Day 7 of Chicago Craft Beer Week was pretty much dominated by a single theme: animals. There were animal-themed beers, animal-named breweries, and actual, real life animals.
The evening started with the Logan Square Petting Zoo, in which our friends at Scales & Tales Traveling Zoo brought some of their exotic animals to a parade of Logan Square bars. We met chinchillas, giant snakes, a hedgehog named sonic, a pig, an anteater, an owl and, as was clearly the highlight for most in the room — a sloth. We drank beers from an all animal taplist from Goose Island, 3 Sheeps, Against the Grain, Evil Twin, Uinta and Tallgrass Brewing. Read More
Last night was the inaugural voyage in our newest event series, BYOBeer Dinners. If you’re a regular reader of this blog you’ve probably noticed how excited I’ve been about this meal. You probably noticed it HERE and HERE. Which is why my recap of day 6 of Chicago Craft Beer Week is entirely about our time at Rickshaw Republic. Read More
Day 4 of Chicago Craft Beer Week was about one thing: Goose Island Sunday Funday.
Sunday Funday is that magical time of year where Chicago beer fans gather in Goose Island’s barrel warehouse for a dodgeball tournament, music, food and, of course, an epic beer list. Read More
Day 3 of Chicago Craft Beer Week felt like the first day of summer. And what better way to celebrate summer in Chicago then a few pints on a patio? I spent the afternoon with Ben and Jennifer at Brooklyn Brewery making some custom CCBW buttons with Busy Beaver Button Co in Logan Square. Read More
Day two of Chicago Craft Beer Week started about the best way a day can possibly start: with a donut. This particular donut was Glazed and Infused’s CCBW-inspired creation called IPD (India Pale Donut).
Beer Under Glass. Beer Under Umbrellas. Beer Amongst Ferns. There are a lot of names that this event tends to go by, but any way you slice it, BUG is a great way to kick off Chicago Craft Beer Week. It’s also one of my personal favorite events of the year.
Beer Under Glass is great because there’s really nothing quite like sipping beer with a few thousand friends in the beautiful Garfield Park Conservatory. But it’s also a rare opportunity to see such a large collection of Illinois breweries under one (glass) roof. From self-distributed operations all the way up to Illinois’ largest producers, everyone’s pouring beers and celebrating the beginning of the magical celebration of our community that we call CCBW. Read More