Making A Beer Run 6K & Beer Fest

New Beer-Fueled Fun Run Along The Lakeshore To End In A Party

Chicago, IL – A new fun run with a beer-fueled twist is making its debut in Chicago on Saturday, October 15th 2016. Runners will make their way alongside Lake Michigan for a 6k course with spectacular views of Chicago’s skyline. At the finish line there will be a beer fest where runners and guests can enjoy samples from fifteen craft breweries with family and friends.

**Just Announced**

Toppling Goliath Brewing Company, considered by many to be among the best breweries in the country, will pop up in Chicago for the first time at the upcoming Making A Beer Run 6k Fun Run and Beer Fest. Among others, they'll be pouring their flagship beer PseudoSue (98 BeerAdvocate Score), their Double IPA King Sue (100 BeerAdvocate score), and a surprise mystery beer!

Other breweries featured will be 3 Sheeps, Bell's, Boulevard, Burnt City, Founders, Goose Island, Moody Tongue, Summit, Upland, Urban Chestnut and Virtue Cider.

What
In addition to the 6k and beer fest, there will be a variety of tasty foods as well as three enormous 9’x13’ elevated TV systems for guests to cheer on their favorite college football team. For $60, runners can partake in the 6k, snag a sporty fleece complete with the logo, a chill puck frozen coaster and relax at the three-hour beer fest. Friends, family and fellow beer-fans can skip the run and join the party with beer fest tickets at $25.

When
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Run: 12pm
Beer Fest: 12:00pm to 3:00pm

Where
The Northwest Terrace Of The Field Museum
1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605

Tickets & More Info

www.makingabeerrun.com

Bell's 30th Anniversary Funvitational

On September 12th, 2015, 4,000 craft beer fans took to Homer Stryker Field in Kalamazoo, to celebrate Bell's Brewery 30th Anniversary of brewing beer in Michigan. The "Funvitational" brought over 100 beers from all around the country, giving us the rare treat to try offerings not distributed in our area, such as Creature Comforts and Cigar City. Bell's re-brewed a number of out-of-production recipes, like Batch 1000 through 5,000 as well as limited releases like Double Two Hearted, Spruce Two Hearted, Larry's Stupid Quadrupid IPA, Coffee Mustache, Sherry Bull in a China Shop, to name a few. And of course – the 30th Anniversary Imperial Stout.

“We have been brewing in Kalamazoo for almost 30 years and we are extremely proud of where we got our start. This festival is a celebration of that heritage, our community and our fans.” - Bell's Vice President, Laura Bell

One of the highlights – an appearance by guerrilla brass band, The Detroit Party Marching Band.

As with any festival, you just can't taste them all, but here are our favorite stand outs:

• Double Two Hearted, Bell's Brewery - Double IPA, 11.5% ABV
• Batch 1500, Bell's Brewery  - American Barleywine recipe from 1994, rebrewed for the fest, 10% ABV
• Crazy Brewer Beer, Bell's Brewery - American Strong Ale brewed with cinnamon, ginger, salt, dark brown and turbinado sugar, 9.2% ABV
• Bourbon Barrel-Aged Expedition Stout, Bell's Brewery  - 
• Liquid Lunch, Terrapin Beer - Peanut Butter & Jelly Porter, 7.7% ABV
• Tropicália, Creature Comforts - India Pale Ale, 7% ABV
• Athena, Creature Comforts - Berliner Weiss, 4.5% ABV
• Imperial CoCoNut Porter, Maui Brewing - Porter, 10% ABV
• Brombeere, Odell Brewing - Blackberry Gose, 4.8% ABV
• Barrel-aged Neopolitan Stout, Saugatuck Brewing - Bourbon barrel-aged Milk Stout, 6.5% ABV
• Wine Barrel-aged Burn the Witch, Tapistry Brewing - Weizenbock aged in Chardonnay and Merlot barrels, 9% ABV
• Paris, Brewery Vivant - Sour ale aged in red wine barrels with Brett, 5.5%
• Autumn Maple, The Bruery - Dark Ale brewed with yams and spices, 10% ABV
• Zwickel, Urban Chestnut - German Lager, 5%
• Daymark, Rising Tide - Pale Ale, 5.5% ABV
• Abraxas, Perennial - Imperial Stout, 10% ABV
• Blå Spøgelse, Mikkeller/Three Floyds - Blueberry barrel-aged Lambic, 7.7% ABV
• Mélange Á Trois, Nebraska Brewing - (Reserve Series) Belgian blonde ale aged in French oak chardonnay barrels, 10% ABV

The food was just on a whole other level of satiation. The grill area featured a number of beer infused meats. We tried the Two Hearted Infused Hot Dog w/ Potato Salad and the infamous Bear Claw Burger (topped with mac & cheese, pulled pork and cole slaw in a Sweetwater donut bun). There was also a wood fired pizza oven serving 5 options, including a Porter Pork Belly Pizza and a Vegetarian Oberon Chili Pizza. There were a number of desserts, but we never made it that far.

ABOUT BELL’S BREWERY, INC.
Bell's Brewery, Inc. began in 1985 with a quest for better beer and a 15 gallon soup kettle. Since then, we've grown into a regional craft brewery that employs more than 333 people over a 20 state area, in addition to Puerto Rico and Washington DC. The dedication to brewing flavorful, unfiltered, quality craft beers that started in 1985 is still with us today. We currently brew over 20 beers for distribution as well as many other small batch beers that are served at our pub in Kalamazoo, the Eccentric Cafe. Our ongoing goal is to brew thoughtfully, creatively and artistically. We strive to bring an authentic and pleasant experience to all of our customers through our unique ales and beers. For more information, please visit bellsbeer.com.

All I Want For Xmas Is A Mixed 6 Pack

In an effort to find a distraction from the stress of holiday shopping, we popped into our neighborhood package store, Bottles & Cans to make a mixed 6 pack of this year's Christmas beers and get ourselves in the holiday spirit. Some of these we've had in past years and a few are new ones we were curious about. Below are 6 local(ish) seasonal beers and our opinions of what we drank. All are rated on a 5 tree rating system. Wishing you a happy, healthy, craft beer filled holiday season!

LAKEFRONT HOLIDAY SPICE LAGER

From: Milwaukee, WI
Style: Spiced Ale 
ABV: 9.4% 
Website: www.lakefrontbrewery.com

This dark amber colored ale had a nicely spiced nose, with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, fig, honey and a touch of orange zest. Toasted malt and honey dominate the flavor bringing a lot of sweetness, which is complimented by the spices that linger on the tongue. It finishes with slight warmth and was surprisingly smooth and balanced for a 9.4% beer. Seeing as their Pumpkin Lager was also very high on our list in October, I think it's fair to say that Lakefront is a dominating force in the spiced beer category.

REVOLUTION FISTMAS HOLIDAY ALE

From: Chicago, IL
Style: Spiced Ale
ABV: 6%
Website: www.revbrew.com

The warm copper colored ale with ruby hues had a woodsy, piney hop aroma that stays in the forefront from beginning to end. The flavor had an initial bready, malty sweetness that becomes dry and bitter very quickly, similar to a hoppy English Ale. The hop bitterness and ginger lingers on the tongue in a bit of a competition. We've loved this beer in years past, but felt it was lacking some balance this time around.

BELL'S CHRISTMAS ALE

From: Kalamazoo, MI
Style: Scottish Ale
ABV: 5.5%
Website: www.bellsbeer.com

Bell's winter scottish ale has no spices whatsoever for a holiday edition beer, but won us over with the complex malt aroma and mouthfeel. This beer has tons of layered toasty malt and kettle caramelization as well as a nice balance of hops. Less in the festive in nature, but so complex and drinkable in design. Definitely one of our favorites of the bunch.  

GREAT LAKES CHRISTMAS ALE

From: Cleveland, OH
Style: Spiced Ale
ABV: 7.5%
Website: www.greatlakesbrewing.com

Hands down, still the best of the holiday beer category. Copper in color, this winter warmer has detectable layers of brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger without being overpowering. This ale is beer meets gingerbread cookie in the the most balanced, desirable way. It has a sweet, spiced start with a dry, slightly hoppy finish. Without a doubt, exactly what we'd want a holiday spiced beer to be - start to finish. Cheers Great Lakes Brewing!

DARK HORSE 4 ELF

From: Marshall, MI
Style: Winter Warmer
ABV: 8.75%
Website: www.darkhorsebrewery.com

Cinnamon, nutmeg, molasses and dried fruit fill the nose. The super malty, almost bitter roast flavor with hints of coffee dries the palette, with a spice and licorice finish. This winter warmer is very complex in flavor with a bit of alcohol bite to it that is interesting in the least, but hard to consume in large quantities. Definitely one to share around a warm fire.

SOUTHERN TIER 2XMAS

From: Lakewood, NY
Style: Spiced Ale brewed with Glögg
ABV: 8%
Website: www.stbcbeer.com

After developing a new found love for glögg at a local Andersonville competition, we were very curious to try Southern Tier's ale brewed with figs, orange peel and spices, reminiscent of traditional glögg. It was mahogany in color with a prominent spice aroma. The flavor itself we found to be a bit muddled, a lot of spice and malt characteristics competing with each other, with a bitter finish from the orange peel that dried out the tongue. We applaud the concept, but it was not quite what we were hoping for.