If all goes well I will be passing through an area roughly equal distance from More and Phase Three (Lake Zurich), along with a lot of other breweries I’m completely unfamiliar with. Not necessarily close to either, but close enough to maybe work a visit in. If it helps: Coming from Michigan so I don’t get either via distro over here. I’ll have time for a sampler or a pint at most, hopefully leave with a few goodies to go. Hazies? Shrug, although given the reputations I’d expect these to be better than average. One or the other, which one would you choose and why?
Roaring Table. Better beer overall and way more diversity of styles than either. Should still be in your location wheelhouse. Your unhelpful suggester, GuyFawkes
Depending on how plans play out, keep your eyes open for a Binny's. You should be able to find all of the above (and more, not just More) at their stores. https://www.binnys.com/store-locator/
Just had a 4-pack from Phase Three with Pixel variations. I enjoyed them, and the original Pixel in the pack was delicious. You may not be dreaming of hazy brews, but I plan to head there the next time I am in the area, so take that for what it is worth.
I live in Lake Zurich and Roaring Table is the correct answer, though there’s plenty of good beer if you really want to check out phase three. Even better do both..and stop at Consume for some decent food with a usually stellar tap list
The best thing about this thread is that before a few days ago I don’t think I had ever even heard of Roaring Table. And now it’s on The List. If not this coming trip, definitely on a future one. Thanks, folks!
They don't make a ton of them, but they had a hazy IPA featured on Craft Beer & Brewing's top 20 beers of the year in 2024. Usually they have a few pub ales on beer engine, some awesome lagers and some modern WC IPAs on tap. Definitely the underdog and are the beer nerd's brewery.
Roaring Table is a pretty special place (imo). It's in a strip mall and kind of non-descript (they just released a Mexican lager "Stripmall Especial"). Pretty much everything they make is at least solid and much is really good to great, especially their lagers as well as their non-hazy IPAs (they make good hazy IPAs as well but so do a lot of people). I particularly like their more "classic" American and West Coast, clear, hoppy IPAs. They have RTB IPA there now and it's a really good just classic hoppy IPA. They have a beer engine, a lukr for czech lagers and pils and they also have a Japanese two-nozzle faucet for their Japanese lager. Also, they just opened a kitchen where they serve very good pizza a few days a week and expended their outdoor area. So, yeah, check it out.
Yeh, phase three is fine...occasionally pretty good but you have to weed through a lot of hazy IPAs that all sounds the same and heavily adjuncted stouts. I'm an ambassador, mainly due to proximity, and every stout release I get really excited reading the first few lines about all the wonderful barrels they aged in and then I get to the "..and then we rested it on Madagascar vanilla, graham crackers, marshmallows and added guava extract..."
