Beer Hoptacular!

Purchase a ticket to any one (or all three!) of the tasting events scheduled for June 4, 5 and 6 at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom and you’ll be rubbing elbows with the country’s finest craft brewers.   It’s pretty straightforward – entry into the event gets you a souvenir glass and unlimited tastings from any of the breweries in attendance.  And wow, the list of breweries is impressive – Dogfish Head, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Great Lakes, Brooklyn, Magic Hat, Summit, Bells and many more.  Of course, local breweries Goose Island, Half Acre, Two Brothers, Flossmoor and Roundhouse will be sharing their suds.  Complete list here. The big downside is going though Ticketmaster for tickets.

Earth Day 2010 – Where’s Your Beer Brewed?

Goose Island and the Green Line Project

In 2009, Goose Island and the City of Chicago worked with the Chicago Manufacturing Center to uncover the carbon footprint of one keg of beer from their brewery.  The report (full report here) broke down the carbon footprint to production of malted barley (44%), energy used during the brewing process (42%), delivery and refrigeration costs (12%) and waste from hop production (2%).

Goose Island took what it learned from the study to develop initiatives in their brewing processes and changes in their brewery culture to lessen their carbon footprint and impact on the environment.

One of the Green Line Project initiatives was the production of a new beer to raise awareness.  The Green Line Pale Ale (5% abv) is a honey colored American pale ale with a subtle hop aroma with a lightly toasted malt and citrus flavor.  It’s available only on draft in Chicago to reduce packaging waste and the impact from transportation and refrigeration over long distances.  If you haven’t noticed the light-colored wood taps (made from wood reclaimed from ash trees killed by the emerald ash borer in Wilmette, IL) at your favorite Chicago bar,  here’s a list of bars that are currently pouring Green Line.

So, with today being Earth Day, we ask you  – where is your beer brewed?

-RjR

2010 Symposium Ale

Hop Cast put together a fantastic piece on the making of the 2010 Symposium Ale for the Chicago Craft Brewers Conference. The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild collaborated with area brewers to create this blend of four different beers  – Russian Imperial Stout, Scotch Ale, Barleywine and Imperial IPA.  The four beers were aged in Woodford Reserve barrels before being blended and bottled for the conference.

Making of the Symposium Ale

Chicago Craft Beer Week

The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild announced the 1st annual Chicago Craft Beer Week (May 17-23, 2010) which coincides with American Craft Beer Week. The week-long celebration of all things craft beer will showcase our local breweries, tastings at bars/restaurants, beer dinners, pub crawls and special limited edition beers created especially for the various events.

For more information and a soon to be published calendar of events, check in with Chicago Craft Beer Week and start planning your Chicago craft beer adventures!

“Robot Brewery Tour”

Pretty strange one, here.  This is singer/songwriter Will Oldham (a.k.a. Palace Songs, Bonnie “Prince” Billy) in an eleven-minute short for Dogfish Head.  Vision of a dystopian future in which beer – reduced to its lowest common denominator –  is crafted by computer. Dystopian, indeed.
– dw

DogFloydAPalooza II

The Bottom Lounge (1375 W. Lake) is hosting what’s bound to be a stellar beer event tonight (April 6) to kick off the Craft Brewer’s Conference in Chicago.  Dogfish Head and Three Floyds will be on tap – five different beers from each brewery.  Beer Gods Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head) and Nick Floyd (Three Floyds) will be in attendance this evening.

The beer will be accompanied by music from Andre Williams with The Goldstars and Jon Langford and The Cashed Johnnies.

Grab your tickets here.

Lagunitas Chicago-Style Fusion Ale

While you’re in Chicago for the Craft Brewers Conference, make sure you try the Chicago-Style Fusion Ale from Lagunitas – available at dozens of Chicago bars during the conference. The folks at Lagunitas collaborated with Chicago area bar owners to create a limited edition beer unique to Chicago to celebrate the conference.

Available at your favorite Chicago bars starting at 4:20pm on April 7th.

via the Chicago Tribune

2010 Craft Brewers Conference

Chicago hosts this year’s Brewers Association conference for breweries and brewpubs.  The event will be held at the River North Sheraton Chicago April 7-10.

The conference is a meeting place for craft beer professionals to exchange tips and techniques to improve their own breweries and brewpubs. With scheduled speakers from a variety of North American brewers, as well as classes on brewing, storage, packaging, media relations and much more, the conference will undoubtedly develop ideas to fuel and grow the craft beer movement.

Excited?  Let’s hope you have already confirmed your registration since this year’s event registration has been closed to due to extraordinary demand.

The biennial World Beer Cup also takes place during the conference.  The winners will be announced on the last day of the conference at the World Beer Cup Gala Awards Dinner.

The World Beer Cup was capped at 3,500 entries this year – roughly three times as many entries from 2002.

Craft Brewers Conference

Brewers Association

World Beer Cup

It’s going to be a great beer week in Chicago, my friends.  Cheers!

-RjR

Magic Hat

I stumbled upon the fine beers from Magic Hat during a 2009 summer vacation in South Carolina. Not sure how I missed the colorful, eccentric designs on the labels and packaging in my local Chicago coolers, but I’ve enjoyed watching Magic Hat’s growth in Chicago since this impromptu tasting from a 12-pack sampler.

Magic Hat Brewing Company, South Burlington VT

Looking forward to warmer weather and tasting new, exciting brews this summer!

-RjR

Stone Brewing Coming to Chicago

After living in San Diego for a couple years, I’m very excited to see that Stone’s bold, delicious beers will be available in Chicago starting next month.

Just for kicks, here’s a shot, circa 2004, of Stone’s Double Bastard Ale – a monstrous special release at 10.5% abv.

See you next month, Stone.  Welcome to Chicago!

Stone Brewing Co.

Update:  Stone Beer Week Chicago April 1-8

-RjR