Revolution Brewery Grand Opening

Bar and taps at the new Revolution Brewery

You'll have to excuse us if we're a little hazy after this weekend.  Friday night, the folks at Revolution Brewing got the Memorial Day weekend started right by throwing one helluva party at their new Kedzie Avenue brewery.  As most people know, Revolution Brewing has a restaurant/brewpub open on Milwaukee Ave in Logan Square for a couple of years.  Well, their brews became so popular that they decided a production scale brewery was a must and chose a location on Kedzie Avenue.  Here is a story from Eater Chicago from March 2011 that talks about the search for the new digs.

As previously chronicled, we scored early "VIP" entry to the event for having our CCBW maps stickered up.  By the time we got to the brewery, it was a little after 4:30, and we immediately went to get a beer.  There was probably less than 100 people in the place at that time, which as a result looked bare in the 35,000 sq. foot facility.  Much to our surprise and delight, beers were FREE until 5pm with our early entry.  So, we quickly ordered up a few of Revolution's regular brews.  We then made our way to the other side of the brewery, where Revolution brought in some Chicago area beer friends to serve samples of their beer.  Goose Island, Half Acre, Two Brothers, Metropolitan, Solemn Oath, and more were represented.  We were able to try a few choice beers: Half Acre's Galactic Double Daisy Cutter and Goose Island's Vanilla Bourbon County Stout.

Meg and Jen getting a beer at the beautiful 160 ft long bar

Once the general admission crowd started to file in, the line for the barrel aged beers formed quickly and only continued to grow as the night went on.  However, a firkin sitting on the bar caught our eye shortly before 6pm, and we found out it was a version of their Black Power Stout, made with coffee, which was to be tapped at 7pm.  So, we "flanked the firkin," as we called it, and hung out for a bit for our chance to be one of the first to try it.  We'd doubt it was as good as the barrel aged options, but it was nice to say we tried one of the more special beers from the night.

Along the way, we met some fun folks, including the guys from the Brew Shed, a Lisle-based homebrew organization.  We told them about bottling our first beer recently, and they invited us to come out the next time they are brewing and bring it along.  It sounds like they're also trying to open up their own place, but they're still a little ways away from making that happen.

This place is huge!

After filling ourselves with more beer than we could keep track of, we checked out the scene in the back parking lot, where several food trucks had setup shop.  As to be expected, all of the lines were pretty long.  We made an executive decision that despite the early hour of the night, we would use our remaining beer tickets, and head elsewhere to get some grub.  It would have been great to stay the night, but we felt like we got our money's worth and got to experience the overall scene as best as we could.  We're definitely excited to return in the future for a tour and sample their new brews to come.


Salud,

Jen & Meg

Chicago Craft Beer Week, cont.

After a pretty solid start to CCBW last Thursday and Friday, we picked up our fourth neighborhood map and stickers last weekend in the suburbs at Rock Bottom Lombard, and Gordon Biersch in Bolingbrook.  We had 4 of 6 maps, and were poised and ready to get #5 and #6 last night.

Our first stop was to an unlikely place, Market, a trendy sports bar in the West Loop.  Unlikely because its not a place we expected to participate in CCBW, though they do at times, have some solid beers on tap.  Their craft beer week special was the New Belgium Fresh Hop IPA from their Lips of Faith Series.  It didn't seem to taste as good as we remember, perhaps it wasn't actually that "fresh."  Regardless, as nice looking as Market is, it wasn't really our scene, so we walked the few blocks to Haymarket Brewery.  Haymarket was having a huge Sun King Brewing (Indiana) event, with 15 of their taps featuring Sun King Beers.  We've only tried a few Sun King beers from some time spent in Indy, but we're almost certain they do not distribute to Chicago.  We've never seen their beer on tap or cans around these parts.  These type of events are exactly why CCBW is fun.

Our lineup of 4 oz. tasters (nicely priced at $2 each) included: Sour Princess, Chaka, Velvet Fog, and Puff the Magic Dragon.  Interesting names, interesting beers!  We can appreciate when a brewery gets big (or gutsy) enough that they start to do some more experimental type of beers.  Every brewery usually does a take on a pale ale, amber ale, etc. but few do sour beers.  Clearly, the 'Sour Princess' took top honors from our taste test.

Having completed our West Loop map, we headed back up North to hit up a few places in Lincoln Park.  There were no shortage of places to choose from, but we chose two that were reasonably close to each other, but at the same time, had something interesting going on.  We settled on Lincoln Station, and the Local Option.  Lincoln Station had a few Chicago area beers half off, but both of us opted for Two Brothers instead: Megan with the Bonfire Dunkelweiss and Jen with the Dark Mild.  We also enjoyed a tasty polish sausage from the Paulina Meat Market to soak up the suds.

The last stop of the night was the heavy-metal-themed-beer-geek-watering-hole know as the Local Option.  These guys were having a Central Waters Brewing Company (Wisconsin) tap night, with 15 CW brews on the chalkboard.  In keeping with the week's theme of trying new beers, we both had a CW creation - Megan drank the Satin Solstice Imperial Stout, and Jen had the Bourbon Barrel Aged La Petite Mort.  The La Petite Mort was a Weizenbock style beer, which was a first for both of us.  I think it would have been in our best interest go with a "lighter" beer at that juncture of the evening, but these two sippers overall, were good choices to end the night.  The highlight of the night was introducing ourselves to Chicago Beer Geeks co-founder, Nik.  Kudos to our favorite new app, Untapp'd, for making that connection possible.  We noticed a check-in for the Chicago Beer Geeks via Untapp'd and scanned the room for one of the fellas based on their website photos. Being that we are just getting this blog up and running, it was cool to make a connection with those guys, who have a good following among the beer community here in Chicago.  We didn't get a chance to mention our blog, but hopefully we'll network more tonight at the Revolution Brewing Grand Opening party.  We're bound and determined to hunt down Chris & Margaret Quinn from the Craft Beer Temple podcast!

Welcome, Nerds

The scene at the Local Option on Thursday

And with that...we officially secured our VIP entrance to the Revolution party tonight! From what we hear, there will be 28 (!) beers on tap, live music, food trucks, and a whole lot of awesomeness.  We saw a photo on Facebook today of the new digs, and it was a thing of beauty.  We'll try our best to soak it all in and report back tomorrow...or maybe Sunday.

Prost,

Meg & Jen

Chicago Craft Beer Week, Day 2

There are many different activities happening around the city during Chicago Craft Beer Week (CCBW). Jen and I decided that we were going to make the most of it this year, attending the opening at Beer Under Glass, continuing on by checking out the fun around town, and going to the "closing" party at the Revolution Brewery grand opening on Friday, May 25th. We already had tickets to the Revolution party, but what we didn't know before, was that we could earn early VIP entrance into the event by visiting bars in 6 different neighborhoods around the city before next Friday.  So our mission was set, and we knew what we had to do!

The key to the 6 neighborhood challenge, is that you have to visit a specific bar in each area to obtain a map. You then get a sticker from the bar for drinking a specific beer that they have on special for CCBW. You must obtain at least 2 stickers from each neighborhood.

We started our tour in the Lakeview area at the Northdown Cafe and Taproom.  It's a nice bar with large windows so that you can enjoy the fresh air while you indulge in a craft brew.  We tried and interesting blended sour beer by New Belgium called Tart Lychee.  We then headed to The Green Lady.  We both enjoyed a Founders All Day IPA, which was a great start to the evening.  We had a long night ahead, so I didn't want too drink anything to heavy, too early! Now that we had our two stickers, it was time to change neighborhoods.

We then headed up to Andersonville, home of Hamburger Mary's, the location of that areas map. Hamburger Mary's was a new experience for me. It is a unique setting with lots of energy. Not to mention, they brew their own beer! I tried the "Gangster", which was an amber beer, very drinkable. We also indulged in some of their famous hamburgers, which I think we ate before we even realized what happened. Definitely a place I'd return to again. Beer and Burgers, can't get much better than that! Staying in the Andersonville area, we went to Acre.  Acre is a more sophisticated setting, definitely date-night style, but very comfortable.  Jen and I both had the Boulevard Saison Brett. Not being much of a saison fan myself, it was a nice light beer that I would recommend trying.

Next stop was Bucktown, and Quencher's Saloon was the location of the next map.  We've been to Quencher's a few times because Jen used to live in the Bucktown area.  Quencher's is a lot of fun, despite it's outward appearance, the bartender's are friendly, they often have live bands, and there is a popcorn machine (I'm sure Jen mentioned that before, seeing as she gets very excited about popcorn on a beer crawl!).   I had the Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge.  Once again, my love for sour beers came out and this is one of my favorites. Quencher's has over one hundred beers to choose from, but I tend to stick with their "on tap" menu, as it's always changing and has a great selection. Since we decided to hang out there a little longer than the other places, I also tried the Kostritzer Schwarzbier. This is a german style dark beer that packs a lot of punch and flavor in a smooth drink. Definitely a must try! Our next stop was at the Map Room, another place that we have spent a lot of time, probably too much by some standards! Here we both tried the $4 special for the week, Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale by Southern Tier Brewing.  For a long night of drinking, this was a great way to finish the night.

Overall, we checked out three of the neighborhoods and we are half way to our goal! This is the truly fun part of CCBW.  Checking out different neighborhoods and going to new bars, meeting new people, and of course, trying many different styles of beer, leads to fun times all around!

We're headed out again together on Thursday to get the remaining two maps/stickers, and our destinations are to be determined.  As always, we'll consult the master CCBW schedule, and see where the night takes us!

Cherio!
Meg & Jen

Beer Under Glass

Local beer drinkers enjoying the beautiful weather
with fresh craft brews in hand

Meg's Impression:

This year's Chicago Craft Beer Week (CCBW) started with a celebration at the Garfield Conservatory at the "Beer Under Glass" event. With over 40 food and beer vendors present, offering up delectable treats, there was a little something for everyone. Not only was the venue beautiful and not too crowded as many beer "festivals" get, but the beer tasting was amazing!

There were lots of local vendors that you can find around the Chicagoland area, but having them all in one place was convenient. One of my favorite surprises of the night was "Scarlet" by Goose Island. Being huge sour beer fans, this was a "must-try" and a great addition to the tasting. The brewers for Goose Island said that they are planning to make more sours and have them distributed more widely in the near future. Apparently, they have a new brewing and storage area dedicated just to this cause. (Score one for Goose Island!)

Another nice addition was Red Streak. Cider beers are generally very sweet and sugary in nature...sometimes to the point that you can only drink one before you have to move on. Red Streak, specializing in cider beers, was sampling Virtue, a nice, light, fairly dry, cider beer. We found this beer to be easily drinkable in larger quantities, and a solid introduction back into ciders for those who have already written them off.

Overall, it was a great start to CCBW and gave us both motivation to check out venues across the city. Our next mission is to gather two stickers from at least 6 different neighborhoods, so that we can earn VIP access into the Revolution Party on Friday, May 25th.

With beer, there is always something to look forward to!

Meg and Jen enjoying a sample

Jen's Impression:

This was my second year attending this "official" kick off event to Chicago Craft Beer week.  It may actually be only the second year it has been held.  The event is held at the beautiful Garfield Park Conservatory.  I'm not much into plants, but this place is a sight to be seen.  Unfortunately, last summer, a wicked hail storm damaged much of the glass roof that covers almost the entire place, and they lost a lot of their plants, and had to incur a massive bill to rebuild.  It looked in pretty good shape last night, but I'm sure there is still work to be done.

I wasn't totally blown away by any one beer in particular that we sampled - if I had to pick, I really liked a couple that the Goose Island folks brought - Scarlett and Maude being the two favorites. I was disappointed that we made it to the Half Acre table too late and missed their special offerings (only Daisy Cutter was left). What I was really impressed by was the sheer number of NEW breweries - not just ones that were new to the event, but ones that were newly opened.  In particular, Red Streak (cider maker, run by former Goose Island brewer Greg Hall), Solemn Oath (Naperville, IL), Tighthead Brewing Company (opened in 2010), and a few more I'm sure I'm missing.

Overall, I think this event was really well run.  The decision to use some of the outside areas for serving was smart as the lines were pretty manageable overall.  Just as with last year, I was a little disappointed with the food.  The food lines are by far the longest, but when beer is the star, you can't come expecting a gourmet meal.  Smart move of the night goes to the food trucks who showed up right in front of the Conservatory as the night was ending.

As Megan said, this was a great kickoff to CCBW and we're looking forward to many more exciting events this week.


Cheers,

Meg & Jen

Dark Lord Day 2012

I had the pleasure luck of scoring tickets to 3 Floyds Dark Lord day this year.  Megan was busy being all teacher-y that weekend (she was in Utah leading her students at the national DECA competition), so I decided to drag Mike along to what has to be one of the premier beer geek events in the country.  Truthfully, I almost didn't feel worthy, but I was not going to pass up the chance to get my hands on some Dark Lord!

When the date was announced, I put it on my calendar immediately.  Unfortunately, neither my physics professor, nor my chemistry professors got that memo, and they both conveniently scheduled tests for the Monday & Tuesday following Dark Lord Day.  Bummer.  I had a choice: I could go and enjoy myself or be a responsible student for the weekend.  Since I still needed to finish these classes as part of my PT prerequisites, responsible student won out.  So, our plan was to make a quick trip down to the brewery, snag our allotment of Dark Lord, and head back.

We got there a little after 9:30am and proceeded to wait in line for over 3 hours, just to get into the main brewery grounds.  After then waiting in the beer purchase line for probably close to an hour, we were finally able to purchase our Dark Lord.  4 bottles each, at $15 a bottle.  Before we even got through the line, we saw a handful of posts already up on eBay selling them for $50 and up.  Is one thing to hear people doing that, its another to actually see it.  Waiting in line was like tailgating at a football game with beer nerds and some of the best/most expensive beer in the country.  All along the street, people discarded their empty bottles and it was like a who's who of the Beer Advocate Top 100 List. 

As part of your entrance ticket, you are given a scratch off ticket, which if marked as a "winning" ticket, grants you the chance to purchase a special, limited edition bottle of Dark Lord for $50.  Mike was lucky enough to score a winning ticket, and without hesitation we hit up the ATM to get some funds and purchased a bottle of Vanilla Bean Barrel Aged Dark Lord.  9 bottles of beer, four hours, and $170 later, it was time to head home.

The whole time we were there, I wondered if it was really worth it for the waiting (it was pretty cold and damp that day), and the money.  As a reward for our effort, we opened up one of the 8 bottles of regular Dark Lord when we got home, and as you might imagine, the answer was YES, it was worth it!

I'm still undecided about what to do with the Vanilla Bean Dark Lord.  I saw more than one person selling them for $350+ on eBay.  That's almost a month's worth of rent!  But, just as with regular Dark Lord, a part of me wants to be able to say I've tried the barrel aged version too, so odds are good I'll hang onto it for a special occasion.

Part of our Dark Lord stash.  The vanilla bean is in front.

I'll most certainly try to get tickets to Dark Lord Day again next year, and I'll make it my personal mission to get the full Dark Lord Day experience.

Next event up for both of us:  "Beer Under Glass," the official kick off party for Chicago Craft Beer Week, held 5/17 at the Garfield Park Conservatory.  http://chibeerweek.com/event/?eid=10

--Jen

Local Flavor(s), Part 1

Ok, this is us staying true to our word of trying to post more.  We have a bevvy of beer-related happenings coming up, and promise to be more timely about our posts.  We'll both be completely FREE for the summer, and we can't even begin to tell you how excited we are.

A few weeks ago (fine, some time a lot longer than a few weeks ago) we set out on a mini bar crawl to visit some of the best neighborhood breweries and beer bars, primarily intended for those who are not from Chicago and may be interested in checking out the exploding beer scene here.  It seems like every other day there is an article in a paper or blog talking about the number of breweries that will be opening up over the next year.  For example, in case you live under a rock and didn't hear, the fine folks at Lagunitas will be opening up a Chicago-based brewery, hopefully by Fall 2013.  This was by far the biggest announcement in the Chicago beer world...that is of course until our "best brewery in the world" neighbors to the East hinted at plans of their own to open a Chicago based brewpub.

Ok, back to the original point of this post - without further adieu, here are our reviews of some places in and around the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago (this was Jen's neighborhood for a few years, until just recently).  A word of warning: the posts will be pretty light on details so we could keep this post fairly short.  Additionally, we're still in the early stages of developing our beer palette, so as time goes on, we'll be adding much more substance to our beer-specific reviews.

First stop: Piece Brewery and Pizzeria (map)

Ah, Piece, we fell in love with you way back when you first opened back in 2001 and we managed to sneak in with fake IDs.  You see, when Piece first opened, it coincided with the filming of the Real World Chicago, which was essentially right across the street.  Rumor had it that some of the cast members worked at Piece, so at the time we were hoping to catch a glimpse of some of these "stars."  We had one drink, surveyed the scene, and decided not to test our 18 year old luck more than that.

Fast forward 11 years, and we've since discovered Piece makes some of the best non-Chicago style pizza in the city - the place is almost always packed.  But, as the name implies, Piece is one part pizza place and one part brewery.  Head Brewmaster Jonathan Cutler has been perfecting his craft since 1996, and has a nice collection of medals and awards to show for it.  Most recently, Piece's Dark & Curvy Dunkelweizen won a bronze medal at the 2011 GABF.

On top of this, Piece was named the #1 "Independent pizzeria of the year" by Pizza Today magazine. On this particular visit, Megan tried the aforementioned Dark & Curvy, and Jen had one of their new IPA's, Captain Kick Ass (not named after Jen, unfortunately).  As Megan put it, "This beer reminded me of being at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany last summer…yes it was that fresh and that good!! YUM! Caramel flavors, but smooth and light finish."

Piece Beer list, March 2012

As for the pizza, we had a "red" pizza, made bbq style, with chicken and onions. We're both suckers for a good bbq chicken pizza.  But, we've never been disappointed by ANY pizza we've ordered at Piece and they have a huge variety of toppings to choose from.

Bottom line: If you love good pizza and good beer, Piece MUST be on your list.  Recommendation: Try to go at an off peak time such as lunch on Sat/Sun or on a weeknight.  Or, take advantage of their killer carry-out deal on Sundays: Large pizza and a growler of beer for $25.

Second Stop: The Map Room (map)

A so-called traveller's tavern.  It seems some people have a love-hate relationship with the Map Room (just read their Yelp reviews).  No doubt, it is known as one of the city's best beer bars, with an ever-rotating tap selection of 15-20 beers (and hundreds more in bottles), but consensus is mixed when it comes to the service.  Personally, we've never had a real an issue with service - we just avoid the one female bartender who seems a bit too snarky.

Anyways, we also love the Map Room because they actually take care to use appropriate glassware with your beverage selections, and like any good beer bar, let you taste a beer before buying.  On this visit, we split a few beers: Green Flash Le Freak, Firestone Walker Union Jack, and Liefmans Cuvee Brut (sour).  Its easy for us to say the Liefman's was our favorite.  Just see the previous posts where we professed our love for sour beers.

Bottom line: This place was only 6 blocks away from Jen's apartment at the time, so it was a no-brainer when we wanted to try something new.  At the same time, as one of the city's best, it is worth seeking out, regardless of location.   Recommendation: The Map Room is cash only and doesn't serve food, but you are welcome to order food to have delivered, or if you're lucky, after 9pm, you'll get a visit from the Tamale Guy to satisfy your hunger.  On (most) Tuesdays though, they have food brought in from a local establishment, which you can partake in with a 2 drink minimum.

Third Stop: Owen & Engine (map)

This is a new-ish spot in Logan Square with a British/Irish gastropub theme (we're beer chicks, not foodies, so please excuse us if that's not the correct identifier).  The name of the bar comes from the owners son (Owen) and Engine, well, because they have beer engines! Sadly, the night we visited, their engines were out of commission.

We were getting hungry again, so ordered the charcuterie plate and the cheese plate.  There were some interesting selections,  and again, not being foodies, probably more exotic than we'd normally prefer.  On previous visits, we've have had the burger, and the Bangers & Mash - neither were disappointing.  On the whole, the food is more costly than average bar food, but we wouldn't call this average bar food either.  They have small plates, as well as large plates, and as best as possible, the food is locally sourced.  As for our beer choices, we ordered Lagunitas WTF, and Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS).  This was by far the most expensive 12oz. bottled beer we've had, but as one of the "whale" beers of the world, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to try it.  We wish we would have been better able to appreciate this bad boy with all of its complexity, but nonetheless it was nice to be able to check this one off our list.

They have a newly opened patio on the second floor where we managed to score a table.  While it was nice to be outside considering it was barely Spring, there isn't much to be said for the view, which is essentially just the side of the movie theater next door.  Oh well.  We Chicagaons love our outdoor dining! 

Bottom Line:  Owen and Engine is in kind of an odd spot where it probably won't ever be that place you visit regularly, but if you are looking for a place with good beer, food, and more of a date night atmosphere, you won't be disappointed.  Recommendation: Stick to the draft list, or ask what beer they have on cask.  The bottle selection is good and all, but they almost always have very unique/rare draft selections (3 Floyd's Ham on Rye, for example).

Fourth and Final Stop: Quenchers (map)

If there was an award for most underrated or easy-to-miss beer bar, we'd give it to Quenchers.  When we first saw this place, we figured it was a rock club/dive bar.  Well, turns out it IS partly both of those things, but with an insane beer list, organized by country for your drinking convenience.

Quenchers list o' bottles.  Sri Lankan beer anyone?

Might we mention, the drinking above list is just their IMPORT bottles - not pictured off to the right are the domestic selections - they also have 20 or so beers on tap, and the night we happened to visit, it was very Belgian heavy.  To that end, we ordered the Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge, and Brouwerij Mort Subite Kriek.  Both sour, both delicious.  If the beer list wasn't enough of a draw, they have a popcorn machine.  More bars need popcorn machines. 

Bottom line:  Don't be turned off by the somewhat rundown exterior facade - the place is really welcoming, and the few times we've been it hasn't been too crowded either.
Recommendation:  Go there and try their "famous" Tater Tot Pizza, and report back to us with your thoughts.  That culinary delight remains on our bucket list!

And with that, we officially ended our first local tour de beer.  We actually made a few stops after the "final" stop to some corner bar establishments, but we'll spare you our reviews of Shock Top and Guinness.  We'd love to hear your thoughts on some of these places if you've visisted, or even some places we might have missed and can check out sometime soon. 

Keep on drinkin',

Jen & Meg