What's the best cluster of bottle shops in Chicago (within a mile or so)? I'm in town for the day and would like to hit 3-4 shops but don't have time to drive all over the city.
Personally I'd drop WLV out of that list since I'm not a fan of the owner, but personal feelings aside, it's a great shop stock-wise, and I think the list people have made is an excellent one. Capone's, Beer Temple, (WLV), Bottles and Cans and Bitter Pops is a killer list.
If you're really strapped for time and can't do everything, to me I'd do Beer Temple, Bottles & Cans, Half Acre. Or reverse the order depending on where you're coming from. To add WLV wouldn't be too much to that. My reasoning - since Beer Temple and Capone's tend to have a lot of the same most recent releases - you can pick one (and I'd pick BT). Bitter Pops is just a little more out of the way, so, again - if 2 or 3 shops is enough, could skip that one. As someone who is visiting - B&C is nice in that you can split any 4/6-pack up and do a mixed 6-er. So I'd definitely do that. And Half Acre is one I'd do because you could get a couple growler-only beers and they have a fairly recent sour release that's still around based on their website (Pennon).
This is true. While a store or two may have something left in stock that the others don't, you'll pretty much see the same stuff. I don't think I'd go to 4, and honestly would probably only hit 2 of them (BT and B&C would be my choices), as well as going to Half Acre.
