Libations

More Craft Beer Week Highlights

May 17 2013 - 1:28 PM

In an earlier post, I highlighted a few events that should help you get the most out of Chicago Craft Beer Week.  If you are interested in trying rare beers, or just great ones that you won’t find every week at the neighborhood pub (and if they are indeed there weekly, please forward the name of your local), here are a few other can’t-miss events:

1. Founders KBS @ KBS Tapping at Whole Foods

1550 Bar at Whole Foods Market, 1550 N. Kingsbury St., Chicago, IL,  1:00 P.M., Sunday, May 19

I’m not sure about the “@KBS” part of this event’s title. I’m assuming that it means “at Kingsbury Street”.  Whatever.  But there’s no ambiguity in this statement: you won’t want to miss Whole Foods’ tapping of Founders Brewing’s legendary KBS, which is an elite bourbon-barreled stout.   KBS is tapped in Chicago bars maybe 10 times a year and usually sells out in under an hour.  Local Option once killed a keg of it in 22 minutes.  Founders will also be tapping their Doom, a bourbon imperial IPA which sounds interesting, their stalwart Double Trouble IPA, which is the champagne of imperial IPA’s due to its seemingly delicate carbonation, and their Old Curmudgeon stock ale.  According to a company rep, no Founders beer ages better than Old Curmudgeon, so after trying it on tap, score a couple of bottles at Whole Foods to stock away.  Historically, at that Whole Foods, you have been able to shop while drinking your beer.  I learned that while on a date there.  You read that right.

2.  Stone Brewing Tap Takeover at Lion’s Head

2251 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL, 3:00 p.m., Monday, May 20

You would not intuitively think of a sports bar as a good CCBW venue, but Stone’s presence is a game-changer.  Stone makes incredibly fresh and powerful beers, and their lineup does not show up on tap in Chicago as much as it should.  This event will feature Ruination, which is about as good as an IPA gets, a Double Dry-Hopped version of the Ruination, which I last saw on tap in Chicago 3 years ago, and Stone’s incredible, sumptuous Imperial Russian Stout, which is a beer I’m aging at home.  Any Stone event is a must.  You can stick around thereafter and enjoy your beers during the Blackhawks Game 3.  Sadly, my Islanders are already out of it.

3. Brooklyn Brewery Feature With Dante’s Pizza at High Dive

1938 W. Chicago Ave., 5:00 p.m., Friday, May 24

This event promises to be nothing but fun, with Brooklyn Lager other solid beers from Brooklyn Brewing’s lineup on tap.   The lineup will include not only Brooklyn Blast!, but also the singular, Japanese-hopped Sorachi Ace, and, in addition, the There Will Be Black.  As an added, major bonus, the bar will be providing pizza from the terrific New York style pizzeria, Dante’s.  If you have not visited Dante’s at their Armitage location, do so soon.  Their pizza’s toppings and spices are a flavor explosion, and their crust is a perfect blend of chewy, buttery and crispy goodness.  High Dive is a solid bar and they keep their beers quite fresh, so expect the Brooklyn beers to be at peak quality.

— M. Sheppard

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