Chicago "Ale Trail"?

Discussion in 'Great Lakes' started by BreweryTraveler, Jun 10, 2020.

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  1. GuyFawkes

    GuyFawkes Grand Pooh-Bah (5,630) Apr 7, 2011 Illinois
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I much prefer the taproom...it's a much more comfortable space in my opinion. However, there's no food at the taproom, and there is food at the brewpub, so take that into consideration. Both are fun spots.
     
    ChicagoJ, FBarber and BuffaloBill12 like this.
  2. Quilentro

    Quilentro Maven (1,398) May 12, 2017 Illinois
    Trader

    It’s definitely a weird time to visit - always a chance that we could go backwards and things will close up (or look at what happened with More needing to quickly change their plans).

    do what’s right for you, but I would recommend picking up a bunch of fresh packaged goods and drinking on a stoop or a roof somewhere. The beers just sitting on the shelf right now are so good. And if you stop at a place like bottles and cans, you can get a big variety of singles. Or grab a divvy and backpack and go brewery to brewery picking up stuff you can only snag there.

    The visiting Chicagoland resource has good suggestions, but you can’t go wrong with some fresh hop butcher, half acre, pipeworks, saint errant, Phase 3, Maplewood, Old Irving, Off Color, Revolution, Riverlands, Dovetail.... I’m sure others would advocate for More, Foreign Exchange, Mikerphone...

    So many great options right now. Many places are cranking out one-offs or once-a-year offerings every week, plus staples.

    finally, remember to hydrate. It’s pretty warm right now. I talked to a hydration specialist, and he recommended 1 Half Acre Fader between every other beer. Just be careful, because if you drink two in a row, you get caught in a crispy boi loop.
     
  3. BreweryTraveler

    BreweryTraveler Initiate (106) Oct 25, 2019 Texas

    Made it to Dovetail (their parking lot has been transformed into a "beer garden", reservations required, and they're taking temps), Revolution Brewpub (giant windows near the front were open), Metropolitan (brief wait in a line for a table on their patio, they said it was their first time operating a patio and hope to make some improvements...umbrellas/some sort of other coverage from the sun would be helpful), and Maplewood (outdoor patio only, reservations required, and I'm lucky I made them because I saw people turned away because they were booked for the entire evening).
     
  4. GuyFawkes

    GuyFawkes Grand Pooh-Bah (5,630) Apr 7, 2011 Illinois
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    What was your favorite?
     
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  5. BreweryTraveler

    BreweryTraveler Initiate (106) Oct 25, 2019 Texas

    I'd say Revolution, a nice variety of styles and strengths. Also they were the only place where I could order a proper flight right now.

    Maplewood has some interesting flavors and I wanted to to try more, but I needed to end the drinking portion of my itinerary. I liked their whiskey too.
     
  6. BreweryTraveler

    BreweryTraveler Initiate (106) Oct 25, 2019 Texas

    Just swung through and hit up some more breweries:

    -Goose Island
    -Off Color Brewing
    -Pilot Project
    -Eris Cidery
    -Short Fuse

    And I'd return to all of them.
     
    Jsimansk, Redrover, ChicagoJ and 5 others like this.
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