Planning a "Great Lakes" beer tour - advice?

Re Chicago:

You need to visit Revolution and Half Acre. The former has a brewpub and a brewery; the brewery sells beer by the cans/bottles/cases but is only open Wed-Sat (2pm until 10pm, I think - check first; the brewpub, different location, albeit nearby, is a normal '11am until late' but no beer to go other than growlers). The latter has a tap room now that is really, really nice and is worth visiting just to sample one of Chicago's better breweries (even if they tend to focus on light-bodied hoppy beers). Half Acre will have a few things in cans for purchase - maybe a bomber or two, too. Haymarket and Piece are two solid brewpubs that don't can/bottle but make really good beer, nonetheless. I wouldn't get your heart set on visiting the Goose Island brewpub - half of what they pour is widely available (admittedly, depending on where you're coming from) and the food is 'eh' at best. If you're expecting great things like Bourbon County Stout, King Henry and Scarlett, you will be disappointed (but if you want decent beer... you should be fine).

Revolution has a lot of bombers and 3 beers in cans that are easy to get (there's the brewery, which runs a hair cheaper than other retail stores, especially when it comes to case prices on bombers, and then there's the local mega-chain, Binny's, that will have them, as well). Mad Cow (milk stout), Fistmas (lightly-spiced holiday ale), Double Fist (double pale ale) and A Strange Bird (Belgian pale) are my favorite bombers; Anti-Hero (IPA) and Eugene (porter) are great 6-packs. Pipeworks is a nano-brewery in the area that's amazing. If you like hops, they have great hoppy options; if you want malt, they have you covered, too; there's even a solid Berliner Weiss with raspberries if you want something wild -- just ask an employee to help sort through the options.

Local Option is fine - great tap list, generally, but it's expensive and that bar itself can have spotty service and high prices; food is so-so. Map Room and Hopleaf are better, IMO, when it comes to enjoyable places to drink beer; the former is cash only/no food; the latter has a heavier emphasis on Belgian taps but also has a great selection of local/regional breweries (food is great, too). Binny's is the local mega-chain - great prices, large selection (but don't expect to find limited/rare releases). West Lakeview and Warehouse Liquors are worth stopping by if you really want less known/harder to find options (though, even then, it will be a crapshoot for limited/rare stuff).

And then there's Three Floyds. Probably the most acclaimed brewery in the Midwest, if you're in Chicago and really want to see what they have, your best bet is to drive 30ish minutes to Munster, Indiana. Great food, great beer -- great prices if you buy beer to go. You absolutely should stop by on your way into Michigan, if only to pick up beer to go (though you'd be missing out big time if you didn't stop in for beer/food). There could well likely be a wait to get in, but it's worth it. If there's one argument to be made for driving back, it's a case (or two!) of Zombie Dust. Just sayin'.

As to where to stay, anywhere in the Loop or River North should be fine (though anything in the South Loop may put you far from transit stops; in River North, you may find yourselves a little far east, too). That's where all the hotels are anyway. It's plenty easy to get around the city via public transit (the CTA), but if you're on big shopping trips, a rental car will go a long way.

 

Picking breweries in West Michigan is like selecting the big diamonds instead of the small diamonds. They're all diamonds (well, most of 'em) and worthy of being picked. You really won't have to go any farther on your trip.

So, if you are going to be at Bell's then you've got Arcadia 18 miles to the east, and Dark Horse another 12 miles east from there. Twenty-five miles north of Bell's is Waldorff, a definite 'diamond' in the rough and very worthy of a stop.

If you are going to be at Founders then you've got HopCat 4 blocks away, a great beer bar with a huge tap list as well as being a brewery with some good offerings, and then there's Brewery Vivant about 1.5 miles away with some great Belgian-inspired offerings.

Depending on when you're making this trip will determine any special releases that you'll find in Michigan. Off the top of my head I'm thinking that there will be special releases from Founders, Arcadia and Dark Horse within the next 1-4 weeks. And there are probably some others that I'm not recalling right now.

 

Starting from Chicago, this is the road trip I'd take:

Three Floyds > Greenbush > The Livery > Founders > Hopcat > Bell's

Extra Points

Jolly Pumpkin - Ann Arbor > Kuhnhenn

 

If you're going to Bell's Eccentric Cafe, I'd continue east on I-94 for and check out Dark Horse in Marshall.....only a 30 minute drive from K-Zoo.

 

Depending on what beers you've previously sampled, or where you've been in the past, would definitely influence where I would focus my time.

Chicago is a great beer town; having said that, I think if I had one week, I would spend one day in Chicagoland, and Mullarkey pretty much described the hot spots there, although I do have to say that I love Goose Island. Maybe not for what it is now, but for what is was to me. My first love; that brewpub was once great; its a shame to me that it is merely a pawn in the game of beer for InBev. Haven't been there for a couple years now, but last time I was there, they were still making good small batch stuff out of the 1800 N Clybourn location.

Then, I would travel south, and make the stop at 3 Floyds. But, you have to do it during the week, and preferably, during the day (ie lunch time). Its a much more mellow and enjoyable experience than on the weekend, and you'll have a better time. In the general vicinity of 3 Floyds, I would also recommend Flossmoor Station and One Trick Pony (although the Pony is only open from Thurs - Sun). The stop at Floyds alone would be worth driving in. You may or may not get the Holy Grail (Zombie Dust) but of late, they've had it most every time I've stopped in the pub.

Ok, I would then head up into Michigan. On the way, I would make my first stop at Greenbush in Sawyer; easy on / off the expressway, and a rising star brewpub (IMO). Plus, they are just now starting to bottle some of their more rare / barrel aged varieties, and there is no way you are going to see their stuff on your local bottle shop's shelves. Highly recommend this place.

From there, it depends on how much time you have. I love the Livery in Benton Harbor, which gets you on the road up to Grand Rapids and Founders / Hop Cat / and all that Grand Rapids has to offer. Plus, if you go that way, you can also check out Saugatuck and New Holland, both pretty cool brewpubs.

But, I also love Bells and Kalamazoo - so therein lies your dilemma. If you go towards the Zoo, and after you hit Bells, you are also going towards Paw Paw in Paw Paw, Arcadia in Battle Creek, and Dark Horse in Marshall.

If I had my druthers, I'd spend more time in Michigan than Chicago, but that's because I spend too much time in Chitown working, and its not a release for me to go there.

I envy your dilemma. I don't think you can go wrong whichever way you go.

 

Is Amtrack an option? You can catch it in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. (It's 3 blocks from Bell's or Arcadia.)