Revolution or Half Acre

As much as I like Revolution and Half Acre, I would say make it your first priority to go to Goose Island on Clybourn and the Binny's right next door to it. GI Clybourn has a decent tour with tastings and often has some unique GI beers on tap, and that Binny's tasting room is amazing (last time I was there they had Sump and Parabola on draft, among others) and the selection stellar, plus you can get a glass of great beer in the tasting room and wander around the store shopping for beer while drinking it!

And did I mention that the food at GI is very good, and the "tasting room" (really more of a tasting hall) at Binny's is nice enough that your non-beer-geek friends would probably be very comfortable relaxing in there with a glass of excellent beer or wine while you shop? Good stuff.

The one caveat about all this is that none of it is particularly cheap, particularly compared to Wisconsin. But then not much in Chicago is.

 

This is actually a great suggestion since you're not in town long and aren't with a bunch of beer nerds. Get a nice lunch at Goose then go "shopping" across the way. Boom. Done.

 

Short answer:
Out of the two choices I would say go to the Revolution brewpub just on the fact that it is only you interested in beer.

Long answer:
That being said, both places are great.

Revolution brewpub has some fantastic food that anyone in your party would like and the same beer list as the taproom.

Half Acre is great too (definitely my favorite), but there really isn't much to it, just a nice taproom. It is in a neighborhood with good food all around (the Bad Apple has some great burgers and is right across the street.

Another place I would highly recommend would be Piece. They have some fantastic pizza (none of that deep dish crap, sorry) and great beer. It can be pretty crowded on the weekends, but they usually get you in around half of the time they tell you.

As others have mentioned, there is also Goose island Clybourn. I am never too impressed with what they have to offer in terms of both beer and food, but it is certainly not bad. Good not great.
As a plus, it is right across the street from Binny's Lincoln Park, my favorite place to shop for beer, along with an unbelievable tap list at their bar. They always have something crazy on tap.

Beer temple is good, but I usually find it out of the way and it usually doesn't have anything that you cant find at Binny's. The one thing they do do well is get in fresh beer... like crazy fresh beer.

And last but not least, West Lakeview Liquors deserves a mention. This is one place in Chicago that manages to get beers that other places cant due to their relationships with brewers. They have amazing imports and even get things like Jester King simply because they know the brewers. Really nice people.


Hope this helps!
Might be too much information, but oh well.

 

...the fuck?

 

HA,
yea, cant stand deep dish.

 

Go to Hopleaf. The store across the street is expensive, but the beers at Hopleaf will be superior to what you will get at GI (and the food will be much better as well). Cheers and enjoy.

 

What this guy said. You're basically rich with options. Half Acre is awesome and very laid back (and one of my favorite places to have a beer), but if you want to eat, you have to bring your own food (some people order pizza while they're there). I can't speak to Bad Apple, but have heard nothing but good things about their burgers (my brother's favorite place to go). And while I don't think you can beat deep dish (c'mon, Gino's and Lou Malnati's?!?), Piece does have good pizza.

I would also probably lean towards GI Clybourn, although that's because it's one of my favorite places to hang out, so I'm a little biased. You won't get an amazing variety of beer, but you'll get a lot of GI beers you can't get elsewhere, and their menu is constantly changing, so there's that. The big advantage here is the ability to go across the street and check out Binny's and their taproom, which is a great place. They frequently have hard-to-get beer on tap, and it's new and unknown still (somehow), so you'll never have to fight for a seat, nor will you really worry about the beer you want being tapped out.

 

In case you're considering GI, here's the Clybourn beer list (updated whenever it changes), which is a little hard to find.

http://www.gooseislandbrewpubs.com/clybourn-beers/

And here's the Lincoln Park Binny's Taproom:

http://www.beermenus.com/places/15584-binny-s-lincoln-park-tasting-room



For what it's worth, Half Acre does a brewery tour on Saturdays which I hear is cool, but I think it fills up pretty quickly (and is limited to 60 people):

http://halfacrebeer.com/tours/

 

I was in Chicago last summer and had 3hrs to kill before heading up to Wisc on the Metra. I flew into O'Hare took the blue line I think right to Revolution. Great food great beer. Then there is a bottle shop right across the street. I forget name. But they did have a sign that said Zombie Dust. I asked they said none left. I am assuming they did not recognize me as a regular because the lady hesitated. Anyway they did have Dreadnaught and Alpha King. Plus a ton of other Chi/IL dostro stuff. Great one stop are if you are with out a car. Even better I made my way downtown and caught a train to Kenosha. They train stop is walking distance to Capt Mikes. A great craft beer place.

 

you are correct, blue line.

OP, if you do go to revolution, Vas Foremost Liquors is "essentially" across the street from revolution and has an excellent beer selection.

 

If you're into trying a wide variety of beers, go to Revolution. If you want to try, at the source, the best pale ales and the best pilsner made in Chicago, go to Half Acre and carry in some of those amazing chorizo tacos from El Asadero a block away, or the Slow Burn burger from Bad Apple.

 

Whoawhoawhoawhoawhoa Piece may be great but WHOAWHOAWHOA OMG MIND BLOW LEAVE NOW AND NEVER RETURN.

But ya Piece has great food and great beer.

 

I have brought great shame to my people. I will leave.

 

I'm with you! Down with deep dish! Thin is in!

 

Huge fan of Piece, I go there every time I am in Chicago. GI is fine, but Binny's is great. I go there every time I'm in Chicago too.
As for beer though, I hate Hopleaf. Service stinks. Not worth it IMO. I am a huge fan of Revolution taproom. Fantastic place, didn't want to leave when I was there. Next time I'd take Piece pizza there and eat it (it's allowed).
Half Acre is great too, but nothing compared to Revolution.

 

Go with one other person and sit at the bar. BAM! Problem solved.

 

Better yet, get there at noon and BAM! Problem WAY SOLVED.