I have done a bit of searching but I couldn't find any concrete answers so I figured I would post... I am planning to head to Chicago for my bachelor party in late April (looks like a week before Dark Lord Day; watching the Cubbies at Wrigley takes precedent amongst everyone over Dark Lord Day). Although not everyone is into beer like I am, everyone is looking forward to a half-day/day to hit a couple breweries in the area. I'm looking for some recommendations on where to go. Although I would appreciate the hole-in-the-wall places that brew some good beer, I believe the masses would prefer breweries/brewpubs with tours, samplings, and just more of a party atmosphere. My best man did a little research and came across this article from USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/trave...er-popular-craft-breweries-tap-rooms/2870815/ Any thoughts or recommendations are greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!
Goose Island is my favorite brewpub in the city. They get lost with other, newer names, but they're still the champs. The pub only stuff is fantastic. The Clybourn location is the original and way better, but the Wrigleyville location will definitely be more of a party atmosphere, especially if it's game day, which it sounds like it will be, and they have great stuff too. Half Acre is awesome. They do yours on Saturday, but the taproom is more of a chill place. Revolution is another good one. They have a brewpub and a production facility. Brewpub is full bar, facility has a kickass tasting room, and it's in the brewery, so you can see everything, but it's much more chill also. Lagunitass should be open by then, but I have no idea what that's going to be like. It's not really close to any other breweries though. It's in a warehouse district.
If you want to feel overwhelmed by an amazing selection of craft beer, the Map Room is an absolute must. http://maproom.com It's a quieter place but has so many options your head will spin. Plus they occasionally offer Saturday afternoon "Beer School" classes which I've heard are informative and great. Also i will 100% recommend Half Acre or Revolution. If you do Revolution, might as well try and eat at their brewpub. The food is great and their selection is always solid. If you're looking for only drinks, though, Half Acre's Tap Room is one of the best I've been to.
How many people? The Revolution Tap Room is huge and easily accomodates a crowd. The Brewpub location is always jammed full but they have decent food. They do have an upstairs bar but they often have it shut down for private parties. Haymarket Pub and Brewery has a decent space and it's closer to downtown if that's where you are staying. Food is also decent. Their brews are a little uneven. Three Floyds is great but it's pretty far out and the wait time is extremely annoying to anyone who isn't a total beer geek. Map Room is a great beer bar. Hopleaf is as well.
Map Room will absolutely turn away large groups, especially if they think it's a bachelor/bacherlorette group. I'd consider Piece (no tours but good pizza and they sell everything in small taster glasses -- just call ahead to reserve a table) and then Revolution's Tap Room (no food though you can order delivery or bring food in from a restaurant (have some do a run to Honey Butter for a couple of 8-piece buckets) but a fun tour with a sample -- if you have a large group, call ahead and maybe they can set some tables aside for you and/or hold space on their tour). Or you can look these guys up: http://www.chicagobrewbus.com/the_tours/
I went to Revolution for food and booze, then to map room, and not a far distance to Lotties where you can rent out the basement for any nefarious activities. Also its haunted down there so it can get extra creepy down there.
Thanks for the recommendations! Looks like Half Acre and Revolution are musts. Piece also looks like a cool place to check out. I'd like to visit Goose Island as well, as I'm assuming its a staple in Chicago. I think right now the number of us heading out there is nine, but up to 12 guys might fly out. I personally would love to go to Three Floyds, but I don't think the other guys will be up for making the trek, especially to wait in a line (like I said, I'm the only beer nut out of the group). However, I would like to come home with some Three Floyds beers. Any ideas on where I might be able to pick up around the city? On that note, any local Chicago beers I should be on the lookout for to bring home with me?
IP trade me some HF beer and save yourself the trouble of running around the city looking for FFF beer.
If you guys want to take in a few good brews before or after the game, you guys should head to sheflds, which is maybe 2 or 3 blocks from Wrigley. Great beer selection. The Goose Island brew pub is good and that is a block away. In terms of breweries, I agree with everyone sentiment, Half Acre and Revolution. Three Floyds anytime before 8pm is a mess. Especially for a larger group. EDIT: Just saw your response about 40 minutes ago. Beers to bring home with you, definitely Pipeworks beers. You really cannot go wrong. When you go to Half Acre you are probably going to want to take home a 4 pack of Daisy Cutter. It's so good.
I agree with everyone about Half Acre and Revolution. I did Half Acre for my 30th with a large group and recently did Revolutions with a large group for someone else's bday ( and we actually went to Piece after that, which is fairly close) Note: Piece doesn't take reservations for groups smaller than 20. We had to wait about an hour on Saturday night, but it was a fun hour sampling a few different brews. The pizza is awesome. A couple notes about each: * Half Acre - they only do one tour a week, on Saturdays, you need to line up outside the brewery and make sure to get there early so everyone will get in. (I'd say like 10:30 at the latest) * Revolution Tap Room - they do 3 on Saturdays but they can fill up quickly. ( 4, 5, and 6pm I believe). We got there around 3:30pm on Saturday and the 4 and 5pm tours were already full, but we got in for the 6pm tour. We brought some playing cards and snacks so we had a good time enjoying good brew and hanging out. They do have free popcorn there, but that's it. Cheers!
