Half Acre Hike

Now this is a way to get exercise and drink beer. A bevy of Northside bars are having a Half Acre hike. Half Acre, Acre Restaurant, Hop Leaf and Fountainhead will all have Meat Wave on tap. The "hike" will start at Half Acre, head up to Acre Restaurant, go to Hop Leaf and finish at Fountainhead. It starts at 4 p.m. If you don't have to work in the afternoon or late or maybe even get up early this might be just for you. In fact, just take the day and next day off. That's a lot of beer to be drinking and ending at Fountainhead is just begging for a late-night romp (maybe ending at Jerry's?). This is the way it's meant to be done: having a couple of pints, stretching the legs and enjoying a few more. There are a few spots left, so hurry up!

Half Acre Craft Beer Week

I just came across Half Acre's post about the events it is having during Craft Beer Week. Quite impressive. Highlights include the beer under glass at the Garfield Park Conservatory and the event at the Empty Bottle, where a band called The Growlers will perform and Half Acre will take over the beer lines. There will also be a special tour that ends up at Acre, Hop Leaf and the Fountainhead. Also, in Bridgeport Half Acre and 3 Floyds will partner at Maria's. Arguably the best two brewers in the region in Bridgeport.

I'm loving Half Acre's take on Craft Beer Week. It's keeping in the democratic, everyman spirit of craft beer: keeping it local and artistic. To commemorate Craft Beer Week, Half Acre is also releasing a new beer called Meat Wave. It's going to be an IPA, which is great; however, with a name like Meat Wave, I was hoping for a smoked beer.

Anyway, check out Half Acre's blog for more information about its upcoming Craft Beer Week events.

In addition to Meat Wave, there's another beer that has come out, which honors the greatest known people of earth: gingers. As a natural redhead, I cannot say how important it is that gingers have a beer to call their own. Actually, this Half Acre brew, called Ginger Twin, is an India-style red ale. There is also a discount for gingers, gingers with longshoreman beards, and twins with red hair and longshoreman beards. I'm sans the beard and twin, but maybe I'll head over to get my discount.

Two Big Beers Coming Out of Chicago

It's spring in the city and summer is around the corner, but two breweries are about to offer two heavy beers to sip while you watching the buds grow. Haymarket Pub & Brewery has an imperial stout fermenting away and will be going to bourbon barrels later. Depending on how long they lay this beer down, it could come out in the fall, which is a much better time for imperial stouts. Well, actually any time is good for imperial stouts. This time of year though I'm starting to look for lighter beers, perhaps a saison. Even though these were meant to be drunk during late summer, I find having a saison on a nice spring day does the trick. For a lighter beer, Haymarket is offering its Bridgeport IPA. I was a former Bridgeport resident, so I might go check this out, for research. A nicer tribute would have been a pilsner to reflect the area's historical Lithuanian and European roots. Today I guess, with all the hipsters, you could just pour a PBR into a fancy bottle.

The next big beer is a barleywine coming from Half Acre. This will be available April 8 and should be a pretty big beer. I associate this more with winter, but what the hell. Half Acre will also be putting out a one-off Kolsch beer. It's one of my least favorite styles, but it's a nice spring/summer beer. Cheers!

Tribune Looks into Craft Beer

The Chicago Tribune ran an article about the explosiveness of craft beer. There really isn't much detail or anything new. It's mostly a reaction against Goose Island and how people are starting to wake up to craft beer, especially in Chicago. It also does highlight how close to the edge these brewers are and how difficult it is for them to keep up with demand, and demand is booming. I walked past Half Acre today, and there was a half-block long line for the tour.

It's interesting to see how craft beer is taking off. Let's not kid ourselves, macro beer is still king, especially in places outside of metropolitan areas. Perhaps it's a movement toward more taste. I think for a lot of people choosing craft beer is a way to buck the major corporations that tend to run our lives. If we can't avoid using big banks or slaving away to some faceless corporation, perhaps through what we drink we can support regular people who have dreams of opening a brewery. It's also something that is maybe every beer drinker's dream: that long talked of goal of opening a bar or brewery. Maybe we live through these people by drinking their beer.

With the selling out of Goose Island, it'll be interesting to see how many of these brewers stay independent and how many sell out to a larger organization. I'll be watching the events unfold as I hoist a Half Acre.

Half Acre Updates

It's been awhile since I've looked to see what's up at Half Acre. They've been quite active. There are several new beers and a Nintendo hookup.

There's a new beer called Ambrosia. It's a wheat beer brewed with Hibiscus flowers. It should be dropping soon.

There's also another new beer called Marty Stouffer's Wild America Barley Wine. This beer still has about a month to go, but it is a tribute to Marty Stouffer, who had a animal show.

Half Acre has also expanded its space and added a Nintendo system to its employee break room. It's a classic old system, and they are looking for some games (help them out if you can.

Surviving the Blizzard of 2011

It's still snowing in Chicago, and while it's a bit early for me to start hitting the beer, it's not too early to find out what is going on in the city. Here's a run down:

Half Acre is set to release a new beer called Callow Knife. They have postponed the release, and the weather I'm sure isn't helping. It's a pale ale. There isn't too much on the website, but it is a twin to Daisy Cutter. Even though the wintry weather outside makes me want to grab a stout or barley wine, spring and summer isn't that far away (really, please?) so a good pale ale will come in handy. It will draft only, but here's to success and keeping this one around. Got to love Half Acre and their constant innovation.

Goose Island. Stouts. Pipeworks Brewery. Yep, March 12 is Goose Island's Stout Fest. There will be Half Acre, Piece, Pipeworks, Rockbottom, and Lucky Monk. Tickets are $20 and there will only be 200 of them. Make sure you get your soon if you want to go. Check out Beer Advocate for more info.

Finch, which is pouring concrete for its brewery, has finalized design for its tappers. This is one of my favorite parts of craft beer for some reason. I like the artistry that can be found. It's great to see a line of interesting tappers at a bar. I feel like a kid in a candy store.

That's it for now. I'm going to wait until noon to crack open a beer. That is the gentleman's drinking hour.

Not the Spam Effect

If you're like me, you had to downgrade some of your spending during the recession. Even though it hasn't been utter collapse, it still has required a bit of tightening the belt. Most economists have linked economically depressed times with a surge in low-end purchases such as Spam. The thinking is the poorer people are or feel the more they will downgrade from steak to Spam. I recently pored over some news items about beer sales in the U.S., and when it comes to craft beer, it is a much different story.

At the end of 2010, MillerCoors sales slipped, including Miller Lite. What's odd is that its super cheap beers such as High Life, Keystone and Milwaukee's Best also slipped. It would figure that the cheap beers would surge when people either had or felt they had less money. However, the company saws its "premium" beer Tenth and Blake surge by double digits.

Does this mean that people are switching from low-end beers to craft beers regardless of the recession? Perhaps. Perhaps we are already doing better economically and this is a leading indicator. Perhaps people are fed up with low-end tasteless beer and prefer to drink quality beer instead.

Personally, I have favored cutting back on buying beer and saving money for a real good purchase. Instead of a case of Miller, I'll save my money for a growler of Half Acre. I can't drink as much, but what I do drink is quality. I'd like to think that these numbers show that craft beer is sticking in America and that people are starting to choose quality over cost consistently.

However, it's important to keep in mind that MillerCoors still sells more beer in one quarter than Half Acre has ever sold. So, there's still work to be done.

Choco-Dyno-Mite

Half Acre is coming out with a new beer tomorrow (January 21). Called Chocolate Camaro, the new brew will be about 6 percent alcohol with roasted malt and chocolate flavors. It's a stout-style beer that should warm you up for the winter. Plus, it's only $15 for refills and $9 for new growlers. You can also buy a shirt with the label design. Hop on your roller skates and get some tomorrow after noon you bad mother...oops, I'll watch my mouth.

Other news from Half Acre: save $2 when you buy a growler on Tuesdays. Why Tuesdays? I don't know, but Tuesday is the most depressing day of the week: not after-Monday "I'm a work fuck this" attitude, but not hump day looking toward the weekend. I guess for us cube dwellers that don't see the sun, fortifying our blood with alcohol keeps the hive churning.

Also, Over Ale is coming in cans. I'm curious: do people drink craft beer out of bottles or cans? I tend to always put it into a glass; I don't like drinking out of either really, unless it's cheap, cheap beer. Perhaps the cans will be fresher? I think a weekend-long drinking experiment is in order.

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.

How Far They've Come: Half Acre Video

I just stumbled across the great video profiling Half Acre. It debuted in early 2010, and you can see how much the brewery has grown in the meantime. Even though Half Acre has seemingly grown, it is interesting to see how it started and what craft brewers face in Chicago. In a way, it is an inspirational video to keep drinking local beer and supporting local craft brewers.

Drinking Wake of the Flood

Stopped by Half Acre on Saturday and it was crowded with people picking up growlers for the weekend. I actually stopped at Bad Apple, which is across the street, to have a beer and wait for the crowd to thin out. If you haven't been to the Bad Apple, I highly suggest it. There are a lot of great beers on tap and in bottle. I had Stone's Sublimely Self Righteous Ale. A great dark IPA. I'm personally very happy that Stone has finally found its way to the Chicago market. If you have a chance, stop by the Bad Apple, grab some good craft brews and food, and then head over to Half Acre for a growler.

Now to the beer: I picked up a growler of Half Acre's Wake of the Flood. This newly released beer is designed for the fall harvest season, and it works. Full of grain and balanced with hops, this slightly tarnished brass colored beer is chewy and thick and perfect for an October night or afternoon (or morning for you adventurous folk). It's smooth and easy to drink. I hope this continues a great trend of Half Acre making seasonal beers.

Half Acre: Wake of the Flood

New beer today at noon at Half Acre. Wake of the Flood is an autumn beer with rye and pilnser malts with some crystal hops. Not sure what it is going to be like, but I'm sure as hell going to see if I can get myself some. It's a draft only, so bring your growler and fill up. Plus, I'm loving the logo with the bear and crow with a paddle and saw. Not sure what it all means, but it speaks to that fall home repair harvest building something feeling that seems to come naturally with fall.

Read more about the new beer at Half Acre's blog.

Events for the week of September 26

There are some great craft beer events happening in Chicago this week. In addition to the Fountainhead event on Tuesday that I mentioned in a previous post, check out these other events coming up:

The Map Room is having its weekly International Night on September 28. This time it is Indonesia. I'm not sure what craft beers will be available, but I'm sure there might be something interesting (even if it is from something larger).

Also on Tuesday is a Founders tasting at Maria's in Bridgeport (formerly Kaplan's). They will be breaking out Founders Nemesis Barley Wine and have a cheese tasting. There will also be free shirts!

Wednesday Goose Island is having a German lager beer academy. $20 gets a lecture about craft beer from Head Pub Brewer John Rouben as well as a sample of 12 to 15 craft beers.

Also on Wednesday is probably the best deal of the week. Half Acre is dumping its Spring and Summer beers to make way for its Autumn and Winter brews. I'm sure space in their warehouse is limited, so we all benefit by going to the Hopleaf for a Half Acre blowout. They will be offering several of their beers and take over the Hopleaf. 10 oz. pours are only $3.50.

Thursday you can go to the Palmer House for Potter's Lounge. The class will take participants on a tasting journey focusing on the brewing process unique to each beer.

Also Thursday, Goose Island is taping a new beer at its Clybourn location. (Not sure what it is, but I'm looking forward to the Madame Rose).

Finally on Thursday, the gorgeous Mrs. Murphy and Sons is having a beer harvest. There will be 80 beers from 30 breweries. I'm not sure how  many will be craft beers, but I'm guessing there will be a more interesting selection than the standard macro fare.

Too many to choose from. Cheers!