The Great Pumpkin Beer - Recap

For those of you that haven’t been paying attention to The Great Pumpkin Beer Challenge here is a recap:

Hail to the Ale & CHAOS Brew Club's Ken Getty combined forces and cellars to put together 24 beers and divided them into three tiers of pumpkin domination. Three brackets that incorporated craft beer from across the country to determine Hail to the Ale’s The Great Pumpkin Beer of 2013
Tier 3 - New Jack O'Lantern City, Limited Distribution
Tier 2 - Patch Madness, Regional Breweries
Tier 1 - Pumpkin O.G.'s, the crew that's been doing pumpkin beers before Pumpkin Spice Latte had its own hashtag

 

The New Jack O'Lantern City tier of The Great Pumpkin Beer Challenge was dominated by 2012 GABF’s Gold Medal winner (a fact that we learned after…promise!) in the pumpkin category, Stevens Point Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale.  This beer has a great sweet malty backbone accompanied with a delicious pumpkin pie aroma that finished slightly dry. A very well balanced beer that we could have drank several more bottles from Bottles and Cans.

The Tier 2 bracket was true Patch Madness style pitting the different regional craft brewers of the United States against each other.  We were intrigued at the thought of adding a barleywine to this crowded field of various styles and Almanac Beer Co. delivered. Their Heirloom Pumpkin Barleywine is a blend of brandy barrel aged and fresh barleywine that delivers big, boozy notes with huge brandy flavor that transition to pumpkin caramel sweetness. Almanac continuously stood out from the pack to narrowly defeat Lakefront’s crisp Pumpkin Lager.

The Pumpkin OG's Tier 1 bracket has two Opening Round matches before the Elite Eight pumpkin beers are decided. Shipyard’s Smashed Pumpkin battles Uinta’s Punk’n and Smuttynose’s Pumpkin Ale looks to upset Brooklyn’s Post Road Pumpkin. Opening round winners will be announced Monday, October 28^th 2013.

Chicago Beer Gals - November Event

Hey Ladies! Join us for an evening at the Brew Camp Classroom. This month will be focused on the beauty of lagers. We’ll be providing a special tasting of Metropolitan Brewing beer and vegan snacks.

Special Guests:

Tracy Hurst, Metropolitan Brewing

Alison Cuddy, WBEZ Public Radio Reporter and 

Co-host of the Strange Brews podcast

Limited seats are available, advanced tickets recommended through Brew Camp HERE

Have questions about the event? Want to be a future guest speaker? Feel free to email me.

The Great Pumpkin Beer Challenge

As lovers of all things pumpkin, we've teamed up with CHAOS Brew Club's Ken Getty to put together a pumpkin beer tasting of epic proportions. We've compiled 24 beers and will be drinking through the good, the bad and the extra gourdy over the next 3 weeks to determine the ultimate Great Pumpkin Beer winner. 

We'll be posting the results of each tier over the next few Thursdays, with the final winner announced on Halloween Day.

The tiers are ranked as follows:
Tier 3 - New Jack O'Lantern City, Limited Distribution
Tier 2 - Patch Madness, Regional Breweries
Tier 1 - Pumpkin O.G.'s, the crew that's been doing pumpkin beers before Pumpkin Spice Latte had its own hashtag

Which are your favorites vying for the win? Any you'd add or remove? Let us know your thoughts and stay tuned for the results!

The Release of 5 Rabbit Vida Y Muerte

This Thursday 5 Rabbit will be releasing their seasonal "Vida Y Muerte", Day of the Dead Marzen-style beer. They'll be celebrating this release on Thursday, September 26th at the Hopleaf in Andersonville along with special guest, Brewmaster John J. Hall.  The party starts at 7pm.

Dryhop Brewers and Flossmoor Station Launch "Smoking Nanners"

Join Dryhop Brewers and Flossmoor Station Brewing tonight at Dryhop (3155 N. Broadway) for the release of their collaboration "Smoking Nanners". The 5.5% Smoked Hefeweizen, is a result of Flossmoor Head Brewer Bjorn Johnson and Dryhop Owner Greg Shuff’s time together in Munich for brew school.

Together, they traveled to different regions of Germany to learn about brewing techniques. A memorable stop was in Bamberg, where smoked beers are considered a specialty of the area. Smoking Nanners was brewed in tribute to Bjorn and Greg’s antics experienced there.

DryHop Chef Pete Repak and Flossmoor Chef Eduardo Camarena also collaborated on a dish for the evening – Smoked Guajillo Chile Glazed Texas Quail on Jicama-Tortilla Salad with Roasted Pineapple Relish and Pulped Avocado.

Tapping schedule is as follows:

• 6pm – Flossmoor’s Berliner Weisse, a low alcohol wheat beer, soured with lactobacillus and fermented with a Kölsch yeast strain. (3.0%)
• 7pm – Flossmoor’s Kölsch, a clean, crisp, session beer with a soft malt and hop character. (5.2%)
• 8pm – Flossmoor’s Roggenbier, a dunkleweizen made with rye instead of wheat. (5.6%)
• 9pm – The release of Smoking Nanners, a Smoked Hefeweizen. (5.5%)

Chicago Beer Gals - September Event

Ladies, please join us for an evening at the Brew Camp Classroom. This month we'll be focused 100% on Craft Cider!

We’ll be providing a tasting of Midwest made hard ciders as well as some fall snacks.
*This event will have Gluten-free options

Special guests:
Holly Christopher and Michelle Foik from Virtue Cider
Kate Bernot, Nightlife Reporter for Redeye Chicago

Limited seats are available, advanced tickets through Brew Camp -> HERE

Have questions about the event? Want to be a future guest speaker? Feel free to email me.

Highwood's 1st Annual Craft Beer Fest

This Saturday, August 17th the North Shore will put on their first local craft beer festival in Highwood’s Everts Park from noon-5:30pm.

The festival will feature beer from over 30 breweries, including many of our Midwest local favorites. Downtown Highwood is easily accessible from Chicago, just half a block from the Highwood Metra Station. 

Breweries to include: Ale Syndicate, Allagash, Argus, Bell’s Brewery, Berghoff Beer, Boulevard Brewing Co., Capital, Cider Boys, Dogfish Head, Finch Beer, Firestone, Goose Island, Great Lakes, Half Acre, Lagunitas Brewing Company, Lake Bluff, Lake Front, Magic Hat, Metropolitan, Mickey Finn’s Brewing, New Belgium Brewing, New Holland, Oskar Blues Brewing, Potosi, Pyramid, Revolution Brewery, Rogue, Stone, Tall Grass, Two Brothers, Wild Onion Brewing.

Live music Featuring:

12:00 – 2:30 Pat Smilie Duo – Rhythm & Blues
3:00 – 5:30 - Los Perros Cubanos

Tickets:
General Admission 1:00 - 4:30pm, $40 advanced sales ($50 at the gate)

Tickets Includes: Souvenir glass, wristband, a brewer’s list card & map of event, bag of pretzels & String. You must be 21 years of age or older with a valid ID to enter the festival.

VIP 12:00 - 4:30pm, $55 advanced sales ($65 at the gate)
The VIP Experience Tickets guests will be allowed in one hour earlier than the general admission ticket holders. Take advantage of this great opportunity to taste reserve or signature beers from participating breweries and get a chance to meet the brewers & brewery representatives themselves! VIP Tickets Includes: Souvenir glass, wristband, a brewer’s list card & map of event, one bottle of water, bag of pretzels & String. You must be 21 years of age or older with a valid ID to enter the festival. Only a limited number of tickets will be sold.

TO BUY TICKETS CLICK HERE

About CraftBeerFests.com & Chicago Scene:
From Chicago's North Shore, Ted Widen launched Chicago-Scene.com in 1998 as one of the first social networking, events and entertainment sites in the country. Widen is known for his unparalleled event and production, producing such events as the Chicago Scene New Year’s Eve Party hosted at the Historic Drake Hotel. The event is attended by over 2,500 people annually since 2000. This success has sparked plans for 2013 to add The Chicago Hilton and Towers New Year’s Eve Party, with over 4,000 attendees to his portfolio. Accolades include: Chicago Scene Magazine Publication started in 2001; reaching Chicago's A-List young professional 21-39 year old market in the downtown area, The River North Craft Beer Pub Crawl this past May with 10 bars, 20 Craft Beers and over 2000 attendees, and this October he is producing the Windy City Craft Beer Festival at the Drake Hotel and many more Craft Beer events in the future.

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