HttA Picks for Chicago Craft Beer Week 2016

The 7th Annual Chicago Craft Beer Week (11 days long to be exact) is upon our beer-loving city once again. With tons of new and exciting events spanning all ends of the city and suburbs, we've dove in and featured 2 fun and affordable events for each day of the celebration. Enjoy, be safe, and cheers to our local, Illinios-made craft beers!

All week, 3rd Annual Battle For Lake Michigan at Links Taproom, 5pm: 10 kegs and a firkin from each participating state will be on tap in a race to determine who is the master of the lake. Follow progress on their digital menu starting 5/19 and going until 1st and 2nd place are determined. Donations to Alzheimers Association.

May 19th, Hop Head Farms Tap Takeover at Hopleaf, 7 pm: showcasing beers from all over the country made with Hop Head Farms hops – 35 different Beers, 2 Ciders & a Mead all made with HHF hops on draft. Learn about basic hop farming, hop selection methodology and hop sensory analysis during a Hop Quality workshop upstairs at 7:30pm given by the founder of HHF. Admission is $10 at the door






May 19th, BUT (Beer Under Tin) at Paddy Long's, 7pm: featuring beers from Metropolitan and Off Color that pair perfectly with our bacon-centric menu.

May 20th, Beauty & The Brews at The Sedgwick Stop, 7pm: All 14 taps will feature women brewed or women owned breweries with brewers and representatives on hand to chat with about their beers.

May 20th, Beer Friends at Hopewell Brewing, 4pm: Kicking off their first CCBW with a new ongoing collaboration with our friends throughout the industry, featuring Ipsento Coffee and Mott Street. Beer Friends will bring in great minds from the worlds of beer, cocktails, coffee and beyond, exploring different ways to offer twists on existing Hopewell beers.

May 21st, Brews & Yoga at Alter Brewing, 11am: Enjoy yoga in the brewery before they open up to the public. $15 for one hour of yoga and one beer afterwards. Ticket sales in the taproom only.

May 21st, Burnt City Brewing Steampunk Ball, 9pm: Channel your inner history buff, get out your dusty sewing machine and don your best steampunk attire for the classiest party to ever pay homage to a fictional era. DJ beats and beer specials.

May 22nd, Goose Island 3rd Annual Sunday Funday Dodgeball Tournament at the Barrel Warehouse, 2pm: Battle of the Breweries dodgeball tournament, special beer tappings. Tickets $25 with 100% donation to Special Olympics.




May 22nd, Pipeworks & Spiteful Fighting Like Cats & Dogs for PAWS at Smallbar, 12pm: Swag and amazing brews with reps from both breweries as they hang out and talk pets and beer, with 100% of the profits from the event benefitting PAWS Chicago. Pipeworks beers on draft: The Jones Dog BA Stout, Passionfruit Guppy IPA, Lupine DIPA. Spiteful beers on draft: Working for the Weekend DIPA, God Damn Chocolate Vanilla Donut Pigeon Porter.

May 23rd, Yoga On Tap at Begyle Brewing, 6:30pm: An hour of yoga (all levels) with Yoga On Tap Chicago followed by two beer flights. $25. Bring your own mat, water and towel. 

May 23rd, Andersonville Neighborhood Brewers at Jerry's Sandwiches, 7pm: Get up close and personal with Half Acre, Empirical and Aquanaut breweries.

May 24th, A Taste of Belgium in Chicago at Beermiscuous, 5:30pm: Get a taste of Belgium from local breweries Empirical, Illuminated, Old Town Abbey Ales, Une Année, Penrose.




May 24th, Corridor & Broken Nose Cider Collaboration Release at Corridor Brewery, 6pm: Taste the 1st collaboration of a sour kettled Apple Brett/Lacto Saison.

May 25th, Stop, Collaborate & Listen: Buckley's Barkstravaganza at Fischman's, 6pm: Showing love for dogs and local beer, this dog-friendly event will feature Mikerphone Brewing, Transient Artisan Ales and Hailstorm Brewing beers including their brand new collaboration "Stop, Collaborate & Listen" Benefitting Hopeful Tails Animal Rescue.

May 25th, Brown Line Brews 4 at The Long Room, 6pm: A showcase of the breweries along the Brown Line hosted by the Cicerone Certification Program and The Long Room also reside. Food pairing provided by Beard and Belly for each featured beer.

May 26th, Art of Craft Beer at Village Tap, 5pm: Celebrating craft beer and the artists who create your favorite craft beer labels in a festive beer garden gallery. While you’re taking in the art you can also enjoy special craft beers from the featured breweries.



May 26th, Celebrating Women of Craft Beer at Riverview Tavern, 7pm: Celebrate with women of the craft beer and cider industry, featuring collaborations by Brickstone/Pink Boots Society, the women of Dryhop/Corridor and surprise firkins by Metropolitan, Rock Bottom and 3 Sheeps. Proceeds benefit Deborah's Place.

May 27th, Ultra Fresh Brews at Bitter Pops, 6pm: The Hop Review and Bitter Pops are bringing together 20 local beers packaged within days of the event, as fresh as they can be, to drink with the folks who brewed them.

May 27th, Werk Force Sausage Fest, 6pm: Werk Force brewing is teaming up with Solstice and The Roaming Hog for a kickass night of beer and sausage featuring 4 collaboration sausages and beer pairings.



May 28th, Memorial Day BBQ Fest at Tribes Alehouse, 11:30am: Kicking off their summer-long "Beer & Smoke Menu" featuring wings, ribs, brisket and more with $4 Tribes pints. Live entertainment and music from 11:30am-4pm.

May 28th, 3rd Annual Pipeworks Tap Takeover at Emporium Arcade (Wicker Park), 12pm: Featuring 30 beers, including barrel-aged beers and never before released variants. Custom tap handles will be given away to the last pint orders of each keg.

Cider Talk with Broken Nose Cider Maker Paul Cade

A few weeks back we stopped in to visit the Begyle Brewing taproom and were excited to find Chicago's newest cidery, Broken Nose, not only on draft, but sharing the location for cider production. We had the pleasure of talking with owner and cider maker, Paul Cade. We loved his story – homebrewer, turned cider apprentice, turned professional cider maker, on a mission to bring European-style ciders to urban Chicago. But beyond that, the cider we tasted was beautiful, complex and dry. Attributes we aren't yet seeing a whole lot of in US made cider. 

This Thursday, December 17th he will be at the Begyle Taproom for a meet and great, as well as a sampling of his three current ciders. All will be available on draft to purchase or take home in a growler. These European-style ciders are perfect for holiday meal pairing, so we hope you'll stop by and taste for yourself.

Can you tell us about your background and what let to the passion for cider making?

Well I guess it started when I was a home brewer, back in 2010. I was lucky enough to try a bottle of tasty English cider – to this day I can't remember what kind of cider – but I do remember loving the sourness, the dryness and the flavor. It was like nothing I had ever had before. From there I kept trying ciders, but was incredibly disappointed in most of the U.S. ciders that I tried. As a home brewer I thought to myself "If I can't find any ciders that I want to buy, I'll make my own." The first ciders that I made were, quite frankly, terrible, but that idea started me on this 5 year journey.


How would you describe the objectives you see for Broken Nose as an urban cidery?

Well, being an urban cidery is pretty unique. Historically cider was made by farmers as way to store their apples and to maybe add value. Even today I think that for the most part cider making is a rural endeavor and that the best cider is being made where the apples are grown. However I strongly believe that even though most of the best ciders are made by orchardists, being an orchardist it is not a prerequisite to making great cider. I think that with some care when it comes to sourcing raw materials and a good understanding of fermentation we can make world class cider right here is Chicago.


What was your experience like making cider in France and England and what has the biggest takeaway you're applying to your cider making now?
It was an incredible experience. I met incredible people, worked hard and had some of the best cider I have ever tried. I think that the biggest single takeaway was the palette that I developed. Just being exposed to those ciders and drinking them at least once, if not three times a day, every day for months really gave me an understanding of what I liked and didn't like in ciders. That has really brought me to where I am today. If going to Europe did nothing else, it gave me the ability to know when cider isn't up to snuff. Now this can be a bad thing too, because it's been about three years since I got back from Europe and Im just now making ciders that really impress me.


What influence has your experience as Cellarman for Begyle Brewing contributed to starting a business yourself?

It's been really incredible watching Brendan, Kevin and Matt run Begyle. The biggest thing that I have taken away from watching them is that making a great product is only part of the equation, you also have to be able to get it to people, and that is harder than it sounds. Luckily Begyle is helping me get my cider to people and that is amazingly helpful!


What projects or experiments are you most excited about in the upcoming year?

Mixed culture fermentations. This is really the future, and the past, of cider making. All the ciderys that I worked on in Europe had amazing microbiological cultures built up from years, if not centuries, of cider making. These cultures are the reason for the incredible complexity of good European ciders. And that is something that we are really trying to master.


If there was one cider or cider style that was a turning point for you as a drinker, do you recall what it was?
Well there was that first one I tried that I can't remember, and I think that I was very lucky to have a great cider as my first, because so many people write off ciders because the first one they tried wasn't good. I could have been one of those people who dismissed all ciders, but like I say I was lucky. The next time I had a great cider was at Owen and Engine over on Western. This was important because it made me realize that the first cider wasn't a fluke or a dream, there really was good cider out there! That one was a French cider and if I remember correctly it was Cidre Bouché from Domaine Dupont. That cider really made me realize that Europe was the place to go to if I wanted to learn to make great cider.

Broken Nose Cider is currently producing three ciders – Old Hat, their flagship cider with crab apples, Bright Lights hopped cider and Bog City cranberry cider. They are on tap at Begyle Brewing which is located at 1800 W Cuyler Ave in Chicago's North Center neighborhood, just steps off the CTA's Irving Park Brown Line stop.

Meet Paul and sample Broken Nose ciders tomorrow, December 17th and their "Meet the Cider Maker" event. 7pm, Begyle Brewing Taproom, 1800 W Cuyler Ave, Chicago. No charge to get in, all ciders will be on tap to purchase, including growlers to go.

Chicago's Women of Craft Beer - 2015 Edition

Join us for the 3rd Annual 

"Celebrating Women of Craft Beer" event

May 21st at Riverview Tavern (1958 W Roscoe), 7pm - ?

As we embark upon Chicago Craft Beer Week and the third year of hosting Chicago's celebration of women in craft beer, it is hard not to reminisce on how much has happened.

In Chicago alone female brewmasters have quadrupled, quietly but fiercely kicking ass in the rapidly growing craft beer movement. Female enthusiasts have spoken loud and clear, making up at least one-third to half of festival attendance, where it used to be difficult to spot more than a few in a sea of beards and testosterone. Awareness and appreciation has amplified through numerous social and educational organizations such as Pink Boots Society, Barley's Angels, She's Crafty, Girls Pint Out, Girls Drink Beer, Women Working in Mixed Media, Pussycat Beer Guild, Fermenta... the list goes on and on – and we couldn't be happier!

This year, in celebration of the 3rd Annual Women of Craft Beer event we have more brewers involved than ever, taking over ALL 26 TAPS at Riverview Tavern. Each beer represents our local women, in addition to event-exclusive firkins. Breweries involved include Temperance, Rock Bottom Chicago, Begyle, Penrose, Goose Island, Revolution, Lagunitas, Metropolitan, Rude Hippo, Motor Row, Church Street, Forbidden Root, 5 Rabbit, DryHop, Two Brothers and Right Bee Cider.

Proceeds from select pints and raffle tickets at Riverview Tavern will go to the Chicago Chapter of Dress For Success, a charity that promotes the economic independence of women in need.

Below is an introduction to some uber talented women who are continuing to shape the Midwest Craft Beer scene. We hope to see you at Riverview Tavern TONIGHT to say hi and share a pint with the women who are making brewing history!

Amanda Bates, Head Brewer at Motor Row had her first amazing beer on a trip to Freiburg, Germany. "I didn't know what it was, but I was blown away that beer could taste good. When I started learning more about beer in the years after that experience, I figured out that I had been drinking Weissbier!" These days she gravitates toward beer with distinct, clean flavors that demonstrate a high level of precision in process and attention to detail for ingredients in recipe formulation, which influences her brewing no doubt. Words of wisdom: "We should all give people the benefit of the doubt that they don't want to be sexist. Some people just don't know when they are crossing that line. Calling people out for saying sexist/heterosexist things is the only way they will learn that your work environment is not a comfy place for that sort of talk."

Diana Rodgriguez started at Goose Island's Fulton Brewery as an intern and is now a full time Brewer, responsible for our favorite barrel-aged beers. In fact, one of the 2015 Bourbon County Brand Stout variants will be a recipe that Diana designed as an intern! (We begged to know which one, but her lips are sealed). In a short time she has recognized how amazing the camaraderie and support of the craft beer industry is, adding "Always give the respect that you want to receive. Show your strengths through your work and not through your words."

If you've been to a beer, cider or spirits event in the last few years, you've most likely seen Hilary Jurinak in action at the Binny's booth. Now Communications Coordinator, she began working at Binny's Marcey Street during college and fell in love with craft beer pretty quickly. Her go-to beers are Left Hand Milk Stout and Lagunitas DayTime. Hilary has visited 50 breweries throughout 8 states and anticipates making it 100 breweries by next fall! Hilary is also the Liaison for Pink Boots Society's Chicago Chapter. Her words of wisdom: Be confident with yourself and your decisions. “With confidence, you have won before you have started.” - Marcus Garvey

Jacquie Armanetti has been involved with some of the city's best breweries and bars over the years, but her love of craft beer started while working at Paramount Room. She shared that the late Shawn Koch taught her to love and appreciate all different styles of beer, as well as how to pronounce half of them. Thoughts on being a woman in the industry: "Women prove themselves hard working, competent, and a driving force in every industry, and beer is no different. Today, women have the weight of the world on their shoulders more than ever! Balancing home, family, and a business is something women do daily without celebration. We need to stick together and support each other in a non-judgmental way to help forward movement."

Kate Brankin is a Brewer and Do-er of media things at Pipeworks Brewing. She loves how open-minded, adventurous and supportive craft brewers are, with a community that respects craftsmanship and quality. She has found a lot of inspiration from experimental spirits maker and cocktail lover Mhairi Voelsgen, of BroVo Spirits. Kate's own advice: "Pursue curiosities to their fullest end. Be open to criticism, be proud of your accomplishments. Remember that there is no one else in the world who has your specific and unique perspective – value that."

Meet Katie Morgan, "Queen Bee" and Co-Owner of locally-crafted Right Bee Cider, with her husband Charlie. She first discovered the delicious beverage while studying abroad in the UK and Ireland. On May 4th they won the Sam Adams “Brewing the American Dream” competition in Chicago with a two minute ‘shark tank’ style business pitch. Keep an eye out as they head to the National finals in NYC this December! Katie's words of wisdom – "There is no substitute for hard work. Your gender has nothing to do with creating a quality product. No excuses."

Lisa Gregory left the world of healthcare to open Church Street Brewing with her husband Joe, in 2012. "I’ve enjoyed beer forever, but I’d say in the last 10 years I’ve really started appreciating different styles of beer." Their focus is on Old World European-style lagers, with the "Heavenly Helles" being one of Lisa's favorites to have on hand. She admits there were some hurdles breaking into the beer industry, but with her finance MBA and passion for success, she plays an integral role in running the family business. Even their two dogs have positions at the brewery!

Begyle Brewer and Quality Control champion, Liz French, shared that Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA was her craft beer game changer. Previously a stout and porter fan, the deliciously resinous and complex IPA opened her mind towards exploring new styles and flavors with enthusiasm. Liz says entering the industry with limited knowledge about how to actually brew was a small hurdle. (May we add, she had just graduated with a PhD in Microbiology and is modestly brilliant). "Head Brewer, Matt Ritchey, has taught me so much about the process, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for everything he has learned and passed on to me."

Rude Hippo Brewer Marilee Rutherford's first sip of beer was a homebrew made by her Mom and Grandfather. "God it was good. My Mom had to cut me off at age 6, which is why I really didn't get into beer again until the hubster (Karl Rutherford) and I started homebrewing in my late 20's." Her favorite thing about the industry is the endless imagination, knowledge, passion and tenacity of the people around her, providing opportunities to continually learn, collect and re-carve in her own way. With a more than full plate, Marilee's focus is on building their brand and marketplace presence, in addition to brewing outstanding beer. "Women are blazing trails, kicking ass and taking names, and thanks to the magic of the interwebs, we’re able to be connected to and inspired by those women and their accomplishments."

The Half Acre Taproom has built a team of kick-ass lady Bartenders, including the lovely Rebecca Denton. When she's not slinging some of the city's best beer, she can be found mud wrestling for women's charities – yes, mud wrestling – as "Annie Anthrax" of the Chicago MudQueens (her record is 5-2). Their last event sold a record number of raffle tickets, thanks to the craft beer industry, with donations from Half Acre, Pipeworks, Three Floyds, Spiteful and others. Her other passion is cupcakes, "Tell me your favorite beer, and I'll make you a cupcake that tastes just like it. Then let's eat them and drink that beer. Yum!"

Goose Island Beer Educator, Patti Mandel has a family heritage of slinging booze. Her Great Great Grandfather made moonshine out of the basement and sold it at their family owned candy store in Detroit. These days she keeps a nice rotating stock of beers in her fridge, with a couple bottles of Goose Island Sofie around at all times. On being a woman in the industry: "Take on the challenges and adversities that you will encounter with grace, tact and confidence. There is nothing more inspirational than a woman who pursues what she wants, does the beer industry justice and accomplishes her goals with elegance."

Virginia Thomas, Business Manager at Cicerone Certification Program, single handedly converted an old freezer into a two-tap kegerator for her house. Let's just say her husband and roommate are forever grateful. Her favorite Craft Beer Week event is the Brown Line Brews, which showcases a lot of great, local breweries and is very low-key, yet fun, offering the opportunity to chat with brewers over a pint. Virginia's words of wisdom – "For me, education helped me be taken seriously in a male-dominated field. That, and the fact that I don't take crap from anyone!"






Still didn't get your fill of Chicago's women of craft beer? Check out our previous years posts
Chicago's Women of Craft Beer - 2014 Edition
Chicago's Women of Craft Beer - 2013 Edition