Headbangers Ball

As far as we can tell Dark Lord was first bottled back in 2004. As recently as 2009 the annual celebration for its release was a free event. Nowadays the price is 200$ per ticket…for a beer festival. Gates opened at 10am but 41 degrees, rain and a Group D …

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Rick Bayless’ Two New Breweries

Chef Rick Bayless has taken his love affair with Chicago craft beer to completely new heights. Marisol, way back in 2010 was a Belgian Ale with green tea, coriander and tangerine zest brewed by Goose Island Clybourn. That moment of having a local house beer created for his restaurants has …

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Fairmont Hotel’s New Tap House – Columbus Tap

The Fairmont Hotel near Millennium Park has revamped their bar concept to embrace Chicago’s ever changing beer culture. Columbus Tap replaces Aria as a 120-seat gastropub with 16 taps dedicated the Midwest. The focus on locality extends to the menu where meats are sources from Green City Market and breads …

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Sun King Day

Our last encounter with this crew was on a Sunday in Indianapolis, back then the brewery was typically closed that day. Our group, about thirty deep were in town to hear Garrett Oliver and Randy Mosher give keynote speeches at a Beer Writers conference. After a brewhouse tour the Sun …

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Westmalle – The Original Belgian Tripel

There are eleven Trappist monasteries worldwide, but only one can lay claim to being the originators of both the Dubbel and Tripel styles synonymous with those breweries. If you visited the Westmalle Abbey in Belgium all you would see on just about any given day are beautiful walls and closed …

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Chicago Avenue Finally Has A Brewpub

I’m pretty sure this is the first ribbon cutting ceremony of any kind that we’ve attended. Alderman Joe Moreno was convicted in his belief that this project needed to happen.  He shared how some opposing residents felt about the city’s newest brewery. “I’ve met some of my constituents that made …

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