Brooklyn Brewery & New York Comic Con "Defender IPA" Launches Nationwide

For the fourth year, Brooklyn Brewery has teamed up with New York Comic Con and illustrator Khary Randolph to create the official beer of the convention. It's an explosive West Coast-style IPA with a reddish twist thanks to a dash of roasted malt. Bold, fruity hop bitterness and an intensely resinous nose smash into a sudden dry finish that will refresh and entice you.

Starting in 2016, the Defender will be available in bottles and draft across the United States, standing tall for all those who believe in excellent beer.

Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery®

To celebrate it's launch in Chicago, Defender IPA is coming to Rotofugi on Friday, February 12 at 7:30 PM. It's going to be a welcoming party like none other, but a character like the Defender deserves the best.

Your $10 ticket grants you entry, three beer tickets, live comic book portraits from Chicago artist Kat Janda, and some sweet East Coast hip hop, funk and more from the Vinyl-Only DJ. You'll also be entered to win a Defender prize pack including a Brooklyn Brewery snapback, a set of Defender pint glasses, and limited edition artwork, all signed by this year's Defender artist, Khary Randolph. Even if you don't win, there will be plenty of Brooklyn swag to take home.

Grab your tickets right here, and get ready to #defendbeer!

Check out the Defender trailer for more on the collaboration:

Guide to Glassware Series: The Goblet

In continuation with our "Guide to Glassware" guest blog series with Lakeshore Beverage, we focus this month on the goblet, or chalice. Click on the link to read the full article, which highlight's the goblet's rich history, as well as the sensorial benefits of its various designs.

The full beer glass guide infographic:

Guide to Glassware Series: The Stein

In continuation with our "Guide to Glassware" guest blog series with Lakeshore Beverage, we focus this month on the icon stein. Click on the link to read the full article, which highlight's the steins 5 century history, as well as the sensorial benefits of its various designs.

The full beer glass guide infographic:

New Blog Series: Beer Glass Guide with Lakeshore Beverage

I've recently embarked upon a new guest blog series with the passionate folks at Lakeshore Beverage, featuring an often overlooked aspect of beer – glassware.

Much like beer itself, the vessels have been around for centuries and have evolved over time to accommodate beer drinker's needs, as well as trends in the structural materials.

Many books have touched on glassware, but my mission is to dive deeper into some of the world's most popular styles, sharing their historic and aesthetic significance.

Part of this exploration was creating a visual reference guide in the form of a designed infographic. To read the full story and view the graphic, check out our first post on Lakeshore Beverage's blog.

Urban Chestnut Brewery Joins the Chicago Craft Beer Market

St. Louis based brewery Urban Chestnut recently announced plans to enter the Chicago market with their German-style portfolio via Lakeshore Beverage Distributors.

Urban Chestnut is committed to both its traditional German roots as well as to modern American craft beer, which is reflected by splitting their portfolio into two series: the Reverence Series – paying homage to classic European-style beers and the Renaissance Series – celebrating where American craft beer is headed.

We received samples of Zwickel Bavarian-style Lager and Fantasyland IPA and wanted to share our tasting notes.

Zwickel is part of the Reverence Series. It poured a golden color with a bright white head, tight tiny bubbles and beautiful lacing on the glass. We expected some haziness, but found the clarity to be quite clear. The aroma displayed Pilsner malt notes of toasted bread, floral and spicy Noble hops and some mild DMS sweetness. The mouthfeel was full-bodied, creamy and sweet up front with strong malt character and a crisp finish. Clocking in at 5.2% ABV and 20 IBUs, this is a smooth, easy drinking beer.

Fantasyland Midwest Coast IPA is part of the Revolution Series, Urban Chestnut's artistic take on an IPA with a Midwest twist. It poured hazy dark amber with a frothy off-white head, large bubbles and lacing. Citrus fruit and grassy hop aroma. Medium body with notes of citrus fruit, tropical fruit, pine and resin. There's a good deal of lingering malty sweetness, missing the dry, hop forward finish. At 6.5% and 60 IBUS, it's a drinkable beer with refreshing aroma, but not quite the balance one would expect from an IPA.

Zwickel, Fantasyland and Schnickelfritz (German Hefeweizen) are available on draft ($5-7 a pint) and in 4-pack bottles ($8.99-10.49) around the city.

For more information on their launch into the market, check out this article on Lakeshore Beverage's blog.

Goose Island's New United Center Pub

At this Saturday's Chicago Blackhawks home opener game Goose Island will unveil its latest endeavor – a dedicated pub inside of the United Center. Matt Tanaka, Lakeshore Beverage's Digital Marketing Manager had the opportunity to get a sneak-peak of the space, sharing his photos and experience via their blog.

From the Lakeshore Beverage blog:

Goose Island's Ken Stout showed me around as he explained, with an obvious excitement, the vision for the space. "We wanted to bring the brewery into this space and make people feel that same experience of being at Goose Island. A lot of the materials we're using here we use at the brewery."

All of the materials used to build the pub were locally sourced and installed, reinforcing the the importance of creating a uniquely Chicago space. The pub is filled with stories and nods to Goose Island's 26 years of history, from the sections of wood made from Goose Island barrel staves to the lit photos adorning the walls. We highly suggest taking a look for yourself.

Goose Island plans to have 6 beers available on draft including the IPA, Green Line, 312 Urban Wheat, Matilda, and Sofie, as well as a special rotating draft. 

And now for the visuals:

A section of the bar constructed from barrel staves direct from the Goose Island barrel warehouse.

All photos courtesy of Lakeshore Beverage