2019 Visiting Chicagoland Resource Thread

Definitely the best chocolate shake in town.

 

What are folks recommending for beer wonks heading to the United Center? Me and a couple of buddies want to grab some good beers prior to the Tool show on Sunday night. Was thinking On Tour, but I'm open to other ideas.

 

Lone Wolf, Kiser Tiger and Aberdeen Tap are bars with decent drafts. Cruz Blanca is releasing a slew of BA beers this coming Saturday, so chances are good for leftover drafts of those.

Then there's always the option of Goose Island's taproom off Fulton. Close to there is On Tour, District Brew Yards and Midcoast Brewing.

Enjoy the show!

 

Good suggestions!

Also throw in Hay Market and Ballast Point.

 

Forbidden Root is a somewhat hidden gem several blocks north, $12 for a nice flight and popcorn pre-show would work well, good food as well.

 

We went with the On Tour -> Kaiser Tiger combo.

On Tour was ok. Nice space, friendly people, but the beer was nothing to write home about. Well made, just nothing that really grabbed me. I believe I had the Half Step and Asteroid Crashed.

Kaiser Tiger was a good spot pre-show. Pretty good food and a nice selection of beer. The complimentary shuttle to the venue was a bonus.

Thanks for the help.

And the tool show was phenomenal. My neck/shoulders are so sore and my ears are still ringing a bit.

 

Really needed to capitalize the band name on this one...

 

Our Garage Brewing is better than On Tour Brewing. Just saying.

 

I'll have about a day and a half to myself with a car Dec 1 & 2 (no specific place to stay). Then I'll be staying in Aurora Dec 2-6, with likely limited mobility due to time (but I'll still have a car).

I definitely plan to go to 3 Floyds (probably lunch time on Monday). I probably will visit Pipeworks and Half Acre and Hubbard's Cave. I definitely plan to shop and bring stuff home.

Based on what I've read here, I'm adding Mikerphone and Windmill to my likely stops. I haven't read the whole thread yet, and haven't nailed down my plan.

I want to thank you folks for the wealth of information already available in this thread. If you have anything obvious I should add to my list, I'd appreciate it.

 

https://www.binnys.com/

Map out the times on Google Maps before attempting this. At the times you think you'll be going. 3 Floyds is pretty far from Aurora. Adding in your other destinations will take quite a while. Rush hour ends about 10:00AM and restarts around 3:00PM. If anything, I'd suggest doing some shopping at Binnys a Chicago-area liquor store chain.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll try to incorporate that into my plans.

 

enjoy the trip, but this is a logistical nightmare. only a few of those places are remotely close to each other. 3F and Windmill, Mikerphone/Hubbard's Cave.

in the city, Half Acre to Pipeworks is 30 minutes if there's even a little traffic, and PW doesn't have a taproom, it's bottes/cans to go.

based on where you are staying, i'd recommend going to a bottle shop to try a good amount of local stuff on tap in one spot.

then go to riverlands, it's much closer and better than all of those anyway.

 

Mikerphone, Hubard's Cave and 3 Floyds are all about an hour drive from Aurora (3 Floyds probably 1.25 hours). Riverlands, More and Noon Whistle are about 30 minutes away. If you are staying downtown Aurora, checkout Prisco's Family market for bottles. Or if you are willing to drive a little bit, Binny's Naperville has a great selection.

 

The original 2019 Visiting Chicagoland Resource Thread lists Corridor and Forbidden Root as the 2 known for Hazy IPA breweries under "Highly Recommended "Must-Hit" Breweries & Brewpubs – Chicago city limits". Is this still the case, are there any others to add to this list?

 

I would still go to Corridor if you're going to be in the city. I haven't been to Forbidden Root in awhile, though. I think they're still solid but I just haven't been able to make it over there.

 

Maplewood has interesting stuff going on.

Personally, I'd find a local bar that has some NEIPAs going on (preferably Hop Butcher's stuff) and hit that up if you want hazy stuff.

 

Marz has hazy IPA's

 

Gotta say, I popped into Corridor last week and was not impressed. The beers were decent but the atmosphere was straight up cold. We ended up spending most of our time at Half Acre and Dovetail FWIW.