FIB War Room

[trickytunadicky]

this board gets criticized for gentle ball fondling of rev but i think the same can be said of off color. i think i've come down from this weekend (one where an off color employee started off my day in 95 degree heat with a wild turkey 101 shot) by drinkin almost a whole case of the zwickleish you never take me anywhere nice. and with this allagash collab coming, may the gentle fondling (which is consensual) continue.

I don’t have balls, but would also like to know more about stuff at Off Color. Thanks for the imagery.

 

[vav1]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-food-bourbon-county-lawsuit-tossed-20180614-story.html

HAHAHAHAHAHHA

 

[middlebrow]

I don’t have balls, but would also like to know more about stuff at Off Color. Thanks for the imagery.

i just cribbed the phrase that has been weilded on the board. its gross, especially since off color is like one of 5 breweries in the area that isn't comprised of wall to wall cis white dudes. i think we can use the phrase 'an agreed upon business hug' as demonstrated on tim and eric.

 

[kodt]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-food-bourbon-county-lawsuit-tossed-20180614-story.html

HAHAHAHAHAHHA

when you try to out shitlord a multi-billion dollar transnational beverage conglomerate

 

[Tooch4321]

this board gets criticized for gentle ball fondling of rev but i think the same can be said of off color. i think i've come down from this weekend (one where an off color employee started off my day in 95 degree heat with a wild turkey 101 shot) by drinkin almost a whole case of the zwickleish you never take me anywhere nice. and with this allagash collab coming, may the gentle fondling (which is consensual) continue.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

Checked out the last "newish" brewery that is close enough to me I was kind of embarrassed I hadn't been there yet.

8 beers on draft, 2 that were hop forward (Pale and Double Dry Hopped DIPA), a hop forward Biere de Garde (that was actually pretty tasty), Sour Stout, Key Lime Kolsch, Maple Smoked Stout, Blackberry Porter and Sour with Citrus. No distribution at the moment, and of the beers I tried, about half were pretty good and the other half were not very good.

Electric 2bbl system which is pretty unique (can't think of another electric commercial brewing operation), but they have a 10bbl system coming in the next few months. A few fermenters, a couple of unitanks, one large bright tank, milling all their grain with a 3 roller mill that is reminiscent of what a homebrew shop would be using, and a fair bit of space to expand.

Fair amount of 15-30 gallon barrels with a Guy Fieri cutout watching guard over them.

All in all not a bad spot, but probably right around average in the Chicagoland suburban brewery scene. Will be interesting to see how they do when they expand to distribution considering how saturated the market appears to be at the moment.

 

[thewimperoo]

Checked out the last "newish" brewery that is close enough to me I was kind of embarrassed I hadn't been there yet.

8 beers on draft, 2 that were hop forward (Pale and Double Dry Hopped DIPA), a hop forward Biere de Garde (that was actually pretty tasty), Sour Stout, Key Lime Kolsch, Maple Smoked Stout, Blackberry Porter and Sour with Citrus. No distribution at the moment, and of the beers I tried, about half were pretty good and the other half were not very good.

Electric 2bbl system which is pretty unique (can't think of another electric commercial brewing operation), but they have a 10bbl system coming in the next few months. A few fermenters, a couple of unitanks, one large bright tank, milling all their grain with a 3 roller mill that is reminiscent of what a homebrew shop would be using, and a fair bit of space to expand.

Fair amount of 15-30 gallon barrels with a Guy Fieri cutout watching guard over them.

All in all not a bad spot, but probably right around average in the Chicagoland suburban brewery scene. Will be interesting to see how they do when they expand to distribution considering how saturated the market appears to be at the moment.

Sounds like they might be getting better if half were pretty good.

 

[Thorpe]

Checked out the last "newish" brewery that is close enough to me I was kind of embarrassed I hadn't been there yet.

8 beers on draft, 2 that were hop forward (Pale and Double Dry Hopped DIPA), a hop forward Biere de Garde (that was actually pretty tasty), Sour Stout, Key Lime Kolsch, Maple Smoked Stout, Blackberry Porter and Sour with Citrus. No distribution at the moment, and of the beers I tried, about half were pretty good and the other half were not very good.

Electric 2bbl system which is pretty unique (can't think of another electric commercial brewing operation), but they have a 10bbl system coming in the next few months. A few fermenters, a couple of unitanks, one large bright tank, milling all their grain with a 3 roller mill that is reminiscent of what a homebrew shop would be using, and a fair bit of space to expand.

Fair amount of 15-30 gallon barrels with a Guy Fieri cutout watching guard over them.

All in all not a bad spot, but probably right around average in the Chicagoland suburban brewery scene. Will be interesting to see how they do when they expand to distribution considering how saturated the market appears to be at the moment.

I think Une Annee may have an electric kettle if I recall. And I think we’re going to a 3.5 or 5 bbl electric before too long. Blichmann now has those as standard offerings in their pro series for significantly cheaper than I see most brewhouses quoted at, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see smallish electric systems a lot more often going forward.

 

[middlebrow]

Transient was electric as of a year ago and mikerphone was too though I’m pretty sure they just got a new system. you custom weld in like three/four electric thermal rods and fire up. We explored but word is it’s a nightmare to clean.

 

[vav1]

Illuminated is also electric.

 

[danidavid]

Sounds like they might be getting better if half were pretty good.

This. I went a few months back. Think they had 6 on draft, 3 were below average and I couldn't finish the other 3.

 

[danidavid]

Also have reservations for Publican on Tuesday. First timer. Any recommendations other than eat and drink everything?

 

[trickytunadicky]

Also have reservations for Publican on Tuesday. First timer. Any recommendations other than eat and drink everything?

Not really. It’s all good: my friend and I ate a load of bread between the two of us. And I had scallops to finish. Last time I had fish and ramps. It’s all good.

 

[mdomask]

Also have reservations for Publican on Tuesday. First timer. Any recommendations other than eat and drink everything?

Yeah, it's all wonderful, and the menu changes with availability.

That said, get the duck. Also, the strawberries.

 

[vav1]

Also have reservations for Publican on Tuesday. First timer. Any recommendations other than eat and drink everything?

Everything is meant to share. Carrots will change yer life.

PM yer reservation info plz in case i'm not there kthx

 

[Alum]

There is a Middlebrow session IPA on tap at WOB Naperville. Pretty nice stuff. More impressed they actually have it on tap tho.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

Went to Palmers Place in LaGrange this afternoon to try and have a couple of pints of the unfiltered unpasteurized Pilsner Urquell, but apparently they kicked the half barrel in 48 minutes per Steve Palmer.

Maybe folks have wisened up thewimperoo.

 

[thewimperoo]

Went to Palmers Place in LaGrange this afternoon to try and have a couple of pints of the unfiltered unpasteurized Pilsner Urquell, but apparently they kicked the half barrel in 48 minutes per Steve Palmer.

Maybe folks have wisened up thewimperoo.

Damn, I was planning on swinging over there this afternoon.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

When it is Fathers Day, and you father wants to check out a new brewery, you oblige.

Checked out Ballast Point Chicago today (and despite Taste of Randolph going on, wasn't too tough to find parking) with the family.

Beautiful bar with a shitload of handles, but only about half of them were in use which I found odd. Also felt bad for the bartender when I ordered an Unfiltered Sculpin which kicked the keg (without a fobstopper) and required him to change out the keg and get two handles ready to go while the place was relatively crowded.

Small R&D system (5bbl?) that only had a single beer on today (cream ale that was pretty meh), but sounds like they are trying to catch up from their recent opening.

Varied draft list, but mostly things we can try without having to head to the source. Unfiltered Sculpin was pretty fantastic and ended up drinking two of those this afternoon.

Food was the real star of the show with the Ceviche Nachos, Chicken Monte Cristo (wish more places were utilizing Bentons country ham), and Octopus being very good and the Ribs / Pretzel just being OK.

Great space, good service, and lots of promise when the R&D system gets a few beers on, but in the meantime I'll likely just keep going to Cruz Blanca (and Publican when I'm looking to eat really well).

 

[adhdjon]

Speaking of Cruz Blanca, I finally checked them out and I have to say they are another sleeper brewery in Chicago. I had the Pluma and the Barleybomba. The Barleybomba is a fantastic, complex, layered BBW. All the beer was great. The food was good too.

The amount of good beer and food in this city is nuts.

 

[middlebrow]

There is a Middlebrow session IPA on tap at WOB Naperville. Pretty nice stuff. More impressed they actually have it on tap tho.

middle brow in 2014 - we'll never make an IPA, i mean we got rev & half acre already and pipeworks launchin on mostly IPA's...who needs another one in chicago
middle brow in 2016 - i dont know, i like belgian yeast man and outta a can that ***** gross. just dont get it.
middle brow in 2018 - please enjoy our latest canned session IPA

but thanks for drinkin...i do enjoy that beer and should stop bein a dick about market trendz. soft selling out isn't so bad, you can still be sorta cool like trent reznor or like cory king.

 

[Lansman]

middle brow in 2014 - we'll never make an IPA, i mean we got rev & half acre already and pipeworks launchin on mostly IPA's...who needs another one in chicago
middle brow in 2016 - i dont know, i like belgian yeast man and outta a can that ***** gross. just dont get it.
middle brow in 2018 - please enjoy our latest canned session IPA
middle brow in 2019 - please enjoy our latest canned double barrel pastry stout with marshmallows, vanilla, graham crackers, cacao nibs, brownie batter, cookie dough ice cream and cinnamon aged on raspberries and dragonfruit in bourbon and port barrels

Who am I kidding, would buy that **** for sure. #markettrendz

 

[middlebrow]

Who am I kidding, would buy that **** for sure. #markettrendz

i'm spotting this **** by a mile....enjoy our lightly dry-hopped lager and canned nitro english mild...with vanillin in everything because ya know..nillin (thats future 2019 speak for vanilla, which is now dune spice material)

 

[ChaQuiseman]

Who am I kidding, would buy that **** for sure. #markettrendz

Hey bud, you forgot lactose. In today's market you have to guarantee that there's no way the beer will finish below 1.050 FG.

 

[vav1]

English Mild with vanilla is a great idea actually.

 

[middlebrow]

English Mild with vanilla is a great idea actually.

Reminds me of something...just can’t place it. Har har har

 

[foscorelli]

What's the scoop on Sketchbook? A buddy of mine was raving about a growler he got from there recently.

 

[Hopping Tiger]

I don’t know scoops on anything but recently I’ve had some Sketchbook that was pretty good. They’ve improved something up there imo

 

[mjohnson171]

What's the scoop on Sketchbook? A buddy of mine was raving about a growler he got from there recently.

Great little taproom in Evanston. Cool vibe; artsy where patrons doodle on the coasters and hang them on the well. The beers are tasty. They can and distribute a few offerings, mostly hazy ipas, but I've enjoyed some of their more unique, taproom only, beers. Stuff like rice saison, etc is a little more out of the ordinary.

Definitely worth checking out.

Evanston in general has become a nice little beer enclave in the last few years with Smiley Bros, Sketchbook, Pekish Pig, Temperance, and North Shore Cider. When I lived there not too long ago it was still the heart of the Temperance movement. You couldn't even buy single bottles of beer, everything had to be sold in 4packs or greater, even large format bottles.

 

[TheJB]

middlebrow was the whole Logan Square news just a red herring?

https://chicago.eater.com/2018/6/19...od-hall-update-not-happening-brewpub-broadway