Une Année Thread

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adhdjon

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I haven't seen an official thread for Une Année, and thought it might be appropriate given the recent update regarding the delays to their barrel house/program:

Once again, thanks to all members that have signed up for Le Grand Monde. Your support in getting the taproom open will not be forgotten. For those of you who have signed up after October we will be getting those out to you in a couple of weeks.

As I write this, we are waiting on a major corporate entity to sign off on our use of part of a shopping center that they are part of. This corporate entity has the right to refuse our use of a space to sell beer because they also sell beer and per their contract with the landlord, they do not want our business to compete with theirs. During the lease negotiations in October they were asked if they would approve of our use and they said yes. After the lease was drawn up, they were sent a letter to formally approve of our use with signatures. Because they are a large corporation this is taking time. The last I heard they were supposed to be signing the document last week. This could have happened and may be on the way to my landlord that is in New York, or it may still be on someone’s desk. I have been told I will receive the landlord’s signature right away and the lease will commence.

I am writing this now because I do not want another week to go by without some response from us to the numerous comments we are receiving. Being that this is not our first rodeo I know how this process gets stretched out unintentionally and I am being patient. I know as a member it must seem like nothing is happening. As I mentioned earlier after our first space fell through in July, we scrambled to find a second space through August and September. The initial negotiations for this space were complete in October, and then we were approved financially to lease the space by the end of November. December and January were sucked up in writing and rewriting the lease a few times during holidays and then I first signed the lease 01.25 only to be told it was not done on the correct paper. Alas the lease was sent to me printed on lovely watermarked paper, and my portion was signed on 02.01. Now the wait.

In the meantime we really have been preparing for the move and have been filling barrels and tanks with beer fermented with a variety of wild yeast and bacteria. As I write this we have 4,000 gallons of beer in the brewery with a sub 3.5 pH, and will be adding another 12 wood barrels in the next month that will add another 800 gallons to the total. The variety and volume is needed to produce the different blends of beer and to not have them all taste the same. You can see this in our Le Seul series. Needless to say I am very busy right now as I continue to operate by myself primarily.

Once the lease is signed I believe that we will be open in about 4 months because we are an operating brewery and the federal license will just need to be transferred to our new location. With the minor build-out required the city we are moving into has assured us that we will get a liquor license in three months. I believe I will get the finals signatures this week but, as with life, there are no guarantees.

Thanks again, Jerry Nelson

Une Année Brewery LLC
1640 W Hubbard St Unit F
Chicago IL 60622

I know this news is kind of unfortunate, but I also think it is pretty exciting. I think they have been improving batch-over-batch, and their Le Seul series is pretty tasty sans barrel-aging. I also think the Airing Of Grievances is underrated and delicious.

Their progression/evolution reminds me of Pipeworks, but with a flair for Belgian beers. I'm excited for what the future holds for Une Année, despite a lot of the "meh" sentiments that I have been hearing. But I am curious if anyone else has bought into their 'Le Grande Monde' program, or if anyone enjoys their beers. I don't hear much about them on the boards.
 
I haven't seen an official thread for Une Année, and thought it might be appropriate given the recent update regarding the delays to their barrel house/program:



I know this news is kind of unfortunate, but I also think it is pretty exciting. I think they have been improving batch-over-batch, and their Le Seul series is pretty tasty sans barrel-aging. I also think the Airing Of Grievances is underrated and delicious.

Their progression/evolution reminds me of Pipeworks, but with a flair for Belgian beers. I'm excited for what the future holds for Une Année, despite a lot of the "meh" sentiments that I have been hearing. But I am curious if anyone else has bought into their 'Le Grande Monde' program, or if anyone enjoys their beers. I don't hear much about them on the boards.
I have not signed up for their Member program, not sure why either as everything I have had from them has been pleasently surprising. Especailly the Le Seul Series.
 
Le Seul series is good, huh?

I want to like Une Annee but so far I've found everything just ok. Maybe I should try Le Seul.
 
Le Seul series is good, huh?

I want to like Une Annee but so far I've found everything just ok. Maybe I should try Le Seul.

I thought their earlier beers that I tried were just ok, but Le Seul II in particular was excellent. Haven't had Le Seul III or IV yet but both sound quite good. And I had Airing of Grievances in a flight of stouts recently and thought it was the best one.
 
And I had Airing of Grievances in a flight of stouts recently and thought it was the best one.

It caught me off guard. It's a chewy and rich beer with tons of anise, dark fruits, chocolate. It's definitely flying under the radar IMO and compares to something like Abyss or Darkness or Bells Expedition Stout.
 
Le Seul series is good, huh?

I want to like Une Annee but so far I've found everything just ok. Maybe I should try Le Seul.

The Le Seul II and III are yummy. I agree with the "everything is just okay" bit, but I see the growth and improvement with their beer. Again, it reminds me of Pipework's trajectory. Where the early batches had more variation, they've managed to get the process down for a lot of their mainstays, and they release some good off-color beers.
 
bump

After waiting what seems like an eternity, we now have all licenses and are able to open our taproom and bottle shop. We will be opening this Thursday 02.02.17 from 12:00 to 10:00, Friday from 12:00 to 10:00, and Saturday from 12:00 to 10:00. Taproom hours will change after this weekend and will be posted on Facebook.

The location is at 9082 W Golf Rd, Niles, IL 60714. It also sounds like the first two batches of Le Grand Monde bottles are ready, as well as the merch from the membership.

I'm looking forward to hopefully getting out that way on Saturday. It's nice they were finally able to get open.
 
Anyone have any info on the member event today beyond what was in the original email? Not much there to go on. Basically...is it even an "event" or is it just like any other day at the tap room but you get a couple drink tickets?
 
Anyone have any info on the member event today beyond what was in the original email? Not much there to go on. Basically...is it even an "event" or is it just like any other day at the tap room but you get a couple drink tickets?

Not that this helps now, but I thought the membership event was really nice. 6 tickets between you and your plus one, and each ticket got you a generous 12oz pour or a flight of 4x4oz beers. They had complimentary pizza and pretzels and chips, and people were sharing some bottles. Just a fun little spot in the north burbs.
 
Not that this helps now, but I thought the membership event was really nice. 6 tickets between you and your plus one, and each ticket got you a generous 12oz pour or a flight of 4x4oz beers. They had complimentary pizza and pretzels and chips, and people were sharing some bottles. Just a fun little spot in the north burbs.

I share your sentiment, member event was awesome. Very low key, a lot of friendly faces, and fantastic beers. The LGM beers are really something special and make me very excited for whatever the future brings.

I got stopped/ticketed for expired tags on my way up there and have to go to court in Skokie next week to show them new registration as a result. I just hope time will heal these wounds and that I'll eventually be able to forgive Une Année for this because it's definitely not my fault.
 
Just a heads up to anyone interested, in addition to the myriad of to-go bottles always available, leftover bottles of the first two Le Grande Monde club beers go on sale to the public today. Good reason to make it up to the taproom if you haven't been yet or if you aren't a member.
 
2 questions:

1) is the taproom open before serving hours for bottle sales?
2) anyone tried Le Grand Monde 3? sounds good on paper...
 
1) They offer to-go during normal hours, so I'd assume the listed hours are when they are open. I went there on a Friday right at 4pm, they were just finishing setting up.

2) I hit up pequods, then walked the pizza off at a local park waiting for the taproom to open. I liked the chardonnay character and the cinnamon really came out in the nose. Their newest "Framboise" was fantastic, as well as the Hubbard's Cave "Fresh One Hop Simcoe Two Mosaic". Solid date if you're into caramelized* deep dish and belgian-inspired sours / clean American hoppy beer.















*burnt
 
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