Five days in Chicago. Am I missing anything?

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joeneugs1

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Location
Livermore, CA
I'll be in Chicago from September 30 through October 5th. I'm traveling by myself for work and will have plenty of free time. If anyone wants to meet up for a beer, let me know....I may even be able to bring some CA Bay Area beers for sharing/trading :)

So here's my list of places I've picked out to try and visit:

Une Annee
Beer Temple
Smoque BBQ
Pipeworks dojo
Whiner
Cruz Blanca
Haymarket
Girl and the goat
Corridor
Dovetail
Begyle
Half acre
Bad apple
Demera Ethiopian restaurant
Imperial oak
3 floyds
18th street
Mikerphone
Map room
Piece
Revolution
Forbidden root
Local option
Pequod Pizza
Band of Bohemia
More brewing
Kinslahger
Motor row

I realize this is like 6 places per day, but some I'm planning on being quick stops to check out the scene and/or grab a flight of beers or just get food. Still, I probably won't make it to all these, so what should I prioritize? Are there any can't miss places that I left out?

I'm primarily interested in brewery taprooms with good, interesting beers but also would love some insider food rec's and other cool stuff to do in the city. I'm already going to the Cubs season Finale on Oct 1 and the Fleet Foxes concert on the 3rd.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long winded post! Cheers.
 
Wow. Hell of a list and it would be pretty impressive if you could hit all of them in a week especailly with the game/show already planned. ****, I haven't been to like 5 or 6 of them.

Few things to consider:
-Traffic ****ing blows here and there isn't much rhyme or reason. Like the Kennedy (I90) out to Mikerphone is pretty much always ****ed 1 way or the other (or both), including weekends. Unless you have to be near/or passing some of the suburban places for work, you might not want to hold your hopes up too high for hitting all of them.
-If you don't have a res for Girl and the Goat just get there at open and you could get a seat at the bar easily, otherwise you might be wasting a lot of time hovering around the bar waiting for a spot. Go to Cruz Blanca/Haymarket for after dinner beers (and maybe Au Cheval later in the night).
- Off Color is right behind Pipeworks and they are both pretty much just bottle shops but worth hitting if you want to pick some up.
-Half Acre's new tap room will be open by then so they will have 2 locations, both worth checking out. Rev already has 2, same. Also, they will be having an Oktoberfest street fest outside of their pub that weekend, should be fun.
-Haven't been to the new spot in Hammond, but eh, **** going to 18th St.
 
Nice, thanks man. Sounds like great advice.

Yeah, I'll probably be chopping this list down. I always do this when visiting a city I've never been to.... I have grandiose ideas of hitting all the top spots and then I'll find one good place and spend the whole night there. Lol.

Maybe I'll skip the out of town places. I want to keep driving at a minimum for obvious reasons. Have to hit Three Floyds though since that's been a place whale for me for the last 10 years. I guess I'll prioritize the places I can either walk to or take transit in a reasonable amount of time. I'm staying at the Warwick Allerton Hotel.
 
Nice, thanks man. Sounds like great advice.

Yeah, I'll probably be chopping this list down. I always do this when visiting a city I've never been to.... I have grandiose ideas of hitting all the top spots and then I'll find one good place and spend the whole night there. Lol.

Maybe I'll skip the out of town places. I want to keep driving at a minimum for obvious reasons. Have to hit Three Floyds though since that's been a place whale for me for the last 10 years. I guess I'll prioritize the places I can either walk to or take transit in a reasonable amount of time. I'm staying at the Warwick Allerton Hotel.

If you're hiring up three floyds you should check out windmill, it's right down the road and they are making some seriously good NEIPA's
 
Girl in the goat is quite good, but if you are looking for other options in the west loop due to it being a bit of a pain to get into. Look into Roister. Newer spot that is in the Alinea restaurant group. You can make easy reservations online and pretty sure it already got a 1 michelin star. Also go to Publican. You can snatch a seat at the bar easily if it's just you. Really good, yet approachable foot and the beer menu is really well curated by an active member on this site. If you have any questions about restaurants or things to do feel free to message me as I would love to help make your trip better in any way possible.
 
Girl in the goat is quite good, but if you are looking for other options in the west loop due to it being a bit of a pain to get into. Look into Roister. Newer spot that is in the Alinea restaurant group. You can make easy reservations online and pretty sure it already got a 1 michelin star. Also go to Publican. You can snatch a seat at the bar easily if it's just you. Really good, yet approachable foot and the beer menu is really well curated by an active member on this site. If you have any questions about restaurants or things to do feel free to message me as I would love to help make your trip better in any way possible.

Yah PM me if you wanna swing by Publican
 
Scratch Mikerphone and Une Annee. From what it looks like you are doing those two spots are kind of far and isolated from other cool stuff. Neither is must visit anyway.
 
This link https://beermapping.com might help you locate what's in specific areas so you aren't wasting half the day driving around. For example, Half Acre, Begyle, and band of Bohemia are very close, and fountainhead and Hopleaf might be worth checking out nearby.

Forbidden Root, Piece and the map room are all a few blocks away. You might also consider Bangers and Lace, Big Star (tacos and whiskey), Emporium, Links taproom, and possibly Frontier. Binnys (on Marcey St if you want to buy bottles - and they also have a taproom) and Goose Island Clybourn are not that far as well.

I second the suggestions that suburbs are probably not worth the trip.
 
Thanks again for all the great info. Burger Antics has moved up near the top of my list. That thread has me drooling.

I'm flying into O'Hare on Saturday so I may try to hit at least Mikerphone and Une Anne then. Maybe More and Noon Whistle if I don't drink too much and then head into the City and use transit for the other stuff the rest of the way. I'll probably head out to Three Floyds and hit Imperial Oak along the way during the week. I'm sure lots of stuff on my list will be missed, but I'm sure I'll have a great time! I'll give my full report afterwards.

Very excited about this trip! I've never been to Chicago and had no idea the beer scene was so diverse.
 
Keep an eye on Mikerphone's social media. It seems they have a lot of releases on Saturdays and I think it can be a ********, depending on the rarwalez meter. I've only been once when picking up my wife at ORD on a Saturday and the line to get in was about 30 deep...pretty small place.

Like I saw yesterday that they are releasing Vanilla Smells Like Bean Spirit tomorrow. Couldn't pay me enough to go out there for that.
 
So Chicago lived up to all the hype and then some! I'm actually jealous of you guys since the beer scene is much more mature than where I'm at in the Bay Area, CA. Here are the places I made it to with a brief impression on each:

Mikerphone (Cool place, good haze bro beers, awesome milk stout)
Lou Malnati's (Tasty enough pizza. Lacking some depth of flavor. Sauce was nice and fresh)
Pipeworks DOJO (Got an S-load of BA beers. The thimble size tasters were a bummer)
Binnys South Loop (Stocked up on lagers and Saint Errant IPA bottles)
Forbidden Root (AMAZING place! Beers were adventurous and tasty. Power trip is right up there with East Coast haze)
Girl and the Goat (Sat in the lounge and had green beans with goat empanadas. LOVE)
Haymarket (People really like to get drunk here)
Corridor (Slightly disappointed in the beers. Cool place though)
Sheffields (Guy sitting next to me at the Cubs game insisted I go here with him. GOOD ADVICE. Had GI Prop on tap)
Dovetail (Highlight of the trip. Got a tour of the place including barrel room and coolship. AMAZING lagers!)
Half Acre Balmoral (Bad service. Ok beers. Not really worth the trip)
Hopleaf (One of the best beer bars I've ever been to. Another highlight)
Bangers and Lace (good beer selection. Kind of a snooze fest. Must of hit them at the wrong time)
Big Star (Good taco's, but I prefer the Cali roach coaches)
Links Taproom (Great bartender. Awesome neighborhood. Fun place)
Revolution (Disappointed in the BA beers. Others were good. Cool old school place)
Beer Temple (Awesome bartender. Met Good Beer Hunting dude here)
Three Floyds (A bit disappointed. Would've been over the moon nine years ago)
Jake Melnicks (late night drunk stop)
Burger Antics (One of the best beer lists on the trip. I chickened out and got the lunch size burger)
Imperial Oak (they had no water, but still let me in and served me in plastic cups. lol. Much appreciated)
More (Bomb hazy double IPA. Wish they had more beers)
Noon Whistle (Friendly people, good beers, nicely set up place)
Pequod Pizza (Preferred this over Malnati's)
Local Option (Not really my scene, but I appreciate what they have going on)

Can't wait to come back!
 
So Chicago lived up to all the hype and then some! I'm actually jealous of you guys since the beer scene is much more mature than where I'm at in the Bay Area, CA. Here are the places I made it to with a brief impression on each:

Mikerphone (Cool place, good haze bro beers, awesome milk stout)
Lou Malnati's (Tasty enough pizza. Lacking some depth of flavor. Sauce was nice and fresh)
Pipeworks DOJO (Got an S-load of BA beers. The thimble size tasters were a bummer)
Binnys South Loop (Stocked up on lagers and Saint Errant IPA bottles)
Forbidden Root (AMAZING place! Beers were adventurous and tasty. Power trip is right up there with East Coast haze)
Girl and the Goat (Sat in the lounge and had green beans with goat empanadas. LOVE)
Haymarket (People really like to get drunk here)
Corridor (Slightly disappointed in the beers. Cool place though)
Sheffields (Guy sitting next to me at the Cubs game insisted I go here with him. GOOD ADVICE. Had GI Prop on tap)
Dovetail (Highlight of the trip. Got a tour of the place including barrel room and coolship. AMAZING lagers!)
Half Acre Balmoral (Bad service. Ok beers. Not really worth the trip)
Hopleaf (One of the best beer bars I've ever been to. Another highlight)
Bangers and Lace (good beer selection. Kind of a snooze fest. Must of hit them at the wrong time)
Big Star (Good taco's, but I prefer the Cali roach coaches)
Links Taproom (Great bartender. Awesome neighborhood. Fun place)
Revolution (Disappointed in the BA beers. Others were good. Cool old school place)
Beer Temple (Awesome bartender. Met Good Beer Hunting dude here)
Three Floyds (A bit disappointed. Would've been over the moon nine years ago)
Jake Melnicks (late night drunk stop)
Burger Antics (One of the best beer lists on the trip. I chickened out and got the lunch size burger)
Imperial Oak (they had no water, but still let me in and served me in plastic cups. lol. Much appreciated)
More (Bomb hazy double IPA. Wish they had more beers)
Noon Whistle (Friendly people, good beers, nicely set up place)
Pequod Pizza (Preferred this over Malnati's)
Local Option (Not really my scene, but I appreciate what they have going on)

Can't wait to come back!
That's a ridiculous trip. Kudos.
 
So Chicago lived up to all the hype and then some! I'm actually jealous of you guys since the beer scene is much more mature than where I'm at in the Bay Area, CA. Here are the places I made it to with a brief impression on each:

Mikerphone (Cool place, good haze bro beers, awesome milk stout)
Lou Malnati's (Tasty enough pizza. Lacking some depth of flavor. Sauce was nice and fresh)
Pipeworks DOJO (Got an S-load of BA beers. The thimble size tasters were a bummer)
Binnys South Loop (Stocked up on lagers and Saint Errant IPA bottles)
Forbidden Root (AMAZING place! Beers were adventurous and tasty. Power trip is right up there with East Coast haze)
Girl and the Goat (Sat in the lounge and had green beans with goat empanadas. LOVE)
Haymarket (People really like to get drunk here)
Corridor (Slightly disappointed in the beers. Cool place though)
Sheffields (Guy sitting next to me at the Cubs game insisted I go here with him. GOOD ADVICE. Had GI Prop on tap)
Dovetail (Highlight of the trip. Got a tour of the place including barrel room and coolship. AMAZING lagers!)
Half Acre Balmoral (Bad service. Ok beers. Not really worth the trip)
Hopleaf (One of the best beer bars I've ever been to. Another highlight)
Bangers and Lace (good beer selection. Kind of a snooze fest. Must of hit them at the wrong time)
Big Star (Good taco's, but I prefer the Cali roach coaches)
Links Taproom (Great bartender. Awesome neighborhood. Fun place)
Revolution (Disappointed in the BA beers. Others were good. Cool old school place)
Beer Temple (Awesome bartender. Met Good Beer Hunting dude here)
Three Floyds (A bit disappointed. Would've been over the moon nine years ago)
Jake Melnicks (late night drunk stop)
Burger Antics (One of the best beer lists on the trip. I chickened out and got the lunch size burger)
Imperial Oak (they had no water, but still let me in and served me in plastic cups. lol. Much appreciated)
More (Bomb hazy double IPA. Wish they had more beers)
Noon Whistle (Friendly people, good beers, nicely set up place)
Pequod Pizza (Preferred this over Malnati's)
Local Option (Not really my scene, but I appreciate what they have going on)

Can't wait to come back!

Just heard from LT (assistant brewer with the long white beard) and Chris (one of the owners) that you were totally low key when you heard about the water outage at Imperial Oak and had to be served from plastic (which I would understandably be miffed by), but seemingly had a good time. Sorry our paths didn't cross!
 
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