Question for Illinois people

Tell him to check out the Beer Market, 888 N Meacham Road. Usually a pretty good selection of local, Chicago-area stuff and Midwest staples (Bell's, Founders, Surly etc.).

EDIT- Bulldog Ale House in Roselle is another one close by. They make their own beer, albeit very mediocre, but also have other craft on tap.

 

Bigby's Pour House @ 1649 Algonquin Rd in Rolling Meadows is worth checking out.

 

Schaumburg is a pretty horrible place to be; I worked and lived there for a while (its a giant stripmall). Anyway, skip the ram brewpub(their beer is bad). If you want to pick up local beer the Binnys beverage depot on Golf Rd is probably best.

 

Bulldogs doesn't actually make their own beer: They use house handles for Berghof kegs, kinda like all those places that serve Domaine DuPage under all sorts of aliases.

For the OP: The best places nearby are Beer Market and Bigby's, with my support leaning a bit to the latter. Durty Nellie's in Palatine isn't very far down the road, but their service and clientele occasionally leave something to be desired (though their tap list tends to be pretty solid).

 

Makes sense, haven't been there in years but was pretty underwhelmed by what they offered. OP's buddy can probably skip that one in light of the other suggestions

 

Daisy Cutter pale ale is delicious (and I think only available in IL). Revolution brewing company IPA, and the Eugene porter are also really good Illinois beers. Their brewery's are both in Chicago, and they have tap rooms. They are probably about 30 miles from Schaumburg (which could take anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours).

 

Not trying to derail the thread or offer unhelpful advice, but if he's genuinely serious about going to brewpubs, he'd be best served driving into the city. Between GI Clybourn, Half Acre, Revolution, Atlas, etc., there's just too many places in town not to mention.

 

Considering you frequent the place, I'd have to agree.

 

Durty Nellies, Tap House Grill Palatine and Emmett's all a stones throw away once you've parked the car.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/T...2!3m1!1s0x880fa4f0c90b2227:0x99ea8a8d22f58662

If you're looking for places in the City
Start another post. Places are endless..........

 

That's cold, man...

(insert crying puppy YouTube clip here)

 

There's a Bigbys in Addison just off of lake street. The place looks super tiny from the outside and is a little tough to find, but totally worth it.

 

Local option is great definitely go there

 

Durty nellies and tap house are usually pretty good. You can check out there beer list on beermenu.com too.

 

All awesome, however Schaumburg is quite a ways from downtown with traffic. that can be up to a 90 minute drive some nights.

Id really recommend that if he wants to stay somewhat close to look at Bigbys, Durty Nellies, and Tap House grill.

 

In that order...

 

Not to be a dick... but that's a pretty rude and unjust statement from someone using RAM as a baseline...there are plenty of awesome choices in the Schaumburg area outside of the mall area.

Beer Market (literally across from the mall, Bigsby's (Rolling Meadows/A Heights), Lucky Monk (Hoffman/S. Barrington), Rack House (in A Heights/Rolling Meadows Border), Onion Pub (Barrington), Durty Nellie's (awesome tap list - just wouldn't go here before 10pm...in Palatine.)

 

Also, down lake street from Bigbys in Addison is a Sals Beverage World. They have a great selection and a really friendly helpful staff.