaumburg (or en route Schaumburg>O'Hare). Thanks.

 

Mapping them out on Google Maps most likely takes less time than reading this thread.

To answer your question, it depends on how far you want to Uber. I don’t know that I’d Uber into the city from Schaumburg, but you could if you really want to.

Goose Island, Revolution, Forbidden Root and Half Acre will all be available at stores, but maybe not the cans or bottles you’d really want. Places like More, Corridor and Mikerphone most likely won’t have what you want in stores.

 

Also, while you're in the area (and if you want more beer) hit up Huettenbar in Lincoln Square. It's not really a craft place, but with you being interested in Dovetail, it's probable you'll like Huettenbar as they specialize in German imported beers on tap (which isn't really that common in my experiences).

If you get hungry, go to Bad Apple for the excellent burgers and fantastic taplist.

 

OK.

{Itasca, Pollyanna, Church st., Short Fuse, Mikerphone}

^any of those worth a stop if they can/bottle to go?