Downtown Chicago

Binny's on Grand is a no-brainer, I'd say.

In terms of beers to look out for, I'd probably grab a 6-pack of Fist City by Revolution, if you can find it. Permanent Funeral has recently hit the suburbs again, looks like, so he might wanna keep any eye out for bombers of that, in case more come in. Otherwise, whatever the latest Pipeworks releases are, as usual, and other Chicago/Illinois staples.

 

Well, anything FFF (unless you're in Indiana), Spiteful (I'd keep an eye out for Malevolence Chocolate Caliente if you like Mexican hot chocolate-style beers), and yeah, if just looking for general on-tap stuff, I would highly recommend seeking out The Lizard King. Also, a local bar called The Local Option has their own line of bottled beers, all of which can be found at Binny's. Other than that, the answer changes from week to week.

 

Is the Binny's on Marcey St a better stop? Gonna be in Chicago at the end of the month for a few days.

 

it can be better depending on how you see it. the Binny's on grand is a great shop. Marcey street is great too and on top of that has a bigger selection of everything. They also have a taproom which is an additional plus. The beer manager for that location is a friendly dude who posts here (@Vav ) consistently and tweets out any releases. If you're looking for something specific, reach out to him for some help and he can also suggest a plethora of options/alternatives.

 

interestingly enough, some parts of ohio see revolution distribution. not sure if that is the case for subby.

otherwise, i'd recommend seekabrew to see what the distro differences are.

http://www.seekabrew.com/distro/index.html

other local/regional delicacies beyond what was mentioned: central waters (bourbon barrel offerings), solemn oath, metropolitan (for good lagers), flossmoor station

 

Yeah, I personally prefer the one on Marcey for the reasons Ravot outlined (bigger, Vav is a good dude, and their taproom is pretty awesome). You're also across the street from GI Clybourn, which is a great situation as well.

Grand is wayyyy closer to your buddy's hotel, and is a great store in its own right though, so it's not a bad choice.

Yeah, I noticed Rev distributes to Ohio, but since I didn't know where OP/his buddy are from, I didn't want to assume. Good call on seekabrew, though.

 

Was just double checking. We're gonna aim to go to the Marcey one and maybe hit GI.. Any chance they'll have some bourbon country variant on draft on a Monday? Think we're gonna hit them on our way to 3 Floyds.

 

Monday? I would never say there's no chance, but historically (in the last few months, at least), it's been Fridays that they've tapped BCBS. Never know, though. Also, their anniversary party is next Wednesday night, so who knows what they'll be doing next week.

 

Thanks for the heads up. We might just skip GI then. We'll be in town the last week of the month. Looking forward to trying some local brews around the area and going to our first Cubs game.

 

Wrigley is walkable from Half acre tap room. The GI brewpub on Clyburn has some interesting stuff even if no bcbs

 

Half Acre is almost 2 miles from wrigley.

 

Yeah, if Rev distributes to your area of Ohio, I'd assume you'll get Fist City. It's just brand new (been out in cans about a week or two), so you might not have seen it yet. Either way, it's good stuff.

 

i didn't say it was a close walk just walkable. it's not that bad especially with a little beer buzz.

closer alternative would be dry hop, about a mile away, and if you go after the game, you can get to go cans. maybe you know something closer?

It's newer, released 4/20.

 

Southwest Ohio, Cincinnati area got Fist City. It just arrived last week I believe.

 

the south loop binny's (neither grand or marcey) has a tasting room as well.
https://www.beermenus.com/places/16002-binny-s-south-loop-tasting-room
it hasn't been updated in a while but they almost ALWAYS have BCBS on draft (no variants). this location is bigger than grand but a tad smaller than marcey street.

 

I agree with those above on Pipeworks, Spiteful, and Half Acre. Everything by Pipeworks will, at the very least, be interesting. I'm also partial to Off Color. I really enjoyed their Bare Bear recently but Apex Predator is usually easier to find.

 

The South Loop Binny's has a taproom and usually has BCBS on tap, I would check that out when you are here.