Headed to Springfield, Illinois

There is now a Hy-Vee which has a good selection and good pricing.

 

Obed and Isaacs has some solid beer in a nice setting, but if you're going for dinner, be aware that the food can be HIGHLY variable. After listening to friends who know swear by the place, I had one of the worst restaurant meals I have ever had there. A little online research backed up the opinion that the food can be great one night and completely off the next.

 

There's also a craft beer bar http://www.craftbeerbar-il.com with a decent selection on site. Not sure if any of it would be something you couldn't get elsewhere but it's a fun place

 

That's one of the problems with that place, nothing on draft there is remotely interesting and easily attainable. Also, what's with the white couches that look like they're from a wannabe club?

 

I don't understand the couches either, except to say that I've seen clusters of girls enjoying them, and we all know clusters of girls are the key to a successful business. Maybe it's just trying to be part of that downtown area requires being clublike?

Having said that, the draft selection is only a small portion of their offerings, they've got over 200 different bottle choices, but like you said, nothing I noticed, stouts or IPA's, was remarkable compared to a liquor store but it's better than the beer list of any other bar in the city. They do firkin nights and have other specials, they got BCBS which was good for the area, and they got Hopslam, so it's not like they aren't trying.

As for the breweries, Engrained was horrible in my experience, the beers were bland to awful and the dining room is cafeteria like. Rolling Meadows had a blood orange wheat beer that was excellent this summer, I hope it makes a comeback. Obed & Isaac's is good, I've always had good food experiences, the triplet of dips is hard to screw up and is an excellent appetizer, and I've always been able to find good beers. They sometimes make a double IPA that I think is excellent, but I haven't seen it for a long time now, their go-to is a black IPA that is a solid beer especially fresh.