Chicago Breweries/Beer Bars Closings (2019)

Keep 'em coming.

 

The real question will be how many bars start closing due to the mass exodus of people to taprooms and brewpubs. The article about Solemn Oath/Bavarian Lodge/Hopleaf really reinforced in alot of peopl's minds what is going on in the industry. Constantly changing...

 

If it is just the Radler's German theme didn't catch on in that neighborhood, maybe they should go up to Lincoln Square and take over the Brauhaus's former space.

 

The Hopleaf made the decision to look down their noses at top trends within the enthusiastic beer community. So they can blame down business on taprooms but they aren’t being fully honest with themselves.

 

Please elaborate.

 

Roper is often on the Beer Temple podcast. He calls hazy IPA’s a fad he isn’t interested in serving. He points out that the proliferation of taprooms has hurt his business. I am sure there’s some truth to that, though I would say he’s ignoring his own stubbornness in the equation

 

But he was perfectly fine being one of the few consistent places outside of the taproom to always have Zombie Dust on tap long before it was readily available? I guess we all get to choose which fads we want to chase though, don't we?

 

Yeah ZD was actually my gateway to going there the first time. The funny thing is that if he threw something like Hop Butcher on one draft line, he might be giving lots of new customers a gateway opportunity to his place

 

You didn't mention that any post simply expressing a different point of view respectfully will be deleted

 

I don't doubt that the taproom thing is really hurting bars, but yes, as you point out, deliberately sticking your nose up at a popular type of beer for no other reason than snobbery is pretty off-putting. I have no issue with the guy or Hopleaf, but he'd do well to remember that Corridor's original vision was Belgian-inspired beers (Dryhop was supposed to be the IPA-centric brewpub, of the two), and they quickly realized that there's huge demand for good hazy beers.

I wonder if Roper felt the same about barrel-aged stouts when BCBS hit?

 

In the interest of fairness, I looked up recent check-ins there to see if they had altered their menu at all. The answer is...sort of. There have been some options like Toppling Goliath there. So I guess it's unfair to say they have no haze on their menu, but it's fair to say they've not embraced it

 

They tapped the first keg of M-43 in Chicago. I was there. It was delicious.

 

Your timing and omnipresence at these unique beer happenings has led me to believe you are either the deity Dionysius or craft beer's version of Forrest Gump.

 

I believe I also saw where Forbidden Root had a beer tapped at Hopleaf this weekend.

I will say this on the taproom/bar discussion, I see very few local breweries on tap at any bar in chicagoland outside of Half Acre/Revolution/GI. I am not sure if the taprooms/breweries just can't support the additional kegs or if they are choosing to not send kegs to local bars.

If Hopleaf made a decision to not tap/feature hazy beers I would seriously question whoever is making the decisions over there.

 

https://www.brewbound.com/news/sole...the-bavarian-lodge-on-taproom-exclusive-stout

Really smart move by Bavarian Lodge.

 

I know what you mean, their tap list is unlike any other in the Chicago area. Love that place.