Metropolitan Brewing- Chicago

I'm not sure if Metropolitan is available outside of Illinois... but I am enjoying an Iron Works Alt right now and need to highly recommend this beer to anyone who can get it. I enjoy a good IPA or imperial IPA as much as the next beer geek, but Iron Works is so ridiculously well made that I will long be a supporter of Metropolitan. Malty and balanced, complex yet easy to drink. I have been impressed with everything Metropolitan has done.

To add to this... I think there are many reasons to be excited as a beer lover in Chicago right now: Half Acre, Metropolitan, Two Brothers, Three Floyds... brewpubs like Revolution and Haymarket... and of course, A-B Goose Island. And- Finch's Brewing Co should be available soon! From what I've heard...

I am pretty happy with a Crankshaft Kolsch or an Iron Works in my hand...

Love me some Half Acre and am eager but skeptical to try Finch.

You left off Piece, BTW.

How is Haymarket? Probably going to hit it up next weekend - trying to get a feel on whether it'll be a pint or two then out, or a 5 hour session.

beesy said:

How is Haymarket? Probably going to hit it up next weekend - trying to get a feel on whether it'll be a pint or two then out, or a 5 hour session.

Click to expand...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f28/haymarket-chicago-il-239013/

I personally really liked the food at Haymarket. I had some kind of rockin' sausage sandwich. Beer was very good, but I prefer Revolution.

Randar- I love Piece.. how could I forget it? Perhaps the best thin crust pizza in Chicago. And some very nice beers- very solid IPA last time I went.

Why are you skeptical about Finch? I really haven't heard much about it, so I'm just curious.

Also- now that I think about it... there is a lot to be excited about with the craft brewing scene in Chicagoland... but I think our neighbors in Michigan and Wisconsin are kicking our butts. Michigan has some outstanding breweries with Bells, Founders, New Holland, Arcadia... even really good sour beers out of Jolly Pumpkin. And Wisconsin has New Glarus, which pretty much means they win automatically. And Lakefront, Capital, and lots of others I've heard of but haven't tried. I think it is time Chicago really ups its game.

I can't speak for Randar, but I too had some skepticism about Finch's based on a couple things. First, I read an article about them that made it sound like there were two business guys who saw a growing craft beer market and decided to open a brewery based on business considerations rather than a love of beer... but it was in a business journal so it could just be the paper writing for its audience (and I certainly don't think brewers should be naive fools who don't care about making a profit). Second, their initial offerings (a pale ale and a blonde ale) didn't really show much creativity in terms of carving out a niche in the ever-expanding local market.

That being said, they've done a couple of things that temper my skepticism and give me hope for good things to come. First, they hired Richard Grant (formerly the assistant brewer at Flossmoor Station) to be their head brewer. Richard's a great brewer and a great guy. Second, they signed on with Windy City as their distributor, and that tells me that they envision themselves next to Metro and Two Brothers rather than 312 and Blue Moon.

To me the bottom line is the beer will speak for itself. It's all conjecture until you take the first sip, and I certainly plan on doing that when I have the opportunity. You can never have too much good beer!

Just to follow up on my last post, had a chance to try Finch's Cut Throat Pale Ale yesterday. I thought it was solid, but I'm not a big APA guy so it's hard for me to say how it compares to, say, Daisy Cutter or other local pale ales. A good buddy of mine who is a big APA guy, however, gave it two thumbs up so I would say Finch's passed the first test with flying colors!