Skip to Main Content
Skip to content
Hand Family Companies
Hand Family Companies
Breweries & Beverage Partners · About Us · Contact Us
  • Breweries & Beverage Partners
  • About Us
    • History
    • Our Team
    • Careers
    • Coverage Notice
    • Notice of Creditable Coverage
  • Contact Us
Distributor Locations
  • Lakeshore Beverage (IL)
  • Bluegrass Beverage
  • TriStar Beverage of Clarksville
  • TriStar Beverage of Cookeville
  • TriStar Beverage of Chattanooga
  • Sunset

The Beer Blog

Your guide to craft beer news, events, and breweries in Chicago! Signup for our newsletter for notifications on new posts.


10 Fall Beers To Keep You Warm This Season ›
On September 29, 2016  ·  in Bell's Brewery, Boulevard Brewing Company, Founders Brewing Co., Schlafly Beer, Stella Artois, SweetWater Brewing, Tallgrass Brewing, Tasting Notes, Uncategorized, Virtue Cider

IMG_9237

Of course we all love summer, but there’s nothing quite like these first days of autumn in Chicago. Crisp evenings and leaves on the ground mean it’s time to swap out citrus for spices and start pouring these malt-forward favorites. So bust out your flannel, watch too many horror movies, and start putting together that epic Halloween costume. Here are our fall beer picks to keep you warm this season. Read More


Meet Virtue Cider Michigan Brut ›
On August 01, 2016  ·  in Tasting Notes, Virtue Cider

DSC_0274

Photo courtesy of Virtue Cider

Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, then Goose Island Brewmaster Greg Hall would regularly travel to renowned European beer cities like Munich, Brussels, and London for inspiration on how to bring great beer to the United States. Fast-forward to today and Hall says he doesn’t need to go that far to find great cider—in fact, according to Hall, Virtue Cider’s Fennville, Michigan farm gets about the same amount of rainfall as “those fancy European apple growing regions.” Because of this, Western Michigan is somewhat of an apple growing haven and Virtue Cider takes pride in its home there. Known for creating a variety of complex and dry ciders, Virtue recently released their first cider in 12 oz. bottle format, Michigan Brut, and we were able to sit down with Greg to chat about the latest release.

Read More


Pitchfork Recap With Goose Island & Virtue Cider ›
On July 18, 2016  ·  in Event Spotlight, Goose Island Beer Co., Video, Virtue Cider

IMG_5367Pitchfork Music Festival came and went, certainly living up to the hype. We drank, we rocked, we people watched, and we took some pictures along the way. Watch our video recap and see pictures from the festival below. Read More


10 Summer Beers Perfect for Barbecues, the Beach and Beyond ›
in Bell's Brewery, Boulevard Brewing Company, Burnt City Brewing, Founders Brewing Co., Goose Island Beer Co., SweetWater Brewing, Tasting Notes, Upland Brewing Co., Virtue Cider

Attention, Chicago: summer is here.

Outdoor dining, concerts and movies in the park, THE BEACH, I mean come on, what’s not to love about summer in the city? Whether you just finished a nice bike ride along the lake or find yourself hanging out on a rooftop patio, here are some summer beers to accompany you along the way.

Read More


#CCBW | Chicago Craft Beer Week In Review ›
On May 27, 2015  ·  in 3 Sheeps Brewing, Ale Syndicate, Chicago Craft Beer Week, Founders Brewing Co., Goose Island Beer Co., Local Option Bierwerker, Motor Row Brewing, SweetWater Brewing, Tallgrass Brewing, Virtue Cider

We celebrate craft beer in Chicago every day but that doesn’t prevent us from getting excited when Chicago Craft Beer Week rolls around. This year we sent Matt Tanaka, our blogger and beer traveller out into the city to liveblog his way through all 11 days of #CCBW. He drank fantastic beer, ate tasty food and spent time with people from every corner of the Chicago craft beer scene — and brought his camera with him as he did so.

Check out this video we put together of some of the highlights and then see our favorite photos below.

Music: "Rob Myself" by Mooner

 

Read More


Tasting Notes | Virtue Cider Offalgood Cider with Jenn Eppich ›
On February 11, 2015  ·  in Tasting Notes, Virtue Cider

Last week we took you behind-the-scenes as Chef Chris Cosentino and the Virtue Cider team created a custom cider called Offalgood Cider. Now that the cider has officially been released, we sat down with Lakeshore Beverage craft beer and cider expert, Jenn Eppich for a closer look at the final product.

IMG_9549

Read More


Prev
Next

    Search The Blog

    Categories

    • 18th Street
    • 3 Sheeps Brewing
    • Against The Grain Brewery
    • Alaskan Brewing Company
    • Ale Syndicate
    • Alter
    • Aquanaut Brewing Company
    • Arts & Crafts
    • Atlas Brewing Company
    • Bantam Cider
    • Beer Pairing Guide
    • Beer Prints
    • Beer Review
    • Beer Trips (Driveable Craft Beer Destinations)
    • Behind the Beer
    • Bell's Brewery
    • Best Damn Brewing Co.
    • Boulevard Brewing Company
    • Breweries
    • Brewery Ommegang
    • Buckledown
    • Bud Light
    • Budweiser
    • Burnt City Brewing
    • Central Waters
    • Chicago Craft Beer Week
    • Deschutes
    • Duvel
    • ERIS
    • Estrella Jalisco
    • Event Spotlight
    • Evil Twin Brewing
    • Founders Brewing Co.
    • Giveaway
    • Golden Road Brewing
    • Goose Island Beer Co.
    • Gueuzerie Tilquin
    • Guinness
    • Haymarket Beer Company
    • Holidays
    • Jolly Pumpkin
    • JuneShine
    • Kona Brewing Co.
    • Local Option Bierwerker
    • Michelob Ultra
    • Moody Tongue
    • Motor Row Brewing
    • New Releases
    • Okocim
    • Old Style
    • Pabst Brewing Company
    • Press Release
    • Rogue Ales
    • Schlafly Beer
    • Seattle Cider Co
    • Secret Beer Parties
    • Shiner
    • Small Town Brewery
    • Spaten
    • Spiteful Brewing
    • Staff Highlight
    • Stella Artois
    • Stone Brewing
    • Stone Brewing Co.
    • Summit Brewing Co.
    • Sun King Brewery
    • Super Bowl
    • Surly Brewing Company
    • SweetWater Brewing
    • Tallgrass Brewing
    • Tasting Notes
    • The Hopewell Brewing Co.
    • This Weekend in Beer
    • Trumer
    • Uinta Brewing
    • Uncategorized
    • Upland Brewing Co.
    • Urban Chestnut Brewing
    • Video
    • Virtue Cider
    • Wiseacre Brewing Company
Be the First to Know

Get updates on products, breweries, craft beer events, private tastings, and more.

Subscribe

Hand Family Companies
  • Find Beer Near You
  • Breweries & Partners
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Careers
Our Distributor Locations
  • Lakeshore Bev. (IL)
  • Hopkinsville, KY
  • Clarksville, TN
  • Cookeville, TN
  • Chattanooga, TN
Privacy Policy · Sitemap
·Copyright © 2025 Hand Family Companies