Ale Street News Online

I’ve traveled a lot of places in North America and Europe in search of the best beer town, and I’m slapping my money on the bar to vote for Chicago. There are other contenders for the title of Best Beer Drinking City in America, but I’m here to tell you — Chicago is a damn fine place for beer!

First off, there is a lot of good beer around here, and good places to drink it. Chicago has always been known as a hard-working, blue collar town of ethnic neighborhoods where the corner tavern was the center of the social scene. For a long time Old Style was the beer of choice. Now, whether you are hitting the bars on Rush Street or the neighborhood pub, it’s common to find craft brew and import taps along side the national brands. (Speaking of the nationals, both MillerCoors and Pabst have their headquarters in Chicagoland though neither does any brewing here.)

Irish pubs abound — Chief O’Niells, Irish Oak, or Galway Bay are particularly good examples. Just a short walk from Galway Bay is the Duke Of Perth, one of the nicest Scottish pubs this side of the Atlantic. Besides above average pub food, you can count on a nice selection of Belhaven beers on draft or hand pump, plus Fullers and other imports and micros. They also boast a huge Scotch collection.

Another great Irish pub is Celtic Crossing, which conveys an authentic atmosphere, as it should since the owners and designer are all from Ireland. Just across the street is Clark Street Ale House and their well chosen selection of draft and bottled beer.

Now consider The Map Room and Hopleaf. In some ways these two world-class watering holes are very different. Hopleaf is dedicated to the marriage of beer with food. That would be Belgian beer and Belgian cooking to be exact. The Map Room, on the other hand, serves no food other than pretzels. What is similar is that both boast beer lists that can make a beer aficionado light-headed.

The Map Room has 26 beers on tap, plus a hand-pump. To call the bottled beer list extensive would be an understatement. It’s safe to say there is something for everyone here. At Hopleaf, 45 beer lines feed the taps with American craft brews, Belgians, and meads. The food menu is designed to complement the beers, and vice versa. Owner Michael Roper, originally from Detroit, opened Hopleaf 17 years ago. Roper says Chicago is perfect for his business. "This is a walkable neighborhood, not surrounded by parking lots. Driving is not a great idea anyway after a couple of 9% Belgians. We serve neighborhood people, never had to advertise. Now we’re a destination for the beer lover crowd. As for Chicago as a whole, there is a lot of good beer in a lot of different places."

That thought is echoed by Bob Skilnik, author of Beer: A History Of Brewing In Chicago. Skilnik says, "For a historian like myself, Chicago is still rich with beer and brewing history although old local brewing sites still fall to the wrecking ball on a regular basis. Chicago’s fading beer past, however, sets the greater Chicagoland area up for today’s diversified selection of beers from the U.S. and around the world. Chicago’s centralized location makes it a hot market for brewers and distributors…when it comes to accessability to the greatest selection of craft, imported and macro beers, I can’t see how any other location can make the claim of being the greatest "Beer Town" in the world. That’s Chicago."

OK, so we’ve got first-rate bars and pubs and excellent beer from around the world. What about local brews? No problem! While Chicago may not have as many breweries/brewpubs as might be expected for a city this size, I like to think of it as a case of quality over quantity. For instance, take Goose Island. When was the last time they didn’t win a medal at the Great American Beer Fest? An early adopter of barrel aged beer, Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout sets the standard for the style. At the other end of the scale, Honker’s Ale is a fine example of an easy drinking session ale. With a production brewery plus the Clybourn and Wrigleyville brewpubs, Goose Island is doing their bit to provide refreshment to thirsty Chicagoans.

If you haven’t heard of Piece Brewery & Pizzeria, you’re missing out. They were named Small Brewpub of the year for 2006 at the World Beer Cup. Brewmaster Jonathon Cutler continues to produce award-winning beers in ever-greater volumes, and recently added lagers to the portfolio. They make darned good pizza too.

Right downtown, Rock Bottom Chicago continues to show that chain brewpubs are able to brew something besides bland beer. You can count on brewmaster Pete Crowley to have some interesting seasonals or special brews on hand. Asked about the beer scene in Chicago, Pete says, "I feel the people of Chicago truly ‘get it’ when it comes to craft brewing, are willing to go the extra step to drink local, and make sure their fridge is full of good beer. There are beer tastings, festivals and events seemingly every week in Chicago. It’s hard to be bored in this city when it comes to good beer."

Besides Piece, Rock Bottom and Goose Island, two more breweries and another brewpub have opened or will in the near future. The Moonshine bar in the Wicker Park neighborhood started brewing recently. Half-Acre Brewing has been operating with contract brews for a while now, and plans a production facility in the near future, as does Metropolitan Brewing. In a ‘rising tide lifts all boats’ sentiment, Pete Crowley says "The best part of what is Chicago beer is the family that is the brewing community here. We are all friends, are always willing to help each other out or share ideas or just hang out and share a beer."

But the city isn’t just downtown. There are over a dozen brewpubs in the surrounding suburbs, many reachable by public transit. At two of them you can almost step off the commuter train into the brewpub. Just to the Southeast is Flossmoor Station, another Small Brewpub of the Year winner. Located in a restored train station, Flossmoor’s brewers Matt Van Wyk and Andrew Mason are known for innovative and tasty brews, some with fairly unpronounceable names. In the opposite direction, but holding with the train theme, Payton’s Roundhouse/America’s Brewpub is housed in a former railroad roundhouse. Under brewmaster Mike Rybinski they have won three consecutive World Beer Cup Gold Medals, the only brewery to do so. The building is extremely cool also — it’s a must-see.

Of course to be successful, these bars, pubs and breweries need support from the community. That’s where the Chicago Beer Society comes in. While their motto "Our Beer Is Better Than Yours" might seem immodest, this is an active, involved bunch of beer geeks! Some of their events (often held in conjunction with the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild) include the Festival Of Barrel Aged Beer, Night Of The Living Ales (a real ale fest), and the Brewpub Shootout. At the Shootout attendees vote for the area brewpub with the best beer/food pairing. Curds & Ale is a recent addition that pairs artisan cheese with local brews that has proved very popular.

So there you are — America’s great beer city. Whether you want to party until the early hours or just have a quiet pint, there’s a tavern or pub to fill the bill. There’s a vast array of imports and craft brews from around the country available. There are award winning breweries and brewpubs. Perhaps most important, there’s an enthusiastic community of beer lovers and homebrewers that drive the whole thing.

Chicago. Great. Beer. Town.