09/12/08Go West
There's late to the party, and then there's so late to the ball that Cinderella has already turned back into a scullery wench. Case in point: West Lakeview Liquors, ranked the nation's ninth-best beer store by ratebeer.com and the only Chicago retailer to crack the top 20, celebrated its 20th anniversary this year on the corner of Addison and Leavitt Streets—but I only found it last week. Fortunately, some wrongs can be righted. Get this Cinderella a beer... Posted at 06:03 PM in Get to the Pint | Permalink | Comments (0) |
08/14/08Real Good Beer
While Chicago confronted what sounds like a hailstorm of biblical proportions last week, Texas, where I had road tripped, was busy sandwiching the half-hearted tropical storm Edouard with raging, relentless, stick-to-the-car-seat heat. What better way to wash down rain and rampant sweat than with more moisture, in the form of cold beer? If you're ever in the Texas Hill Country—that incongruous swath of elevation that rides the Lone Star State's belly like a giant belt buckle—find yourself a bottle of... Posted at 05:55 PM in Get to the Pint | Permalink | Comments (3) |
07/30/08Six Degrees of Pierre Celis
If the name Pierre Celis doesn't ring a bell, maybe his hometown will: Hoegaarden, Belgium—as in the birthplace of the beer that continues to collect trophies from here to eternity, including Best Belgian-Style White at this year's World Beer Cup. (Hoegaarden, by the way, is now brewed by InBev, the company that just bought Anheuser-Busch. Pay attention. There will be a quiz.)... Posted at 03:23 PM in Get to the Pint | Permalink | Comments (0) |
07/23/08Mammas, Don’t Let Your Pizzas Grow Up to Be Beers
Frat boys across the nation, rejoice! The rest of us (spoiler alert): Meh. Behold, Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer. Any resemblance to ABBA or Meryl Streep is purely coincidental. Thanks to devout garage brewers Tom and Athena Seefurth of suburban Campton Township, we now know the answer to that age-old 3 a.m. question: What would happen if we mated pizza and beer? Hint: Some pairings make better friends than lovers. The beer, now brewed by Sprecher in Wisconsin, earns points for originality (yes, that is basil, garlic, oregano, and tomato you smell... Posted at 04:08 PM in Get to the Pint | Permalink | Comments (0) |
07/11/08Beer Homework
Three things to do this weekend: Posted at 04:31 PM in Get to the Pint | Permalink | Comments (2) |
07/03/08Brotherly Love
The stars were aligned. I'd just about given up on a former neighborhood favorite, Kuma's Corner. There are only so many times you can hear "45-minute wait" before you gather your dignity and look elsewhere for ridiculously oversized burgers and ear-splitting heavy metal. But last night, signs pointed tentatively to yes: A full day of ominous skies meant the patio crowd might have stayed away, and, if we hustled, we could scoot in a hair before 7 p.m., the hour when all bets are off. Plus, I was... Posted at 11:59 AM in Get to the Pint | Permalink | Comments (0) |
06/26/08The Odd Couple
We're in the beer. This summer has seen two new brewpubs pop up in the greater Chicago area, although they couldn't be more different. Think town and country: One is stationed in an already established bar, smackdab in the midst of Drinktown Central (i.e. Wicker Park); the other is nestled in the idyllic Northwest Indiana enclave of Crown Point. The two brewmasters, however, share a pedigree that includes degrees from Chicago's Siebel Institute, stints at Goose Island, and a boundless enthusiasm for beer. We talked to both... Posted at 04:56 PM in Get to the Pint | Permalink | Comments (0) |
06/18/08My Big, Fat Beer Weekend
New Belgium Brewing's past is inextricably linked with biking: Then-homebrewer Jeff Lebesch found his beer muse while cycling through the Belgian countryside nearly 20 years ago, and that trip is forever memorialized by the brewery's signature amber ale, Fat Tire, named in honor of Lebesch's trusty, big-treaded mountain bike. Today, the Fort Collins, Colorado, brewery's lean, green, eco-friendly mandate inspires such events as the 11-city Tour de Fat, a traveling-road-show slash bike-gospel-tent-revival slash suds-fest that rolls into Palmer Square this Saturday, the 21st (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; free; intersection of Palmer Street and Kedzie Avenue; proceeds benefit West Town Bikes). The event centers on one person... Posted at 05:15 PM in Get to the Pint | Permalink | Comments (0) |
06/03/08Just Say Oui
If, on a map of Wisconsin, you drew one line north from Madison and another west from Green Bay, those lines would intersect, allowing for a degree of artistic license, in Amherst, Wisconsin, home to Central Waters Brewing Company. Until Memorial Day weekend—the bulk of which I spent shivering at a lakeside campsite in chilly Wisconsin—I'd never heard of Central Waters. For me, the ulterior motive behind any Wisconsin trip is restocking my inventory of New Glarus, the beer that first piqued my curiosity in Midwestern microbrews... Posted at 10:19 AM in Get to the Pint | Permalink | Comments (0) |
05/23/08Separating the Schlaf from the Chaff
You've got to love the little guy. Deep in the heart of Bud country, Schlafly is sticking it to The Man one all-American ale at a time. Launched in 1991 and bearing a subtly audacious tagline, "The Saint Louis Brewery," the microbrew mecca turns out six no-nonsense beers year round (a pale ale, a pilsner—almost as if the brewmasters were trying to prove simple beer can still taste good), as well as a lengthy roster of more adventurous seasonals, including... Posted at 03:20 PM in Get to the Pint | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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- Go West | Comments (0)
- Real Good Beer | Comments (3)
- Six Degrees of Pierre Celis | Comments (0)
- Mammas, Don’t Let Your Pizzas Grow Up to Be Beers | Comments (0)
- Beer Homework | Comments (2)
- Brotherly Love | Comments (0)
- The Odd Couple | Comments (0)
- My Big, Fat Beer Weekend | Comments (0)
- Just Say Oui | Comments (0)
- Separating the Schlaf from the Chaff | Comments (0)
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