The picture to the left is what your table will look like at the end of a Rock Bottom Brewer's Dinner. Why do I bring this up? Well, Rock Bottom Chicago brewmaster and friend of HOPS! Pete Crowley will be hosting another wonderful Brewer's Dinner this Monday, October 26th. Ready to drool? Here's the menu:
you can help Pete celebrate Rock Bottom's 14th Anniversary by attending tomorrow's tapping of their Anniversary Ale, an American-style ordinary bitter. We're talking free beer for Mug Club members (and you can join the Mug Club for free!) from 6-7pm; how can you pass that up???
...North German Altbier.* Don't get it confused with Düsseldorf-style Altbier, which is actually quite different. You can read the BJCP's style guideline for North German Altbier here.
I never met Greg Noonan, but I feel like I did. His seminal book, Brewing Lager Beer, is probably the most valuable brewing resource I own. His contribution to the Classic Beer Style series, Scotch Ale, likewise has a place in my brewing library. Noonan's contribution to homebrewers and craft brewers alike (Noonan also founded the Vermont Pub and Brewery) is immeasurable, and as such I'm sad to report that Noonan passed away this past Sunday at his home in Vermont. I encourage you to read Charlie Papazian's tribute to Noonan here, and also to check out his books if you have yet to do so. Rest in peace, Greg; I look forward to raising a pint of Scotch ale in your honor tonight.
I had some incredible beers at Oktoberfest, and I know most of you who brewed for the event still have a little left in the keg. So here's my challenge to all of you: enter your beer in the Chicago Beer Society's Spooky Brew Review and bring home a medal or two.
The Trib broke news last night that local liquor giant Binny's will buy out Sam's Wine & Spirits. Sam's had clearly fallen on hard times lately, closing its South Loop and Highland Park outposts in the span of a month. But, who knew things had gotten this bad? Unfortunately, this does not bode well for local craft beer enthusiasts as Binny's loses its only real competitor in the city (at least in terms of sale volume). There were already rumblings about stale product and high prices at many Binny's locations, and this turn of events surely won't help matters.
Breaking news from our friends at Half Acre: their store/tap room is now open to the public! Word on the street (by which I mean, beermapping.com) is that they're filling growlers with all of their regular offerings, plus a guest handle or two. Also, they have a 7% Schwarzbier called Magnus in the works. Mmm... Schwarzbier. Anyway, you can stop by between noon and 7pm, Tuesday through Sunday. If you do, be sure to get an extra growler filled for me.
No, I'm not talking about Oscar the Grouch homebrewing (though that would technically qualify as fermenting in a garbage can... sorry, bad joke). Adam over at the Beer Bits 2 blog is actually fermenting 26 gallons of beer in a food-grade garbage can. Is he crazy? Part of me thinks so, but at the same time fermenting in open vessels was the norm not-so-long-ago. I'll give him props for thinking outside the box, and I'll definitely keep an eye on how his brew turns out.
The Chicago Bridgeport VFW Post 5079 was an awesome host as always. The Polkaholics put on one hell of a show (as you can see to the right). And the icing on the cake was the incredible generosity of Flossmoor Station, Goose Island, Gordon Biersch-Bolingbrook, Half Acre, Metropolitan, Rock Bottom-Chicago and Rock Bottom-Orland Park, all of whom donated some great beers for our guests to enjoy.
