Chicago breweries that don’t need their own thread (2023)

I stand corrected. Looks like they were doing okay with haze hype prior to Justin.

 

I actually stopped in yesterday for the first time in ages because I was thinking about them.

Their stuff was definitely tasting better than it was when I fell out of love with the brewery. Even my wife the last trip we made was like, yeah that stuff is just ridiculously sweet and gross.

They had a lot of BA ISLBS on tap and tried a few of them and I can't say I agree with their BA program being top notch. I don't remember ever being blown away by their BA offerings, but I will say this pours from yesterday definitely have a better barrel presence to them. Most of the pours were good without being great, and man, I can't believe they still use tugboat in these beers, that really holds them back.

Rhyme Dust was a nice little IPA as well.

Frankly, the only standout beer was the Bottle Logic they were pouring.

 

Oswego Brewing is closing up shop on 9/3. It’s ugly out there right now…

 

O NO

EDIT: This was until very recently the closest brewery to my house. I went exactly two times in the 16 months I've lived here. The beer was solid, this is a bummer......but I wonder if the rumors are true....

 

I’m still waiting for a closure to shock me. So far these are places I’ve never been to or purchased from. Maybe I’m the problem…or maybe there are too many breweries.

 

Re Oswego: I've had five of their beers. (B sides and bonus tracks, pickin raspberries, pickin key limes, west coast horsez, and daguerreotype). All very good, even better than a lot out there, but they are way the F out there (never made the trek) and distro was not ubiquitous. Just too much competition. We are way spoiled. I really don't think they fall into the failed due to bad beer pot. Location, loans, other issues? Don't know, but IMO they made good beer.

Also, you mods are vicious, as the listing on this site already shows they are closed.

 

But technically not closed yet in case some of us need to get some reviews in

 

Yeah I hate to agree with you, but you're right. Not enough beer drinkers to sustain all these businesses. Think we're starting to see the bubble bursting, or at least a market correction.

 

I have a bad feeling we’ll eventually see more surprising announcements. Won’t be surprised if we lose 15-20% of the market in the next year

 

Cracked open a can Forbidden Root's Peach Wit. Haven't had FR's brews in quite a while (love their hazy IPAs), but really enjoyed it. Light but with canned peaches/syrup taste to it (lot of peach in it). Really hit the spot on a hot day after doing stuff around the house.

 

There is the Maevery Public House next door {from which you can order in food}.

The first time I visited Lake Bluff Brwg., I will scribe it pushed the correct buttons at the proper time. I was not hungry. I had eaten at the market at Ogilvie T.C. When I entered, staff there, without any prompting from me, went into its pile of vinyl LP records and put on a Grateful Dead [2 platters] album. That LP kept me there for awhile. Were the beers reduced to a supporting role? Perhaps.
Mickey Finn's is excellent. But it is on the Milwaukee District North Line [to Fox Lake]. Lake Bluff, Broken Tee, Kings and Convicts, Pandemonium Brwg. (Waukegan), and Ravinia (HIghland Park) are on the Union Pacific North Line [to Waukegan and Kenosha, WI. ~ but insufficient trains running to Kenosha].
Lake Bluff Brwg. was the resultant destination on a Saturday when I wanted to go to Waukegan, Highwood, and Highland Park. But I missed a northbound train, which cut off Waukegan, and Ravinia was deemed too far from the train station (which it really is not); so it became Lake Bluff. Which was so distracting that I left my credit card there after settling my tab.
So it seems you might appreciate Lake Bluff Brwg. more for its atmosphere than its brews.

 

Chicago Liquor Stores That Don't Need Their Own Thread: West Lakeview Liquors (2023)

I had a free afternoon on Friday and a wonderful day to ride my bike. I wound up in the Wrigleyville / Roscoe Village area & remembered...holy shit, I'm right by West Lakeview Liquors! Is that place even open?

Long story...well, kinda long: yes, the place is open. Wednesday through Sunday, 12pm-8pm. Current staff is 1 person (Christina, the owner). Same setup: one room for beer (plus mead, cider & seltzers...which, like everywhere, is creeping on the beer space) and one room for wine/spirits.

Christina's been pulling things from the cellar, which she was always wont to do. 2012 Goose Island Bramble Rye, 2012 Goose Island Coffee, old vintages of Older Viscosity from Port Brewing, mid 2010's Agrestic and Bretta Rose from Firestone Walker, Curmudgeon's Better Half and OG Nemesis from Founders, tons of old Dark Horse Plead the Fifth, 2009 Bell's Expedition...and so many cool European beers that I'd never heard of, outside of her store.

My pick would be this:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/11031/92545/
...a collaboration between Christina, De Molen & Narke Kulturbryggeri (NK's only beer ever released in the US) that is 10 years old. Never had it fresh, but it currently tastes like a fantastic English Barleywine (it's listed as a Belgian Dark Strong Ale) without any overt oxidation issues.

The proprietor was also very accommodating, knowledgeable (she had a story about every beer in the store and knew most of the brewers involved) and flat out interesting (ask her about the moon!).

If memory serves, she has a mixed reputation amongst Chicago beer nerds, but to me she's a pioneer and living legend, and I'll be back to chat, buy some weird old beers & drink it all in, literally & figuratively.

 

I guess when you violate labor laws and treat staff like shit for years, “no want wants to work” (for her). Place probably wouldn’t still be open if she hadn’t ripped so many employees off…

 

Pollyanna is celebrating their 9th Anniversary this week with a bold, and expansive, release schedule, along with a month's long promotion to visit all four outlets.
They always release an anniversary lager and this year's is an Italian pilsner. They also release a barrel aged Imperial Stout, Personal Chain Letter, and this year's is aged in Whiskey Acres blue popcorn bourbon and rye whiskey barrels. Apparently Whiskey Acres used popped blue corn to add to their mash to make their bourbon, whose barrels Pollyanna used to age this Stout (noted as a porter on their website, but stout on the can)(?)
Anyway that is just the tip of the iceberg:

https://www.facebook.com/PollyannaBrewing
"4 new beers [EACH] day of the Lemont Brewery anniversary weekend"!!!
Butter Pecan, Birthday Cake, Old Fashioned, Chocolate, and Pumpkin Spice Personal Chain Letter variants, and variants of three other beers.

Is this too much?

Wait, that's just at Lemont. They are also promoting a Red Handle Tour for visits to the anniversary parties at the other three spots (Roslare, St. Charles, and Social) over the next three months!
https://www.facebook.com/events/pol...ring-the-red-tap-handle-tour/770929018117772/

16 beers for a 9th anniversary seems over the top. What do you do for the 10th if it works? Who do you sell to if it doesn't?

I will be getting some of these, I have been pleased with the anniversary lagers and a Personal Chain Letter always makes me happy (except when delivered by a postal worker).

 

I am very excited that Ocular is being released, it has been a LONG time. Pollyanna does such a great job with their fests/anniversaries/etc. I'm looking forward to trying most of these one off releases...with only one keg each, they won't last long.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw5efpdN40I/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Ummm

(I can not upload an image to save my life)

 

This can't be real, right?