Your Go-To Event List for Chicago Craft Beer Week 2015

Every Chicago beer nerd’s favorite 11-day celebration is almost here, but which events should you go to? Since science hasn’t evolved to where you can temporarily clone yourself to be in two places at once, we've teamed up with some of our favorite beer bloggers to streamline your go-to events for #CCBW2015. Get your beers cheers-ing and hung over face emojis ready!

HAPPENING ALL WEEK:

Glazed & Infused serves up a one-of-a-kind beer doughnut IPD, "The India Pale Doughnut" to celebrate CCBW. Available at all locations, while supplies last between May 14-24th.

FEATURED EVENT: (3 out of 4 bloggers recommended this daily dose of fun)

BUT - Beer Under Tin (Free entry, beer and food for purchase) 
Paddy Long’s 1028 W Diversey Pkwy
Thursday, May 14th, 7pm

Beer Under Glass at the Garfield Park Conservatory rightfully gets enormous praise but there are other events going on to ring in Chicago Craft Beer Week 2015. If you don’t want to shell out the dough for a ticket, head on over to Paddy Long’s for Beer Under Tin, or “BUT.” The crew from Metropolitan Brewing and Off Color Brewing will be on hand, and rumor has it that Doug and PK from Metro will be filming an episode of their hilarious rare-beer-chug-a-thon web series, Just Keep Tastin’. 

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This year's philosphy: relax and enjoy without breaking the bank. Here are Kim (Hail To The Ale)'s top picks of 2015. Follow Kim during CCBW @hail2theale.

Temperance Trikonasana ($10 includes yoga and a 4oz taster)

Temperance Beer Co., 2000 Dempster St, Evanston

Saturday, May 16th, 1:00-2:15pm

Ohmmmmm! That's the sound of giving something good back to your body during a week of beer binging. Join Temperance for the first of their monthly yoga installments, debuting during CCBW. Proceeds will be donated to a different charity each month.

Brown Line Brews 3 Hosted by Cicerone Certification Program (Free entry with RSVP, beer and food for purchase) 

The Long Room, 1612 E Irving Park

Tuesday, May 19th, 6:00-9:00pm

One of our favorite, most chill neighborhood events of the week – featuring the breweries on and around the Brown Line stops. If you are a Certified Beer Server or a Certified Cicerone, the cool folks at Cicerone will give you a custom glass and your first beer free (first 100 guests)!

3rd Annual Women of Craft Beer Event (Free entry, beer and food for purchase) 

Riverview Tavern, 1958 W Roscoe

Thursday, May 21st, 7pm

Bigger and better than ever – 26 taps will be taken over to represent the women working in Chicago craft beer. We'll have special firkins from Temperance and Rock Bottom, a number of female collaboration beers, and the women of craft beer hanging out to chat and toast a pint. Proceeds benefit the Chicago Chapter of Dress For Success.

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Blogger and beer aficionado Jessica Murphy of Girls Like Beer Too! is no rookie when it comes to craft beer events. Below are her top recos. Follow Jessica during CCBW @grlslikebeertoo.

Craft Beerzaar (Free entry, beer and food for purchase)
Dimo’s Pizza 3463 N Clark St 
Saturday, May 16th, 11am 
Beer often walks a fine line between art and science and this event focuses more on the artisan quality of craft brewing. The fine folks at Dimo’s Pizza in collaboration with Half Acre, Penrose, Revolution, and Solemn Oath breweries are throwing a celebration of all things “craft.” A craft bazaar will be featured during the first half of the event and then, as daylight fades into evening, the party gets going with live music by local talent. Specially crafted pizza paired with a four-brew flight available for purchase. 

Blind Flights (Free entry, beer and food for purchase)
Fatpour Tapworks 2005 W Division St 
Tuesday, May 19th, 5pm 

Think you can tell the difference between pale ale and a saison? Test your beer knowledge at Blind Flights at Fat Pour Tapworks where you will receive four tastes of different beers and have to guess which they are off of a selected menu. Choose correctly, and you could win prizes! 

NW Side Craft Beer Ride (Tickets $20 for transportation, beer available for purchase at each of the participating locations)
Thursday, May 21st , 6:00 pm
While Wicker Park, Bucktown, and Logan Square have been exuding craft beer cred for years, the Northwest side is often forgotten. But not anymore. Hop on the bus at any of the participating locations (Rabbit’s, Templestowe, Christina’s Place, Breakroom Brewery, Fischman’s Liquors, to name a few) and join a pub crawl like no other. Special tappings and brews will be on hand for purchase. 

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MC Johnsen of Worth A Thousand Beers gravitates towards events with activity or entertainment involved. If you’re into that too, she recommend these ones. Follow MC during CCBW @worth1000beers.

The Beerfly Alleyfight, Eat! Drink! Watch (Tickets: $40)

The Drinking & Writing Theatre at Haymarket Pub and Brewery

Sat, May 16th, 12:00pm to 5:00pm

This truly unique event mashes together all of my favorite creative things: home brewing competition, food pairing, and art! 10 home brewers will present their beer, paired with a meal they have cooked, then an artist assigned to the pairing will share a piece they’ve created, inspired by the beer and food pairing they’ve just tried.

Goose Island’s Second Annual Sunday Funday (Tickets: $25)
Goose Island Barrel Warehouse

Sun, May 17th, 2:00pm to 6:00pm

I’m as much excited for this event’s location as for the event itself. Held in the Goose Island Barrel Warehouse, enjoy special tappings of Goose’s beers, plus a Battle of the Breweries Dodgeball tournament. As a bonus, 100% of proceeds will benefit Special Olympics.

Revolution Brewing x Stay Smooth Craft Beer Cruise (Tickets: $39)

Shoreline's dock at Navy Pier
Fri, May 22, 8:00pm–9:30pm, boarding at 7:45pm

What better way to spend a Friday evening than sailing around on Lake Michigan, gazing at the Chicago skyline, and listening to music? Plus your eyes and ears won’t have all the fun – Rev will be bringing their best beers aboard, paired with appetizers too.

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While narrowing down a calendar full of events seemed an impossible task, beer blogger Grace Weitz picked some really unique ones. Check out The Beer Mile for more events she's excited about. Follow Grace during CCBW @thebeermile.

CCBW Tuesday Brewsday: Learn to Homebrew! (Free Entry)
CHAOS Brew Club, 2417 W Hubbard St.
Tue. May 19th, 5:30pm-11:30pm
Because my 2015 New Year's Resolution was to learn how to homebrew… CHAOS, the first beer club in the nation with their own brew space, hosts monthly brew days, but this one is extra special since it’s CCBW. Education Chair Matt Omura will be taking attendees through an all grain brew. Whether you’re a novice, like myself, or a homebrew extraordinaire you’ll have a chance to check out the CHAOS community brew space, shoot the beer breeze, sample some home brew, learn a thing or two…and maybe even cross off a New Year’s Resolution.

Northside vs. Southside Tap Takeover (Free entry, beer and food for purchase) 

DryHop Brewers 3155 N. Broadway
Thu. May 21st 6:00pm-Fri. May 22nd 2:00am. 

I have to give a shout out to DryHop, my favorite neighborhood brewery and place to hang out. DryHop continually brews solid iterations of hop-centric ales, along with Belgian and experimental brews. They're featuring a Northside vs Southside gauntlet. Breweries from both areas will be “tapping in” if you will. From the Northside: newcomer Alarmist, Aquanaut and Metropolitan. In the South’s corner: Moody Tongue, Motor Row, and Marz. 

It’s My Birthday SOUR BASH (Free entry, beer for purchase)
The Green Lady 3328 N. Lincoln Ave
Fri. May 22nd 4:00pm 

I love the Green Lady, which usually hosts South of 80 during CCBW (hmm)… and I love sour beer… easy decision. In honor of Owner Melanie's Birthday, 30 drafts and 3 firkins will be full of sour deliciousness, as well as plenty of bottles and cans.

Whichever events you choose, we wish you a very happy CCBW. For the full list visit chibeerweek.com. Thank you for supporting local craft beer, cheers!

Chicago's Women of Craft Beer - 2014 Edition

Last May we coordinated Chicago Craft Beer Week's first ever event celebrating Chicago's own women in the brewing industry. About a dozen female brewers connected to brew a collaboration beer at Rock Bottom Chicago, dubbed “99 Problems”. The ginger and chamomile Saison was tapped as part of our event at Riverview Tavern. Hundreds of people came out for the event; it was overwhelming and wonderful to see and feel so much support.

Over the past year the women featured in last year's article have continued to grown and earn much deserved successes. Ashleigh Arnold who was brewing at Two Brothers is now Midwest Field Manager for New Belgium Brewing. Tracy Hurst is leading Metropolitan through an exciting expansion that will soon include a retail space. Lorna Juett is now on the other side of the bar, selling some of the country's best beer brands for Windy City Distribution. Claudia Jendron left Goose Island to help start Evanston's first brewery - Temperance Beer Company. Their spacious 20-barrel brew house has been busy making beer since last August and hired the help of Assistant Brewer, Amber Hencinski. It only seemed fitting to hold this year's women's brew day at Temperance with Claudia and Amber.

On April 29th we had an astounding 35 women come for the brew day, representing 13 breweries as well brewpubs, beer stores, distributors and educators. We brewed a session Pale Ale called "When Life Gives You Melons", dry hopped with German Hull Melon hops, provided by Bonnie Steinman of Hop Head Farms.

100% of the proceeds from our collaboration beer served at Riverview Tavern will go to the Chicago Chapter of Dress For Success, a charity that promotes the economic independence of women in need.

(Groups represented: Temperance Beer Co., Rock Bottom Chicago, Ale Syndicate, Begyle Brewing, Urban Legend Brewing, DryHop Brewers, Revolution Brewing, Solemn Oath Brewing, Two Brothers Brewing, Goose Island Beer Co., New Belgium Brewing, Panic Brewing, The Beer Temple, The Green Lady, Hop Head Farm, Binny's Beverage Depot, Cicerone Program, Louis Glunz Beer, CHAOS Brew Club, Hail To The Ale.)

Below is an introduction to another group of talented women who are continuing to shape and represent the Midwest Craft Beer scene. We hope to see you at Riverview Tavern for the 2nd Annual "Celebrating Women of Craft Beer" event TONIGHT to say hi and share a pint with the women who are making brewing history!

Erin Lowder, is the GM of Operations for Solemn Oath Brewery in Naperville. Erin and her cat, Marsellus are both beer lovers, with Belgian IPA's being the favorite at the moment. The upcoming Oath Day is one of her favorite events, which celebrates the brewery's anniversary. It's an opportunity for everyone - friends, family, beer lovers - to get together and imbibe. This year they'll be setting up ramps in the new space and having a skate demo by the Bluetown Skateboards crew. Her words of wisdom for being a young woman working with a bunch of beer dudes "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt.

Abby Kempf Marketing & Community Relations Manager for Ale Syndicate, still hasn't found a style of craft beer that she didn't enjoy trying. Ale Syndicate's Municipal IPA is almost always in her fridge. Burton Baton, Daisy Cutter, Meantime Porter are all ones she picks up with frequency when she can find them. Abby expressed appreciation for some of the local female business owners that have taken time to talk, mentor, offer help or just chat about beer. "Sonat from Koval, Melani from The Green Lady, Tracy from Metro, Melissa from Big Buzz Events are good examples of women who have a lot on their plate, but took time out of their schedules to help me in some way," shared Abby.

Jess Straka is the Area Rep for Revolution Brewing. Like many of us she was first exposed to craft beer during college. While in Champagne, IL the opening of Blind Pig and Crane Alley made craft beer more accessible. She learned a lot from the bartenders there, embracing the "try 'em all" mentality. When asked about her go-to beer she shared, "Five years ago I would’ve said barrel-aged anything. But these days I appreciate a well-made session beer like a craft lager or balanced pale ale," with beers like Revolutions’s Cross of Gold, Metropolitan’s Flywheel and Two Brothers' Sidekick stocked in her fridge.

JP Pfafflin is the Cicerone Certification Program's Midwest Exam Manager. According to JP's high school journal her love for craft beer has been long lived, sharing how much she was anticipating taking "Microbrewing 101" at UW-Madison. Upon remembering her first taste of New Glarus' Belgian Red she said, "There was something comforting about knowing this beer was made only a half-hour away, and made by people who really cared about the craft. Pair the aforementioned New Glarus Belgian Red with a blue cheese (a Wisconsin-made one, natch) and it will fucking sing."

Margaret Quinn, is Owner of The Beer Temple craft beer bottle shop in Avondale, with her husband Chris. Her love of craft beer especially blossomed with a trip to Europe. "Chris and I experienced a thriving beer culture and visited breweries, bottle shops and café’s that highlighted beer the same way many places in the U.S. feature wine." Her love of beer doesn't end with a good IPA – Margaret and Chris seriously contemplated naming their dog Gumball Head when adopting him, but in the end kept his given name, Maximus, which turns out to be a Lagunitas reference, so it worked!

Jennifer Glunz Faulk, Director of Marketing for Louis Glunz Beer was raised working within the family business, but shared that her passion was ignited when rejoining after 20+ years in other industries. The new start allowed her to explore and understand the industry from all aspects. Her favorite part of the business is the passion and unique stories of their brewery partners. "When you listen to how each of them got started in this industry – it is the American Dream. Some have risked it all, and our job as their distributor is to share that dream and run with it in Chicagoland to make it a reality," shared Jen. She is also the Founder of Beerables.net and is very proud to be helping their brewery partners provide glassware and POS to the public.

Eileen Garrity is the Creative & Communications Manager for DryHop Brewers in Lakeview. They have been open just shy of a year and thanks to Eileen's hard work have held an unbelievable amount of of awesome events – collaborating with local artists and breweries and most recently the Lincoln Park Zoo. Eileen shared her favorite part of the industry being "hands down, the people. The Chicago craft beer community is really welcoming and the entrepreneurial, hard-working, passionate spirit of the industry is contagious." Aside from all of their great events, Great Taste of the Midwest is her favorite festival to be a part of. 2014 will be her 8th year going, 2nd with DryHop.

Melani Domingues, Owner and Beer Director of The Green Lady in Lakeview has a love affair with sour and wild ales. It all began the first time she tried Duchesse de Bourgogne which left her palate eager to devour all beer sour, Belgian, and funky. She loves the passion that the brewers have for making beer and feels fortunate to be the one caring for and serving it to the public. Her advice to women in the industry, "Know that you belong wherever it is you want to be as long as you put in the work to achieve it. No apologies, no excuses, you alone are responsible for your quality of work."

Keli Platek, Sales Demon of Half Acre Beer and fearless craft beer lover had her first sip when she "accidentally" found an ID on the ground and "accidentally" used it to buy a bomber of Fat Tire. Her current beer obsession are session beers, anything well balanced with complex flavors. Keli's advice on learning to become authoritative and not a "bitch", "Forget it's male driven. Work your ass off and everyone will forget you have a vagina. If you want to do it, you fucking can. But, that also means forgetting about your social life. If your philosophical view of life is to work 3 days and relax 4, you’re in the wrong god damn business."

Bonnie Steinman, Director of Whoopass at Hop Head Farms in Hickory Corners, MI has the strength to handle whatever challenges come her way, including proving that they can do hops right in the Midwest. Growing hops isn't just a job, it is a passion – she has hops growing anywhere and everywhere possible at home. Bonnie's love for beer started while in Kalamazoo in the mid 90's. The Corner Bar was her go-to place, with 9 of 12 taps being craft beer, which was a lot back then. She made some of her best friends there, tasting every beer that would come through on tap together. She's enjoyed watching the beer community in Michigan grow into what it is today.