I'm in Chicago for the night and am staying around the corner from Warehouse Liquors downtown, which seems to have a pretty impressive selection of local stuff. Beyond the better known local breweries like Pipeworks and Half Acre, are there any particular local beers that can't be missed? There are so many breweries I've never heard of!
Beers by Revolution like their staple Anti-Hero and their porter Eugene are great. Metropolitan Flywheel is fantastic and their seasonal, Heliostat just came last month.
Thanks man, particularly for the Metropolitan rec. Never heard of them. I've had plenty of Revolution stuff too. Frankly shocked that Anti-Hero seems to be absolutely everywhere!
I love Spiteful Brewing and shop at Warehouse when I'm in Chicago as well. Their Goddamn Pigeon Porter is my favorite beer I discovered this year. They routinely make variations on it–if you pick one up, shoot for a newer one (they include batch numbers on their bombers) because the flavor can fade. The toffee is very good and I enjoyed the coconut as well. Their IPA (six pack 12 oz. cans) and Working For the Weekend double IPA (four pack 16 oz. cans) are also great. I've enjoyed a couple of their other doubles, so check to see if there's anything that catches your eye.
OP, if you are still in town I recommend picking up Pollyanna Brewing Lexical Gap. They are out of Lemont. I've not had anything from them before but had this the last two days and it's as good an IPA as I've had from any of the newer breweries in the state. Not trying to oversell it in any way but seeing as there is no lack of mediocre IPAs around here I thought this was solid & respectable. They just came out with cans recently (~last couple weeks I think). Not sure if it's at the shop you are nearby but should be at any area Binny's.
Picked up a 4 pack last week at Binnys in EP, enjoyed it over the weekend. Damn good I thought. Would like to stop by their brewery, it's only 20 minutes away from me. Anyone been there? Comments? Thanks
Hitting up Binnys today on my way out of town, I apprecite the suggestions here. Any others to look for?
Lexical Gap is super good. Nothing mind blowing, but a great example of the style. I'd buy it again for sure.
Yep, was there a couple of weeks ago before I had my surgery. 2 levels with clear visibility to the brewery below. Small interior space but clean, sharp, refined. Nice outdoor patio area. I suggest going during off-hours if possible since I imagine it can get crowded quickly due to the smaller physical space. I think it's worth a visit and the surrounding town / area is very nice also.
If you like barrel aged stouts wild onion Drago is a good one. I'm not sure how available it is but it showed back up at the place I go to in the far north suburbs a week or so ago.
I picked up a 4-pack in the burbs this past weekend, and agree with most of the comments here. It's not mind-blowing-I-totally-have-to-chase-this-down, but it's solid and quite enjoyable. Thanks for making the recommendation.
Pipeworks - Anything Off Color - Apex Predator and Fierce Revolution - Anything, ive been big on fist city latley.
You can't go wrong in the IPA category buying a bunch of Rev Fist City, Pipeworks NvU and Half Acre Vallejo
