What I'm Drinking

Even as Chicago continues to experience expansion in its local brewers, the city is also experiencing an explosion in the diversity of beers offered throughout the city. Sure, there's the awesome rare Goose Island beers or the Three Floyds that make their way up or the Bell's, but what about all the other breweries around the U.S. and world that are making their way to Chicago? Chicago is not only becoming a great place to sample locally produced brews, but also a place that anyone can grab a good beer from a variety of brewers from all over. What once made the city the lumber, rail and hog capital of the U.S. also makes Chicago the epicenter of U.S. beer: a central location with a diverse population that brings in beer from all over the world.

Today, I am drinking Cockeyed Cooper by Unita. It's a bourbon barrel barley wine ale, and because it is winter in Chicago (even though it's above freezing, but there is a lot of snow), nothing matches the season like a barley wine. This beer is part of Unita's Crooked Line, something I just noticed today. At 11 percent, it is sure to give a nice warm buzz. The beer pours a dark cola color with a large off-white head. There are chocolate and vanilla notes in the head with some dried, dark fruit. The taste is big and bold, with a chewy texture and a long finish. The taste is reminiscent of chocolate, caramel, plums, alcohol and vanilla. It's a nice sipping beer, especially for the holidays.

Right now, my 10-year-old niece is visiting, and while she crafts with my wife, I'm enjoying this while watching a movie.

I found this at Leeland Liquors for $14. A little expensive, but still reasonable for the city. If you have the chance, give this a try. Let me know what you're drinking.

Goose Island's Bourbon County Vanilla Stout #4 of 2010 by Paste Magazine

Goose Island came in number four on Paste magazine's best beers of 2010 with its Bourbon County Vanilla Stout. Unfortunately, it's the only entry from Chicago on the list, but that might have to do more with distribution than quality. Even though there is a lot of great brewing going on in the city (however new some may be) and the explosion of quality beer bars in the city, I feel that Chicago gets the short stick on the national stage. It'll probably take some time before the Old Style connotation of the city wears off. Unfortunately, many tourists to the city only get to certain parts that are overserved by draconian distribution laws that favor the big brewers over regional craft breweries. A visitor to Navy Pier or Wrigleyville will probably see more Old Style and Miller on tap that Goose Island, Half Acre or even Bells and Three Floyds.

Still, a tip of the pint to Goose Island for consistently making great beer and leading the charge of Chicago on the national stage of beer drinkers.

Pipeworks at City Provisions

On December 21, the fledgling Pipeworks brewery will be showcasing some of its beers at City Provisions deli on Wilson Avenue in Ravenswood/Lincoln Square. I've written about Pipeworks here before, and they are still looking for donations to their Kickstarter campaign to get their operation up and running. If you have the time, you can check out some of their beers to kick the tires in a sense.

Scheduled to appear at the event is a smoked porter, pastrami on rye (?), a Belgian wit and an imperial stout, which at 11 percent will keep you warm on the walk home. The event runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Damen Brown line isn't too far away.

Pipeworks is trying to get its operation off the ground. With the soon-to-be opened Haymarket, Half Acre, Piece, Goose Island and others, this is another great addition to the city, and hopefully than can continue to keep putting Chicago on the map of great beer cities. Throw a couple of bucks their way on their Kickstarter page to help them along.

City Provisions is a great local business that supports local farms. There's beer and wine, butchered meat, sandwiches and coffee, in case you had too much good beer the night before. Come out to this event, and you'll be support two local businesses.

I am a Craft Beer Drinker

Not sure why I wasn't invited, but I'm proud to be a craft beer drinker. Chicago is represented. Introduce, education and illuminate.

Historic Bars of Chicago

Craft beer is great. History is great. Old bars with great stories are great. Hmm... there's a trend here. There's a book from Lake Claremont Press called Historic Bars of Chicago. It details some of the bars in Chicago that have witnessed some pivotal moments in Chicago history. This 273-page book by Sean Parnell looks at the oldest bars in the city, places that Nelson Algren drank, and places that survived prohibition. What does this have to do with craft beer? Not sure, but I'm sure some of these places serve craft beer and local craft beer, and if they don't, we should go there and start demanding they do. Plus, in a city with such a rich history as Chicago, being able to go to historic bars where some amazing characters and stories have occurred makes going out a bit special. If you have a beer/Chicago/bar lover on your Christmas list, this might make the perfect gift. Oh year, there's like more than 100 pages of pictures, which makes it great after a couple of pints have already gone down.

Haymarket Brewery to Open

Great news on the Chicago craft beer front: Haymarket Pub & Brewery is getting ready to open in the next week or so depending on inspections. Even though it is 9,000 square feet, I'm sure it is going to be quite crowded, as we have seen with Revolution Brewing in Logan Square. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get there before the new year, but I'm sure I will within the next month. There will be about 15 beers brewed on site from Pete Crowley, formerly of Rock Bottom brewery.

From Haymarket's Facebook page, it looks like there will be a theater also included (something called drinking and writing). The bar and space looks great, and there are numerous taps behind the bar. They say that they will have about 75 craft beers featured. It'll be a few weeks before you can get any in-house brewed stuff. The space boasts a 100-year-old building, mosaic tiled floors, space for 300 hundred, and house-made sausage.

I'm thinking that this is a place that is going to make its mark on the craft beer map not only in Chicago, but also in the Midwest and soon the nation. It can only add to the diversity that Chicago is enjoying in its craft beer scene.

Pastoral Midwestern Dream

This is what I want for Christmas. I'm notoriously difficult to buy for as my tastes generally just run to literature, music and craft beer. Because the latest Audubon guide at auction sold for more than anyone I know can afford and there's only so many jazz and blues records I can fit into my apartment, this is a nice little enjoyment. This momentary experience of delicacy is transient and worth the money. I'd rather support local producers of cheese and beer than get another piece of electronic that sits on a shelf unused after a couple of months.

Called the Midwestern Beer Lover, this gift set includes Goose Island's Sofia, orange marmalade and crackers from Wisconsin and goat cheese from Indiana. Even though gifts at Christmas tend to be individual, this is something that you can get and share with other people. I like that concept: receiving a gift that you can share with others. The cost is about $70.

I've only been to the Pastoral stand at the French Market downtown. I've enjoyed their offerings. You can order this directly from Pastoral's website.

Beer Map for Christmas

Finally, a practical map every craft beer lover can use. From Chicago Beer Map, we get an illustrated map showing some of the great craft beer bars in Chicago: Hop Leaf, Sheffield's, Delilah's. Say you're out on the town drinking several beers and want to now where to go next. Take out your handy map and find the closest beer bar. There are a couple of places that could be included, but it's a good start.

You can buy the map here.

The Grafton

The Lincoln Square and Ravenswood areas are quickly becoming the haven for craft beer in Chicago. This past weekend, my wife and I had a successful run at Waters Elementary's craft fair, and to celebrate, we went to the Grafton to get some food, enjoy some beer, watch the snow fall and sit by the fire. The Grafton's always had a decent beer selection and good food, but when I got the menu, I was blown away by how much craft beer was on tap--especially the winter beers. I ordered a Brown Sugga, which at 9 percent alcohol was what I needed on a winter's day in Chicago.

With the Foutainhead, Bad Apple, and now the Grafton, there are more and more places that are selling not only craft beer, but also harder to find and more specialized craft beer. The Fiddlehead Cafe, which is on Lincoln and is soon to be rebranded, also boasts more than 100 beers (I haven't been in.) The new flatbread restaurant coming to the square in 2011 also boasts it will have a microbrewery on site. I'm not sure if this is just some flash in the pan or a conscious effort among the people in this area to seek out great beer, but it is a welcomed change over the swill usually found at typical sports bars or faux-Irish pubs. Perhaps with Half Acre selling out of its winter event so fast, we can safely say there is a foundation of support that will encourage other small brewpubs and beer bars to enter into the area. I'd like to hear what some owners of these places think, what drives them to keep offering new and exciting beers. My next push is to get some good cask offerings in the area.

Rainbow Cats at Half Acre

OK, sadly I didn't get my hands on any of Goose Island's rare stout. At $45, it was a bit steep for me right now, and I couldn't find anyone to go in on it with me. However, I heard it sold out pretty fast and it was worth the wait.

Well, at least I have a new Half Acre event to look forward to. On December 18 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Half Acre is hosting its On Photon event. It is billed as a winter celebration of beer and food. There will be special releases from other brewers, Half Acre's Big Hugs imperial stout and a Double Daisy Cutter, which will debut at the event. The cost is $40, but the quality of beer and what I'm sure will be a celebratory atmosphere will more than cover the cost. Nothing chases away the long-night blues like drinking great quantities of amazing beer. Tickets go on sale Dec. 3.

Also, Half Acre is releasing a new beer! This will be (I think) the new Big Hugs imperial stout. The weather has been cold, so get a growler and warm up with this. Seriously. It releases Friday. Get there early and stock up, but only after I get mine.

Read more at Half Acre's blog.

Prost!