Phase Three Brewing (2023)

Eunoia 14 is cinnamon, maple & coconut.

I'm getting paranoid / delusional, and starting to think Shaun reads my posts, sees what I HATE MOST in sugar stouts, and plans accordingly.

Anyone got a good shrink?

 

the reason we are all here, alcohol; specifically barrel aged beer

 

My insurance really only considers lagers and non-pastry lactose free BA stouts to be in network now.

 

I had no clue that Phase 3 was distributing stouts so was pleasantly surprised to see Curvature at Binnys. Interesting combo of adjuncts to looking forward to trying!

 

I get a cloyingly sweet taste in my mouth just from reading this.

 

Just got an email that apparently the new space is opening September 1st!

 

Where?

Sorry -- I see: Elmhurst. Forgot that.

 

Yup - they posted it 8/23 on social media

 

So, as a big fan of P3, I have to say the new Curvature is terrible. Certainly the worst beer of theirs I've ever had.

 

The new space is nice, didn't try any of the food but the vibe is definitely more "sit down" than brewery tap room. The menu looked good but I'd personally have preferred a more casual space, but that's just personal preference.

For as bad as Curvature 14 is, Eunoia 14 is excellent IMO.

Nice to have a P3 space closer to me though, and I'll be back for sure.

 

The Elmhurst location exceeded my expectations in terms of both food and ambiance. The garlic buffalo wings are very good, but the beef sisig might be the best dish I've had in a brewery space. Kudos to the staff, they were clearly very busy all weekend but were still friendly and helpful. I'd definitely like to revisit soon. I'd say the extra work and time put in before opening this space has paid off.

 

I thought it was OK, but certainly not great. I love raspberry stouts though, so I'm predisposed to liking it. I don't know why they put maple in it. Makes no sense. It just amps up the sweetness and throws off the flavor so the raspberry isn't as prominent.

 

Thank you. Made my first visit and ordered the beef sisig solely due to your recommendation. It was an amazing dish to say the least. Our server was excellent and the space is well done. I like that there is a ton of parking available which is not the case with everything in Elmhurst.

Agreed on the Eunoia batch 14 being just about perfect. Remaining tap list had plenty of options. Nice job by P3 building this place out. Super ironic how close it is to More Villa Park...lol.

 

I didn’t like Curvature and wasn’t into Eunoia either. I went for the soft opening. The smash burger was pretty solid. The fries were tasty but not crisp. Happy to chalk that up to soft open kinks though. The house chips were really good and my buddy had the wings which looked really good and very sizable.

My oddity is that I love to go for a run and then grab brews and food right after. So the proximity to the Great Western trail is huge for me. More is just 0.9 miles down the path so that’s an easy combo to make if you want to build in breaks. The Irish bar next to P3 looked fun which was probably boosted by the ND game in Ireland at the time. I didn’t realize Bottle Theory was so close so I’ll add that to the next visit.

 

Chaos returns!

 

Dropped by yesterday to try Arches...

A blend of barrel-aged imperial stouts aged in a variety of bourbon barrels for 15 to 22 months then conditioned on toasted coconut, Saigon cinnamon, and Ghana cocoa nibs.

This flavor profile has long been a part of my favorite combos to use in stout since using it for the first time in 2016 at “Phase One” in a beer called “Side Note: Gimme Samoa”, which later turned into my second barrel-aged stout release ever, “Chaos 2017”. A year later, the combo won best in show at FoBAB in a different beer of mine at “Phase Two”. Four and a half years into Phase Three, the combo makes it’s return as a way to celebrate the opening of our Taproom + Kitchen in Elmhurst. The arches that create the backdrop behind our bar that are inspired by the arches found throughout the architecture in the beer halls in Bohemia and Central Europe are depicted through a detailed sketch on the label of this beer drawn by my wife and business partner, Brittany, and also gives it it’s name.

It was excellent, one of the better P3 beers I've ever had (I'm not an ambassador though, so can't comment on a good chunk of their BA offerings).

 

Yeah I really liked it too. Not a ton of barrel right now, but it’s coconut forward and the cinnamon is complimentary as opposed to dominant. I wasn’t wild about OG Karma so I may like this better actually

 

Sorry, tried to post Butters as Professor Chaos, but failed miserably. Despite being a computer-centered individual, I continue to fail at BeerAdvocate. It looks good in Preview and in Quote, but not when posted? Wtf...

 

Another lottery live, this time Jolted Dunks - an Other Half collab. Having had Other Half stouts, those beers were a bit too much on the Hershey's syrup side and not enough on the stout side for me so I'll sit this one out, but best of luck to those entering the lottery!

Back in 2021 we brewed up a big imperial stout with our friends @otherhalfnyc . We let this monster sit in Willett Bourbon barrels for 23 months before taking it out and conditioning on chocolate cream sandwich cookies and Other Half Co-Founder, Sam’s new coffee roast company, @cloudcovercoffee ‘s Ethiopia checho bita keffa coffee beans.

Beautiful notes of chocolate mocha, vanilla icing, and American whiskey shine on a thick, velvety, chocolate stout base.