March Fourth for Froth (Chicago, IL.)

Let's get this out here. The Logan Square Draught Beer Preservation Society announces its seventeenth "March Fourth for Froth" occuring this Saturday, March 4th, starting from 6:00 pm.
The first two venues on the crawl are set: Weegee's Lounge (3659 W. Armitage Ave.) at 6:00 pm [CT - GMT-6], and GO Tavern & Liquors (3219 W. Armitage Ave.) at 7:00 pm.
The additional venues will likely be determined ad hoc. I have preferences; but if our other crawlers view it differently, then we shall go where they exhort. In a way, this is suggestive of a mayoral election in that there are multiple candidates, but only up to four may be specified (if we spend sixty minutes each there).

Those four may be designated from these nominations:

• Scofflaw (cocktail bar- 3201 W. Armitage Ave.)
• Parson's Chicken & Fish ^ (draught beers + an exclusive Revolution Brwg. canned beer - 2952 W. Armitage Ave.)
• Still Life by Solemn Oath (brewpub - 2919 W. Armitage Ave.),
• Gretel ^ (2833 W. Armitage Ave.)
• Bungalow by Middle Brow ^ (brewpub - 2840 W. Armitage Ave.)
• Union ^ (2202 N. California Ave.)
• Golden Teardrops (2101 N. California Ave. B1F)

^ = food available

The total length of the march is 1.6 miles. There is a distance to span between some venues [e.g.: GO Tavern to Parson's; Gretel to Union] which will tack on additional minutes. Ultimately, the stop at Golden Teardrops could be entirely optional if people want to drop off the crawl at Union (because the Blue Line “L” station is within eyesight). I shall advocate for Golden Teardrops because I conject people have not been there, and might not be able to find it individually.
Another of our tenets which the crawl promotes is that we want to visit bars | pubs; not brewpubs | taprooms. Brewpubs | Taprooms are supposed to be better venues because they concentrate on their own brews. I shall not vote to place a brewpub on the crawl, but I can be outvoted.
A Google map of the intended route: https://v.gd/pudgy2023
You may vote for up to four of the nominated venues here, but realize the outcome will be determined by whomever physically shows up for the march.

 

The results of the Logan Square Draught Beer Preservation Society's seventeenth "March Fourth for Froth" pub crawl are:

1. Still Life by Solemn Oath
2. Golden Teardrops
3. Weegee's Lounge
4. GO Tavern & Liquors

- Gretel - We went inside Gretel. I got to glimpse the basement there for the first time. We got a copy of its draught list. But in good news | bad news: It was so busy we could not find a spot where to stand (good news for it) . It would have taken excessive time to be served, and later settle (bad news for us). We left there and backpedaled to Still Life by Solemn Oath.
Bungalow by Middle Brow was a smaller venue than Gretel, and it appeared to be more crowded. We did not attempt to go in.

Weegee's Lounge and Go Tavern were cash only. Still Life by Solemn Oath was credit | debit card only.
The atmospheric conditions mitigated against attempting to start a pyre.

It is vastly unsurprising that Still Life by Solemn Oath got the top marks. Brewpubs | Taprooms have an advantage over bars, pubs, & lounges. Not the least of which is they know how their brews should taste. Many of us have experienced the quandary of being served a draught beer which did not taste like the style to which it was specified, voicing it to staff, and receiving the discordant riposte.
We were hamstrung that the route was formatted on revisiting the venues that were on the first "March Fourth for Froth" crawl in 2005. Logan Square has resurged since then, and has many more places which can now be visited. We should not have to resort to visiting a brewpub or taproom to check on superb nooks.

What the Logan Square Draught Beer Preservation Society should do next is query the runoff candidates for the Mayor of Chicago if they will pledge to relocate the statue of General John A. Logan from its delitescent spot in Grant Park to Logan Square.
Then we ought to compound another pub crawl for a weeknight during Illinois Craft Beer Week in May.
This will give us time to select a more concise route amongst the ballooning area which can be envisioned as Logan Square. Ensuing publicity should also entice more draught beer rooters to join the LSDBPS.