Report:
First night, Short Fuse. A fairly industrial, good-sized brewery with fair beer and as far as I can tell, decent food. The BLT Pizza was ok, but the "mayo" was spicy, and the arugula lettuce wasn't crisp, like I think a BLT needs. Arugula is better on a salad IMO. I picked up a Glass and a Blaze Orange growler (Couldn't resist!) I ordered a "Half Stick" flight, which is half of their taplist. Too many different beers to list. The beers mostly tasted alike to me, as far as the IPA type beers, with a similar hop flavor/bitterness. I think they could stand to differentiate their beers a bit more, and have some lighter or more different flavors to choose from with so many taps.
Saturday went to Mikerphone. Cool little place a bit out of the way, but worth the extra miles IMO. Beer was very good and the place was nice for talking. Met a couple, the man from Michigan. Had some nice conversation about Mich and Craft Beer, etc. Got a nice sample glass and a huge sticker (Looks like a bomber label or something...) I had a sample of Beautiful Oblivion Imperial Stout with Almonds, Cacao nibs, and vanilla. Very nice! Also had a sample of a Citra IPA of some sort. I can't remember the details, but it was very good as well. Also a small taste of the Wit, which was also very nice.
Next a headed south to More Brewing. It was their grand opening and it was CROWDED! It's a decent sized place and it will be a nice neighborhood brewery. The beer was pretty good and the sliders were really good. I had a "Dusty" NE IPA with Citra, etc. and a "Chemical Connection" Rye NE IPA. Both Sampler sized. Then I grabbed a 4-pack of cans and a sticker from the Schwag Schop.
After that hopped in the car and while the AC was firing up, I discovered another brewer just a few blocks away. It was Lunar Brewing. This is a corner "Brewery", but listen to the description! It's an OLD bar. Like still displaying the old 60's bar and mirrors, etc. It's obviously a neighborhood place with a bunch of locals sitting there hanging out. I won't say I didn't feel welcome, but the barkeep did the bare minimum in conversation. It's a dark, dank, musty place with a TON of character. The pale Ale I had was actually pretty decent. I wasn't expecting much since it really doesn't resemble any other brewery I've been to. I think they must use a homebrew type system in the back. Didn't get any details, though. They had a small selection of distinct beers like a scotch ale and imperial stout, IPA, etc. They also had a small selection of beers from other breweries.
That was it for Saturday. Picked up some chinese food from a small place just down the road from the hotel.
Sunday I was debating going to a baseball game, and may have if I had someone to go with, but instead I headed east on 19 and hit Begyle Brewing. Really cool small place. It's a warehouse type brewery. They have a chain hanging between the brewing area and taproom area. They are dog friendly and there was a pretty cool food truck outside for food. My first food truck and I cannot complain! I had a sample of Free Bird APA, and a sample of Hophazardly IPA, and a sample of a big stout, which I can't remember the name of, and isn't listed on the taplist online. They were pretty cool and recommended the brewery behind them. Yep, another brewery next short block over. Didn't even see it on my Google Map due to being behind the pin for Begyle.
Dovetail brewing is a cool place. German beers. Open fermentation and they use a coolship. I got a great personal tour from JP, the lady behind teh bar and parttime assistant brewer. She had all the details and walked me around out back and upstairs and downstairs. The beers were very good and tasted very authentic, except the PILS, which they state right in the description as being "their take" on it. It was dry hopped and fairly hazy. Still a very tasty beer. I also had a Summer Helles and a Vienna lager. The samplers were served in small beakers. I bought a glass/mug there and found a booklet describing the breweries in the area, which led me to...
Koval Distillery! This is the tasting room. I got a nice selection of tastes of a 4-grain whiskey, and Oat Whiskey, a Gin, an aged bourbon gin, a coffee liqueur, and some other strange liqueur. I bought a bottle of coffee liqueur to share with friends and then headed directly to Emperical Brewing, right around the corner. This is where I stayed for a bit to decompress and have a snack. Met a guy and chatted for a while while enjoying a couple of samplers. I'd like to list what ordered, but I simply can't remember their names. One was a pale ale, one was an IPA and honestly I don't remember the third beer. Bought a couple of sticks of sausage that were excellent.
This place was dog friendly like Begyle and Dovetail. Even met the same dogs in more than one location! The beer was decent, but I may have had a bit of palate fatigue by this point. I generally like to sample more beers from each place, but with driving myself around I had to limit myself. Honestly, every place had decent beers IMO, with Short Fuse being my least favorite beer. They are new and I expect they will improve. My biggest critique there is that there seemed to be a lot of "IPA" beers that tasted too similar. Nice place and great service, though.
I passed on Half-Acre due to it being late and having sampled so much already. I thought I would find their beer in the store on the way home, but we didn't go shopping.
I DID stop at Three Floyd's on the way home, though! I didn't realize it was so close to out route to Chicago. We didn't drink there, but I did peek in and bought a few beers and a glass from the Kiosk. Place is different! The Kiosk reminded me of a fair booth. I'm not sure if it's because of Indiana's liquor laws or what, but the Schwag Schop was basically a small room covered in T-shirts and you ordered your schwag or beer from a pair of guys standing behind the very small counter. Wife and I checked out the distillery next door, but it wasn't opened yet. Strange place.
Also stopped to have lunch at Saugatuck brewing in SW Michigan. Picked up a pint glass. I had a Kolsch with my food and it was ok. I was never that impressed with the beer back when they started bottling. Haven't had much since then so can't honestly give a review. The brewery is pretty cool and bigger than I expected with a Brew On Premises operation inside. They have a very cool game room/taproom in the back. Pinball, video games, bumper pool, and a tabletop shuffleboard thing.
