Chicago’s Favorite Traveling Craft Beer Festival: Beer Hoptacular

the 4th Annual Beerhoptacular..a 2 day 3 session affair Lacuna Artists Studios in Pilsen, Chicago

the 4th Annual Beerhoptacular..a 2 day 3 session affair at Lacuna Artists Studios in Pilsen, Chicago

Not too many festivals on this scale are crazy enough to move locations every year. But then again Beerhoptacular isn’t your average fest. The key to pulling off a party of this magnitude is…well to be honest I don’t fucking know, we’ve havent thrown a party like this (yet). But I will say that logistically things ran harmoniously and here’s why. The largest, most popular names were in completely separate areas of the festival grounds. Goose held things down in the outdoor tent. Stone Brewing was the 1st brewery to greet you if you entered from the main street entrance. Revolution, Half Acre and Sam Adams were indoors in the gallery. And then there was Lagunitas who decide to occupy a space simply known as The Bakery for a live music circus that was also home to the Pine Box Derby – An old school, boy scout-esque competition where brewers were given a kit and built race cars to battle at the fest.

Approximately 2000 people over 2 days and 3 sessions made the trip down Lacuna Artists Lofts Studios to experience the 4th annual Beerhoptacular. In many ways Pilsen is the perfect space to host an event of this nature. Pilsen was named after the Czech city of Plzen, birthplace to one of world’s most beloved beer styles – the Pilsner. This Chicago neighborhood was also once home to the Pilsen Brewing Company in 1903. That company much like the neighborhood today, thought it was important to create community by celebrating beer.

the one and only @ChicagoCousin enjoying the festivities

The beer and art connection is something we enjoy seeing in this town. For many of us beer is art. Whether it’s the glass a beer is presented in at your favorite bar, the imagery that appears on the bottle label, or the poetry that describes the contents of the beer….beer on many levels is liquid art. The thing I appreciated most about #beerhop this year was the emphasis on having much of the event in an art gallery. But shout out to the massive football field sized outdoor tent that was constructed in Lacuna’s parking lot specifically for the event. We spent much of this event admiring the layout as much as the draft list.

On a personal note I had the rare privilege of being one of the beer judges for the annual Homebrew Challenge that takes place at this affair. Some of the beers we sampled in round 1 had tragic flaws. Or they simply looked amazing then left a bit to be desired. But the 2nd round was a different story, the top 3 brews were examples of beers that we should absolutely see in production one day.

Here’s a look at the Bells Homebrew Challenge winners

1st Place HOPS! Brew Club -Dusseldorf Alt

2nd Place CHAOS Brew Club -Smoked, Barrel-Aged Marzen

3rd Place Brewers of South Suburbia- Amber Ale.

Lacuna Artists Studios in Pilsen

Beerhoptacular is a Jam Productions event. Our guy Brian Ferber does a great job bringing the craft beer community together in what we affectionately refer to as the off-season. Most of our big events are during the summer months. Brian and crew take pride in bringing you a big, bad ass beer fest in November in Chicago every year….we salute that.

–Nkosi

Check out the Beer Of The Year Winners for the 2013 Beer Hoptacular

1st place Lucky Monk Brewery Fallen Angel Amber Style Lager Barrington, Illinois

2nd place Small Town Brewery Not Your Father’s Root Beer Alcoholic Root Beer of Wauconda, Illinois

3rd place Pipeworks Brewing Company Hey Careful Man, There’s a Beverage Here Imperial White Russian Stout w/ Cacao Nibs, Vanilla Beans and Ipsento Coffee.