The Chicago Brewery Tour – June 2017
The craft beer boom of 2004 spread across the States like a great fire…alright maybe that’s the wrong idiom to use on an article talking about Chicago. But, the landscape of the craft beer scene would change forever, experiencing double digit growth for nearly a decade. It seems like everywhere you looked, breweries were popping up. That fervor for better beer did not skip over Chicago. In fact according to The Hop Review, there are 67 breweries (109 if you stretch into the suburbs), in Chicago. To put that into context, there are 123 in the whole state of Massachusetts.
Naturally, being a drunk lover of beer, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to explore a few of the best breweries in Chicago. Overall we hit up three breweries and I will showcase the top brews I had from each establishment.
Dry Hop Brewers
Hopewell Brewing Company
Revolution Brewing
DryHop Brewers
DryHop is a rustic-style brewery located in Lake View and we biked there from our hostel in Andersonville. I just gotta say, biking there was awesome. Except when riding down a busy ass street as a novice city cyclist. I accidentally rode into oncoming traffic on more than one occasion. Dry Hop is actually a brewpub featuring both great brews and food. Although they don’t distribute outside of Lake View, DryHop is ranked as one of Chicago’s best breweries. Make sure to fit it into your itinerary, even if it is just for lunch.
On the food front, Meg had a burger and I had a fried chicken sandwich. Calories obviously don’t count on vacation. Nothing says healthy like fried chicken and beer. Do you think Boggs would’ve gotten those 3000 hits without fried chicken and beer? Fuck no. But who cares about food, you’re here for the beer, dammit. Here are the casualties.
Applebite Saison/Cider Blend (7.0%): An interesting blend of the sweetness of a cider with the bite of a saison. On the initial taste, it’s sweet. Then it quickly turns as that saison punches you in the face with a nice spicy, dry finish. It’s a blend of a French Saison and apple juice from a local apple mill. This is one of those tricky beers. Because of how smooth it is, you’d easily smash a few and sitting at lofty 7.0%, it’ll quickly put you on your ass.
Cheat Code UUDDLRLRBA Hazy IPA (6.4%): Holler to my nerds out there who get this reference. This juice bomb of an IPA is made with quite the hop profile. I’m talking about Simcoe, Amarillo, Citra, and Mosaic hops. The pour makes it look like a glass of Tropicana. The hops give it a good taste balance between the citrus and piney notes. None of the hops seem to take center stage, they all work well together. Bravo.
Ursus Mapletimus (8.0%): Imagine what a Canadian campfire taste like and you’d come close to this Smoked Maple Imperial Ale. Made with smoked malt and natural maple, this is the kind of beer you slap on a Mountie hat and denim jacket for. I can’t explain the feeling when you first take a sip. You’re just not ready for the wave of flavor about take over your pallet. Very unique and very good.
Rocket to Russia (10%): Before Rocky Balboa ended the Soviet Union in 1985, Ivan “the Siberian Express” Drago delivered a blow to the American people when he straight up killed Apollo Creed’s ass. That type of power and tenacity perfectly sums up this bold, rich Russian Imperial Stout. The piloncillo sugar it is brewed with really shines through giving it a rich, sweet taste to balance the boldness of the coffee.
Hopewell Brewing Company
The Hopewell Brewing taproom can be found in Logan Square off Milwaukee Avenue. Logan Square is a little trashy… there is trash everywhere. Like trash bellowing out of the street trashcans. Clean that shit up, Logan Square. However there is a lot of nice artwork so be sure to check that out along the way. Namely the “Greetings from Chicago” mural. And there are some good breweries in the area, which makes it well worth the trip!
Hopewell opened up shop in 2016 and its layout is unlike anything I’ve seen in a brewery. It felt very modern in that IKEA sense. Pine columns surrounding the bar, weird looking chairs, and what appeared to be oak tables. Not to say it was bad, just different. Take a look:
Hopewell does have quite a good selection of board games and the floor plan of the brewery is nice and spread out. As the photo shows, we went for the chairs for some added back support rather than those other stools (chairs..maybe?). We grabbed a flight for $15 and sat down for a little Battleship. Meg owns my soul in that game and just about any other board game we’ve played. Not sure what that says about my critical thinking skills…Overall Hopewell has a nice variety of pours from saisons to IPAs to German Schwarzbiers. It’s all good stuff and well worth the visit if you’re in the area.
Family Saison (5.9%): Love me some saisons during the summer. Nothing cures summer swamp ass quite like a spicy glass of cold saison. Family Saison had a dry, spicy taste with hints of a banana aroma thanks to its use of Belgian style house yeast. That yeast helps give it a nice Hefe-style taste but finishes dry like a champagne. Refreshing yet delicate.
Clover Club (6.2%): Finally, we have a sour on our hands here ladies and gentlemen. A kettle-soured saison fermented with raspberries. In the words of George Costanza “I think it moved.”. The Clover pours a glowing reddish pink and has a fruity, tart taste with hints of gin on the backend. It really is the perfect type of beer for a hot day. Refreshing, tart, and fruity. It’s everything you have come to love about sours.
Squad (10.4%): We have yet another brew that goes over the top to capture that camp fire taste. Complete with “toasty marshmallow accents”. A Belgian Quad (aka a strong as Belgian styled beer that has <10% alcohol) with a rich, smokey taste that has accents of (seriously) marshmallow and dried fruit. I think this beer can be rather polarizing. You either find the sweet, rich profile appetizing or detest it. I for one found the taste unique and something good to sip on.
Revolution Brewing
And then there was one. Saving the biggest brewery and perhaps the best for last. The Revolution Brewing Taproom in Logan Square is a monster. Of the three breweries we went to, Revolution is obviously the most established. They distribute to pretty much the whole midwest and east coast. My first experience with Revolution can be dated back to a Christmas party this past year. I can’t say I remember what the beer I had tasted like…I just know it had Santa on the can and I was extremely drunk (RIP rabbit fur hat) but I’m SURE it was spectacular…actually not even sure I had my own beer that night. But anywho. The taproom makes you sit back and just say…”Ain’t she a beaut, Clark?”. Huge open areas with plenty of seating both at the bar and throughout the taproom and a shuffleboard table at your disposal.
We went on the brewery tour and it was very insightful. I’m one of those who usually skips brewery tours because I feel like hey…if I’ve seen how they make beer at one place then I’m sure the processes and equipment can’t be significantly different elsewhere. But it was free and as a bonus you got a free beer. I’ve never taken a tour of a brewery the size of Revolution. It was awesome to see the huge boilers and fermentation tanks that actually extended out of the building. The brewery has a capacity to ship 150,000 barrels of beer and currently Revolution is hoping to ship 100,000 barrels in 2017. In other words, Revolution is using about 66% of its total capacity. Quit slacking, Revolution! One admirable thing to note is that the bi-product of Revolution’s wort is shipped back to farmers for feed to support local agriculture.
Altogether Revolution had 16 beers on tap. They serve their flights in samples of four however the samples are quite hefty.
Chicago Smoke (6.8%): I’m starting to sense a trend here and not even realize it. A smoked out German style Rauchbier (Rauch is German for smoke – now you’re smarter) that’s brewed with 95% smoked malt. There’s a slight taste of sweetness thanks to the use of some caramel malts thrown in there. Honestly, if you close your eyes and take a whiff of this beer, you’d think you were in a BBQ house or your clothes are going to wreak of a campfire for the next week. If smoked out brews are your thing then you’ll feel right at home with Chicago Smoke.
El Hefe Loco (5.0%): A German styled wheat beer that has that signature banana aroma. Smooth like buttah. Pours a hazy gold and if I took a whiff and closed my eyes, I’d think I was in a smoke filled German bar…brings a damn tear to my eye. All kidding aside, this is a great take on the German Hefeweizen. The Hefe is that perfect summer brew (I feel like I say that about all beers…) with its subtle fruit aroma and spicy taste. Prost!
Rosa Hibiscus Ale (5.8%): Ah Rosa. A golden ale steeped in 70-pounds of hibiscus. DAYUM. If there was anything closely resembling a sour at Revolution, it’s the Rosa Hibiscus ale. I’m not sure if it’s the hibiscus that gives it that natural tart flavor but this beer is pegged as Revolution’s summer brew. It’s refreshing and not overly tart (shame). The aroma is extremely floral as you’d expect and pours a nice pink color. I think I went into the beer expecting it to be more sour than it actually was. My bias towards extremely sour beers is ruining my appreciation for those non-Gose types. Regardless, if you have the chance, pick up a case of Rosa.
