Da Beers

So before Morten comes along and starts asking, here's the dish on Chicago's amazing beerosphere:

Breweries - All of these folks make their own amazing brews. Some serve food too, and some just focus on the brews.

  • Goose Island - The largest of the local "microbreweries", these guys sold out to Widmer Brothers in 2006, but still manage to keep things pretty solid and locally based. If you're into wheat beers try "312", otherwise their "Green Line Pale Ale" is a good bet. They have two brewpubs with pretty decent food.
  • Half Acre - IMHO the best and most innovative craft brewer in the city. Their beer list is huge, and their "Daisy Cutter" has been tearing up the charts lately. It's possibly the pinnacle of the American hops craze. This is only available at the brewery, a few local shops, and bars.
  • Piece Brewery & Pizzeria - Piece has been doing beer and pizza as long as Dries has been doing Drupal. Their New Haven-style pizza is a solid bet for a night out, and from their beer list I'd recommend their rye "Worryin' Ale", or any of their pales.
  • Revolution Brewing - The newest of Chicago's gastropubs, Rev has a great food menu (bacon fat popcorn!!!), and equally solidbeer list making sure that you can't really go wrong anywhere. Pro Tip: they have two beer engines on the back corner of the bar with a rotation of different brews that they've casked.
  • Metropolitan Brewing - Available at a variety of local pubs and stores, Metro's small German-style lineup are all seriously solid session beers. They'll get you through an evening of coding without putting you on the floor.
  • Rock Bottom Brewery - Meh. It's a big restaurant/brewery chain and their downtown location is the closest place to the Drupal Tower to get a fresh brew. Both the food and beer have been pretty mediocre in my experience.
  • 3 Floyds - While their brewpub in Munster, IN is about 30 min from the city (although definitely worth a trip if you have a car), their beers are all over. "Alpha King" is a beefy IPA that's not to be trifled with, and their "Robert the Bruce" is a Scottish Ale that's a nice change.

Other establishments of note - These places don't brew their own, but they serve up some of the best selections in the city.

  • Hopleaf Bar - With about 30 taps and over 250 bottles, Hopleaf has possibly the best selection of amazing beers in the city. Their food is not to be taken lightly either. Go for the Belgian-style mussels or CB&J.
  • Map Room - A "traveller's tavern" with a great selection of taps and bottles that often hosts social events. Kinda like a coffee shop, but with beer.

There's lots more, so feel free to add on to the list. I realize that many/most of these places are a little trek from downtown, but you'd really be doing yourself a disservice by coming to Chicago and not getting out into the neighborhoods. Chicago is more spread out than most major cities, and the neighborhoods are really where the action is. The CTA is super easy to navigate with buses and trains that will take you most places of note.

Dude!

You rock. What else can I say? Thanks for touting our local awesomesauce.

Touchdown \o/

Düde thats badass
Now we need to come in early !
im honored that the Beer tasting Drupalistas is taken seriously:P

Map Room++

The Map Room is awesome. Close to Palantir’s office, but not too close to the conference. :-\

Don't forget The Bluebird!

Another great place for beer aficionados in the same neighborhood as the Map Room is The Bluebird, which has a great selection of international brews.

I absolutely love the Hopleaf as well, but it does get very busy and crowded, especially during the school year, when it tends to be overrun by graduate students.

Two Brothers

I also just realized that this list doesn't include Two Brothers. Their microbrew/pub is located out the in western suburbs, but their beers are available at many discerning restaurants in the city. I'm a particular fan of their Ebel's Weiss, which is one of the best Hefeweizen's I've had outside of Germany.

Good calls George... I always

Good calls George... I always forget about Two Brothers, but their stuff is great too. The Bluebird is on my list too... never been but it looks great.

Jake Melnicks Corner Tap

Never been there but I was searching for bars that have Rogue on tap. This place doesn't (atm) but came up in my search because they do serve bottles. They have 20 taps and it's about a 15 minute walk from the hotel.

Beer menu: http://www.beermenus.com/cities/chicago/bars/jake-melnick-s-corner-tap

Site: http://www.jakemelnicks.com

Great post!

Excellent recommendations!

I also HIGHLY recommend Twisted Spoke for their beer selection (and its proximity, cabwise) to the Drupal Tower. If you like Burgers, this is a great place to hit.

If you're more adventurous, try Kuma's Corner for amazing burgers, while their beer list is smaller than the others on here, its quite adventurous.

Cheers!

Quenchers

Quenchers is also another great place for Beer Fanatics. 300 varieties in stock every day!
http://www.quenchers.com/

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