Chicago Breweries

I personally love their pales at GI Clybourn. Too soon and OMG are really good. But everyone has a different palette.

 

Can anyone confirm if this brewery plan sounds right or please correct me if wrong: Brown line to Irving Park stop (walk to Dovetail, Half Acre, and Begyle). Blue line to Logan Square (Revolution). Green line to California (Lagunitas). Plans to visit would be a Weds or Thurs in 2 weeks. Thanks!

 

Google Maps is your friend. It looks like Pink Line is the option for Lagunitas, but I'd probably Uber down there (but, I'd Uber to all of them, actually).

You should have a great time at those places.

 

Thanks for the info, looking forward to the trip! For Pink line to Lagunitas, still the California stop? I'll Uber if necessary but don't mind taking public transit and walking (within reason).

 

Yes, it's California stop. I mention Uber to there just because I'm not sure what that neighborhood is like and how good it is. It's not an area I've ever been in, as far as I know.

 

I'd uber to Lagunitas. Pilsen has some great food, etc but the area surrounding the brewery isn't the safest

 

Exactly what I did last week. Hit up GI Clybourn and then popped into Binny's the day they got fresh Gumballhead.

 

I don't think that is a fair assessment. My understanding is that they have every intention of opening a tap room. I'm sure ere are infinite hurdles to jump through in Chicago to expand from a brewery to a tap room or brew pub.

 

I may be talking out of my ass, but I thought there was an issue with the licensing. Something like they can't have a taproom and self-distribute.

 

I think it is more prioritizing spending money on scaling the business vs. building a place where the community can experience their beer. Maybe they crunched the numbers and figured that there is no interest in an establishment that serves all 9%+ beer. They had promised a tap room years ago and haven't delivered on it. I think that is a fair assessment, especially when so many new upstart breweries in the area are able to deliver on that. The good people of NY will be able to get Pipeworks distro thanks to the increasing capacity and the people of Chicago will be going out to any other brewery, but Pipeworks to get their craft beer experience.

 

Pipeworks makes good beer, and I get to experience it plenty. I drink it at home and there are plenty of places where it is on draft. It would be nice to have a taproom, but it really doesn't bother me at all that they don't have one yet. I'm in no place (and I'd say most of us aren't) to say exactly why they don't have one yet, so I am not about to criticize. Even if they never get one and continue to make good beer, I will drink it. That seems pretty simple to me, and to say they suck is pretty far out there.

 

No way. I absolutely cannot abide this statement. They are the one brewery that went completely above and beyond to make a weird situation "right" with me. I picked up a 7 month old NvU bomber at some place that's not even one of their accounts (no idea how it wound up on the shelf) and when I posted/bitched about it here, I got a BM from someone at the brewery saying they'd take care of me next time I was in town (I was living in MI at the time). What they wound up doing was completely unexpected and incredibly generous, even after I said that I was just venting and that it was more the shop's fault than theirs. To me, that demonstrates a level of respect and concern for the customer that matters so much more than having a taproom.

In contrast, I sent a couple of emails to a Chicago brewery with a taproom and brewpub about a legitimate issue and didn't even receive the courtesy of a token response, just crickets and bupkis. I still buy some of their beers here and there, but not as much as before. The fact that PW would proactively reach out to me means A LOT in my book. Having just moved to the area, I'm still in the "overbuy because I can't believe I have such easy access" phase, but I've gotten either a PW 4-pack or bomber every time I've gone shopping. Unless there is an enormous drop-off in quality, I will be a loyal PW customer for life. I've never met them in person, but everyone from PW that I've virtually communicated with has been so gracious, courteous, and appreciative of my business that I cannot fathom how anyone could say they don't care.

 

I love listening to Mike from PW on The Beer Temple podcast. I don't know who runs their BA account but look earlier in the thread where they offered entry into their facility for a beer. They just seem like good folks

 

Yeah, I think the problem for some people is that Clybourn doesn't do much in the way of "flashy" American styles; they do more traditional stuff (English and Belgian especially), and while they do it well, it's not what some people are looking for.

Their BA stuff is world-class, and they made my favorite sour of all time (Yellow Umbrella, a meridian dry-hopped sour).

Their typical pale ales are a little generic, I'll give you that, but I'd imagine it's for exactly the reason you mentioned (they constantly switch 'em up). Their Belgian stuff is very solid; as mentioned before, they do traditional styles very well, but that's understandably boring to some people.

If you really want to be blown away, your best bet is to come during the colder months when they're bringing out their heavy hitters. I honestly think it's refreshing that all their stuff isn't super hoppy (as opposed to, for example Rev's taproom, which sometimes has 3 or 4 different DIPAs on tap. I love the place and their beers, but it can be a bit much), but I get why it's not everyone's cup of tea. Still a great place, though.

 

Personally I'd skip Goose. Outside of Bourbon County they just don't make anything that's great to me.

I'd also put a vote in for Revolution. Also, the area around Haymarket has lots of options including them as a brewery.

Have fun!

 

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http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-trip-advice.339394/
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http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-visit.335643/

 

We really do need a stickied thread for this...

 

I said that like 3 years ago, lol.

 

I am in Chicago at least once a month and have been to most of the places recommended, but I have to say I like the Chicago threads even if they get a little repetitive. I learn something new and get ideas about places to go in just about every thread, and enjoy reading people's opinions.

 

I don't have a problem with them continually popping up, either; it's just that there's so much info that's already been given, that it would be nice to have it all collected in one place for people to look over. If I were coming to Chicago for the first time, I'd probably want to peruse the 180,000 pages of these threads all in one place.