Daily Archives: July 6, 2011

Create Your Own Chicago Craft Beer Pub Crawl

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by Lee Barrie and Cindy Kurman

Did you miss the Chicago Craft Beer Week?  This annual exhibition of the City’s craft beer community is a must for beer aficionados. If you missed it, don’t fret. We’ve compiled a do-it-yourself tour to enjoy at your leisure.

But first…what are craft brewers?

An American craft brewer is small, independent and traditional. Small: Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less. Independent: Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not themselves a craft brewer. Traditional: A brewer who has either an all malt flagship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewers brands) or has at least 50% of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor.

Chicago is a hub of pubs and restaurants offering the ever-so tasty craft beers. If you want to re-track this year’s Craft Beer event, check out these spots for great brew.

South Loop locations: Kroll’s (1736 S. Michigan Ave, 312- 235-1400), Reggie’s Bar (2105 S. State Street, 312-949-0120), Weathermark Tavern (1503 S. Michigan Avenue, 312-588-0230), Jimmy Green’s (825 S. State Street, 312-386-9000), Wabash Tap (1233 S. Wabash Street, 312-360-9488), and Flo and Santo’s (1310 S. Wabash Street, 312-566-9817) — all offering a great selection of craft beers.

The Beer Bistro (1061 W Madison Ave. at Aberdeen, 312-433 0013) carries 22 beers on draft and more than 140 bottles and cans, a wide spectrum from around the country including The Brooklyn Brewery. They also have “real ale” a cask conditioned ail weekly.

Check out the free Saturday tours at Revolution Brewing (Logan Square. 2323 N Milwaukee Ave. between California and Fullerton.  773-227 2739, noon to 1:00p.m. Tours hold up to 25.

Other venues to sample great craft beers include: Twisted Spoke (501 N Ogden St. between Grand and Race. 312-666-1500);  Rock Bottom Brewery (1 West Grand, 312-755-9339) and Faith & Whiskey (1366 W. Fullerton, 773-248-9119)

Going upscale. There are a number of casual and fine dining restaurants offering impressive craft and small batch beer selections. Benny’s Chop House (444 N. Wabash Ave., 312-626-2444) boasts an impress list of 34 brews including some hard to find selections like Founders Centennial IPA, Daisy Cutter Pale Ale from Chicago’s Half Acre Brewery, and Arcadia “Ship Wreck” Porter.

Drink at home. There’s nothing better than celebrating with friends and the summer is the perfect celebration drink is an ice cold craft brew. Whole Foods – Lincoln Park (1550 N Kingsbury St at Weed, 312-587 0648) has an admirable selection or pick up at great selection at Goose Island Beer Company (1800 N. Clybourn, 312-915-0071) Chicago’s own. Voted best for its craft beers in 2010,  try the Green Line, an American Style pale ale.

Save the Date: You may have to travel, but if you love beer, you will want to mark your calendars for these future beer events.

About DineWise

DineWise Chicago is written by Cindy Kurman Barrie and Lee Barrie, the principals of Kurman Communications, Inc., a Chicago-based marketing and public relations agency. The DineWise column appears weekly in Streetwise magazine. Please visit their blog atwww.gotbuzzatkurman.com and check out all DineWise articles atwww.dinewisechicago.com.