I’ll be there in October - Any bars on the “Must Hit” list?
Bruges is a shithole (god I love that film)
Off the top of my head:
‘t Brugs Beertje
Staminee de Garre
Cambrinus
Poatersgat
Comptoir des Arts
Not a bar, but the Basilica of the Holy Blood has a vial of Jesus’ blood, which remains fresh after 2000 years.
In Bruges is a great film, indeed.
And now in Chicago, Dryhop Brewers opens the first brewery in Lakeview 6/13. On Saturday, 6/8, growler preview day, two beers available for $10, 1PM-3PM only.
Breweries seem to be popping up all over the place now. I just saw that there’s a new one in Mundelein.
tighthead has been around for about a year-year and a half. I’ve still yet to go there (it’s a half hour from work and driving out to mundelein after a saturday isn’t my idea of fun) but I’ve heard solid things about them.
The location seems odd to me but it’s probably just a matter of it being cheap rent. It’s so out of the way, I’ve never even noticed the place and it’s right behind the roller rink my kids go to frequently.
[quote=
What are the recommendations for San Diego? We’ll be there a couple times in the forthcoming months and would love to spend time at a great brewery or beer bar.[/quote]
Societe (!!)
AleSmith
Green Flash
Bar: Obrien’s
If you can trek… Stone, Lost Abbey / Port, Alpine.[/quote]
All good advice- I’d add Toronado as a bar & would definitely make the trek for Stone & Port.[/quote]
Agreed on the Lost Abbey/Port visit, and Ballast Point as well. Another good one that I didn’t see mentioned yet is Iron Fist.
Stone also just opened a new facility in Point Loma, if you happen to be staying around the south part of the county. Will be there next weekend for a birthday get-together, interested to see how it is. http://www.stonelibertystation.com/
Geneva, IL changed their zoning rules to allow brewing this week which paves the way for Penrose to start brewing. Tom Korder, formerly of Goose Island, will be brewmaster.
http://www.penrosebrewing.com/
Penrose will focus on Belgian inspired session ales, oak barrel-aging, and alternative fermentation.
I stopped in at Dryhop today. It’s about a block from the Briar St Theater and we were going to see Blue Man Group. We were there between lunch and dinner so we only had a couple of desserts, both of which were excellent. The food at the other tables looked great and people were raving about it. I sampled the six Dryhop beers they had on tap. The quality is very good. Hop lovers will like their IPA, a little over the top for me. The American Pale Ale was much more balanced for my palate, tons of citrus and tropical fruit. I really liked the Saison they had, might have been my favorite of the group.
Last Monday, we walked over for a late-afternoon snack, and they were out of food, they got so jammed the first few days. So the waitress said, come back Wednesday, the kitchen will again be open, and by the way, here’s a $15 coupon for being so adorable.
Maybe today…
Very cool that they support the community…by hiring blind waitresses.
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Golf clap!
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Oh wait, quit picking on poor, innocent Robert!
BTW – Dryhop just released “White Rabbit”, a wit beer. Would be interested in hearing about it if anyone goes soon.
I’ve had the Shark Meets Hipster (meh) and the Judge (pretty good), both from growler. It’s still early days, but based on those two, I don’t think it’s in the same league as Revolution, Half Acre, or Pipeworks (my personal favorite in Chicago). Food looked tasty from what I could see, though.
Yeah, shark was over the top for me. I liked the Vampire the best.
Any particular bottles you’re digging from Pipeworks lately?
The current bottling of Something Hoppy This Way Comes. Sounds like you’re not a big hop guy, Tim, but I this is worth seeking out. Maybe the most complex DIPA I’ve ever had, and it was a hit with some non-IPA drinkers this weekend. I’m also a fan of the single-hop Ninja series. The current iteration is Centennial Ninja. Not as good as Citra and Simcoe, to me, but still solid.
Well, dryhop doesn’t have any beers over 6.2% right now which is a very nice breath of fresh air. I’ve been there several times and the beer is definitely better than atlas and haymarket’s debuts. I don’t think we can make a full judgment on the brews until they are open for a full year as I’ve noticed that’s about how long it takes to dial things in. Rev and Half Acre have been around for a few years already, so that always helps.
It does look like Ale Syndicate has their building on Diversey and California and I was told that they are currently in the process of building their tap room. Hopefully they’re open by october (would be nice to have another brewery+tap room in the area)
Since I moved StringWorks to Geneva on June 1, I’ve visited the Penrose facility/taproom many times already. Last night I had both of their current sour offerings, and the Farmhouse Saison (Tuesdays are $4 glasses of beer)