Eagle County food festivals usher in summer
A Colorado summer is simple. It’s a red-checkered picnic spread and smoky smells on the grill. It’s crisp morning hikes and afternoon river floats, a cold microbrew and a midsummer sunset, with sounds of strings and solos dancing in the twilight. Well, it’s summertime in the Rockies at least, and it’s about to get rolling.
Kick off the season with some flavor and fun at two local festivals this Memorial Day weekend. Beaver Creek will showcase its veteran event Blues, Brews BBQ, which is in it’s 10th year, and Vail will host a fresh new festival this year with FEAST! Vail, a celebration of mountains, food and wine.
James Deighan, event producer with Highline marketing and events agency, says FEAST! Vail is meant to combine the elements of adventure and cuisine into one fantastic weekend.
“Everyone knows about the adventure-side of Vail’s summer with climbing, fishing and hiking, but Vail has also built a reputation for culinary excellence,” Deighan said. “Participants will not only be treated to some exceptional food and drink, but they also have the opportunity to climb, hike and take a fly-casting clinic with some of Colorado’s best chefs. FEAST! is a true Vail-lifestyle experience.”
While Vail will be sure to inaugurate its own Memorial Day memories, don’t miss Beaver Creek’s traditional toast to the season. Blues, Brews BBQ will offer mouth-watering BBQ with thirst-quenching microbrews, along with musical highlights throughout the weekend. The holiday kicks off at the Vilar Performing Arts Center on Friday evening, featuring the high-energy Chicago soul blues of Big James and the Chicago Playboys.
FEAST! Vail
The new culinary festival in Vail features renowned chefs from Vail and Denver, as well as drinks from wine masters, cocktail artisans and craft beer experts. Mountain lifestyle has truly made its way into the mix, with yoga, climbing, casting and hiking offered and hosted by guest chefs.
FEAST! Vail events will be held in various locations in Vail and will run from Friday evening until Sunday night. Tickets for events vary in price and are sold individually. You can purchase them at http://feastvail.eventbright.com. For more information about the festival and for full event descriptions, visit www.feastvail.com.
Blues, Brews BBQ
This event fits the bill for appetite and atmosphere. Sit and savor barbecue flavor while tasting craft beers and listening to soulful blues. Don’t miss the featured music or the microbrew festival, and make sure to cast your vote for your favorite barbecue before dozing off in the beer garden.
“Beaver Creek’s Blues, Brews and BBQ event has evolved into a great tradition of signifying our official start to summer,” said Tim Baker, executive director of Beaver Creek Resort Co. “The 10th anniversary includes a Friday evening kickoff concert in the Vilar Performing Arts Center featuring Big James and the Chicago Playboys, a Spiegelau Beerglass Seminar Saturday and the Big Green Egg Backyard Barbecue Competition on Sunday. These new additions complement the great lineup of existing Blues, Brews and BBQ activities that make for a great weekend escape.”
Blues, Brews and BBQ runs from Friday evening through Monday afternoon, May 24-27, and the event offers admission to the plaza and food and beverage will be available for purchase.
For more information about Blues, Brews and BBQ, visit www.beavercreek.com, or buy tickets for ticketed events at http://bcbluesbrewsbbq.eventbrite.com.
Although it’s a shame to not be two places at once during this fun-filled weekend, all of the events are sure to be a truly savored experience.
“Top Chef” contestant and two-time James Beard Award-winner Kelly Liken, of Vail’s Restaurant Kelly Liken, will take part in the FEAST! Vail weekend, highlighting the healthy balance of work and play. Liken hosts Casting and Cuisine, a fly-casting clinic on Sunday.
“In my career, I’ve had the good fortune to be able to live and work almost anywhere,” Liken said. “Yet I choose to live in Vail where you can experience the glorious mountains and rivers, along with some of the tastiest recipes around.”
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Minnesota Food Truck Fair announces big changes
Organizers for the second MN Food Truck Fair say big changes are in store for the fest after backlash over last year’s long lines and high ticket prices.
Admission to the fair, to be held from 3 to 8 p.m. June 30, will be free, and it will be held in Uptown instead of the Warehouse District, organizers said.
Tickets last year were $10 to $85, depending on how many samples were purchased, but many people complained that it took nearly an hour to get in the gate and some vendors ran out of food.
To address the scarcity of food, fair organizers have doubled the number of food trucks to at least 30, including such local favorites as AZ Canteen, Gastro Truck, Anchor Fish and Chips, Hola Arepa and World Street Kitchen.
Craft beer vendors will be announced soon. For a full list of food trucks and their menus for the festival, visit mnfoodtruckfair.com.
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Revamped Heights ice house is a craft beer and food truck Drive In haven …
In spite of a high-profile masthead (namely, Chris Cusack and Joey Treadway of Down House fame) and a long history on the eastern edge of the Heights, DT Drive Inn has kicked off its first few weeks of revamped service in a decidedly low-key way — and that seems to be exactly the point.
I went to meet a few friends on a recent Thursday and completely passed up the tiny enclave of Enid Street. Once I made a U-turn, though, I knew I was in the right place: A faded sign and a half-dozen motorcycles parked out front, a warm and inviting interior, a well-stocked jukebox playing subdued, nostalgic tunes.
A recent overhaul of DT, a neighborhood fixture since at least 1965, was enough to add appeal for hip young Houstonians but not too much to scare away its former clientele — a crucial balance for any ice house worthy of the distinction.
Aluminum light fixtures, painted by Houston artist Bill Davenport to resemble the labels of Texas beer cans, hang above the bar, which is made from the wood of an old tree that had compromised the building’s foundation. A handful of picnic tables line the backyard. A couple of TVs play sports games on a nook inside.
The kitchen currently serves fried chicken on Sundays and hosts steak nights on Tuesdays, with plans to add to the menu in the coming weeks. Until then, food trucks like Taco Nuts and H-town strEATs will be parked outside on the weekends.
In addition to ice house mainstays like Pearl and Lone Star, draft offerings on the 50 (mostly craft) taps range from Bud Light ($3 for a pint) to McChouffe ($8 for a tulip glass). Growler fills, limited wine options and drink set-ups are also available, but I must recommend the shandy, made with frozen lemonade and Pabst Blue Ribbon — it’s perfect on a hot summer afternoon.
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Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars at Monmouth Park this weekend – The Star-Ledger
The Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars at Monmouth Park last year was a runaway success.
This year’s event promises to be better.
The event, to be held from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, features 30-plus gourmet food trucks from New Jersey, New York City and Philadelphia.
They’ll be offering lots of tasty food for sale – and will be vying for Top Truck honors from a panel of judges.
Which one is your favorite? Vote using the poll below!
Trucks at this year’s event include defending champion Red Hook Lobster Pound; heralded vegan truck the Cinnamon Snail; Ahh! La Cart; Amanda Bananas; Bacon on Wheels; the Burger Box; and the Cow and the Curd.
Also, Cupcake Carnivale; El Lechon de Negron; Empanada Guy; Fork in the Road, Gozen Yogurt; Max’s Hot Dogs; Morris Grilled Cheese.
Red Hook Lobster Pound will be back to defend its Top Truck crown.
Also, Pizza Vita; Rickshaw Dumplings; the Surf and Turf Truck; the Thai Elephant Truck; The French Quarter; and Tony Baloney’s Mustache Mobile.
And don’t forget Wafels and Dinges, which won the People’s Choice award for best truck last year.
The Munchmobile and Munchmobile driver Pete Genovese will be on hand Sunday; come on over and say hi and register for a chance to win a limited-edition Munchmobile t-shirt!
Before or after eating, you can take in heart-pounding thoroughbred racing at the track.
Admission is $3; children 12 and under are free. Parking is $3. Food is extra.
The Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars is the first of three Star-Ledger-sponsored food events at Monmouth Park. The prestigious Shore Chef Crab Cake Cook-Off will be held August 17 and 18, while the BBQ Craft Beer Fest is Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.
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For more information on Monmouth Park, visit monmouthpark.com. For a complete listing of the food trucks, visit jerseyshorefoodtruckwars.com.
Monmouth Park is located on Oceanport Avenue, Oceanport, just off Exit 105 of the Garden State Parkway.
What’s your favorite food truck?
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Montclair Food & Wine Festival charts its maiden voyage
This past Monday, May 13, Melody Kettle was hauling boxes of glasses from her car into the basement of the Woman’s Club of Upper Montclair, dashing up and down the stairs of the building in flip-flops. There wasn’t much time to spare; the next shipment of flatware was due to be picked up.
The event Kettle was preparing for – and which she has been scheming for more than two years – is now around the corner: the first-ever Montclair Food Wine Festival, slated for the first two nights in June.
Kettle, a Montclair resident, is the founder and president of the festival, a nonprofit organization that will raise money for a number of causes through its ticket sales. She said the event will showcase the best in food and drink that the “foodie” culture of Montclair has to offer.
“Montclair really is ‘the food capital of New Jersey,’” Kettle said, quoting the trademarked tagline for the festival.
The Montclair Food Wine Festival will take over the Woman’s Club of Upper Montclair for two nights. The first night, Saturday, June 1, will feature the Grand Tasting, at which more than 30 eateries will offer tastes of their food; there will also be six wine tables, two craft beer tables and one spirit table.
Sunday night, June 2, will feature the Gala Dinner, a six-course meal prepared by a team of chefs from local restaurants: Mitchell Altholz of the Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange, Francesco Palmieri of The Orange Squirrel in Bloomfield, Ariane Duarte of CulinAriane, Ryan DePersio of Fascino, Zod Arifai of Blu, and Mike Carrino of the Pig Prince. Wines will be paired with each course by Sharon Sevrens, proprietor of Amanti Vino in Montclair.
“It’s just going to be outstanding,” Kettle said. “They’re all going to be working together in that kitchen as a team.”
Proceeds from the festival ticket sales – which are $95 for the first night and $165 for the second night – will go toward three causes: a culinary scholarship to benefit a graduating senior from Montclair who demonstrates financial need and is interested in pursuing a culinary education; programming with the Partners For Health Foundation, a Montclair-based nonprofit, which will see local chefs conduct workshops on cooking healthfully and “on the cheap,” Kettle said; and donations to the Pediatrics Feeding-And-Swallowing Center at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Paterson.
In its inaugural year, Kettle said it was difficult to tell how much would go to each charity at this stage.
“We’re going to try to maximize our contributions,” Kettle said.
The “foodie” culture of the area is a subject Kettle knows well. She has written about food for many local publications, and in 2011 she launched her own food blog, “Hot From The Kettle,” which showcases and reviews dining establishments throughout northern New Jersey.
As Kettle described it, she was sitting on her deck one afternoon in the spring of 2011 when she was taken with the initiative to pursue a local food and wine festival. She immediately began calling her contacts around the area.
“I would cover food and wine festivals in Madison, in Summit, in South Jersey, and it just sort of dawned on me. We’re Montclair. We have over 90 eateries. Some of the most renowned chefs in the state are here. Some of the most highly regarded restaurants in the state are here,” she said. “So why didn’t we have a food and wine festival?”
The festival incorporated as a nonprofit in September of 2011. Then it became a planning process – and many more people got involved.
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Eating Out: Morton’s Grill BBQ food truck joining CartHop
Those car salesman skills — Morton has worked in financing and as a sales manager, too — are coming in handy as he markets the truck to private events.
Morton’s also stops at Bella Frutta, at Shepherd and Willow avenues, on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
You can find Morton’s at CartHop lunch events, all from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: on Tuesdays in the Applebee’s parking lot at Friant Road and Fresno Street, on Thursdays on Fulton Mall near Fresno Brewing Company and on Fridays at Eaton Plaza near the water tower.
Follow Morton’s Grill on Facebook and on Twitter at @mortonsgrill.
Chosen Frozen Yogurt
The new Chosen Frozen Yogurt has opened at Shepherd and Chestnut avenues near the Walgreens.
The yogurt shop carries all the regular flavors, plus a few different ones, such as sea salt caramel pretzel, and popular cookies and cream. Same goes for toppings, which include candy and fruit, but also bacon bits.
The yogurt shop is larger than your typical yogurt places because the owners want families and groups to sit and stay awhile. The business also wants to host fundraisers and to be part of the community, the owners say.
The business is a family affair. Kim and Rod Lichti opened the business after looking for something for Rod to do after he retires from his job as a Clovis Police Department sergeant. You’ll find their three older kids working there too, along with their 10- and 12-year-old adopted daughters from China.
“They think something is wrong if they can’t come every day after school and get a cup of yogurt,” Kim Lichti says of the younger ones.
She had hoped to name the business Honey Hill Yogurt, in honor of her Madera beekeeper grandparents who had a business called Honey Hill. But the name was taken by an Arkansas dairy. Coincidentally, the dairy makes a liquid yogurt mix that now supplies Chosen Frozen Yogurt.
Details: ChosenFrozenYogurt.com or Facebook.com/ChosenYogurt.
Other news
– Craft beer lovers take note: Firestone Walker Brewing Company’s 805 ale is now available in the 559. The honey blond ale, brewed in Paso Robles, developed a following among Valley folks who were bringing it back with them from trips to the Central Coast.
Someone from Donaghy Sales of Fresno talked the company into selling its beer through the distributor, the first time it’s been sold outside the 805 area code. You can find it at many Save Mart stores, BevMo!, Whole Foods and several independent sellers. Several restaurants also have the beer on draft, including the Mad Duck, Doghouse Grill, Buffalo Wild Wings and Swiggs.
– Here’s a shout-out to the Triangle Drive In, which celebrated its 50th anniversary May 11. The burger joint on Belmont Avenue, just west of Highway 99, has some loyal fans. You can still get a jumbo burger for $3.55 here.
There’s another Triangle Drive In in Ivanhoe, and plans are underway to open a third one on the east side of town. I’ll keep you updated on plans for that.
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5 Beer Cities To Hit This Summer
Luxe pool parties may be nice, and stunning beach resorts are always a safe bet. But in cities around North America, the most popular way to beat the summer heat is to raise a glass of ice-cold beer with friends and neighbors. From amber ales and oatmeal stouts to standalone events and weeklong beer festivals, our Startle.com team found something to love in each of these beer-centric cities.
Mayor Michael Nutter tapping first keg at Philly Beer Week, photo courtesy Michael Persico
Philadelphia
In 2008, a passionate group of beer lovers banded together to create Philly Beer Week, a multi-day celebration of the City of Brotherly Love’s favorite beverage. Organizers hoped to schedule 75 events (think beer dinners, pub crawls and meet-the-brewer parties) in that first year; the final roster actually included more than 300. “It just took off immediately, and it has really grown in leaps and bounds,” says Don Russell, executive director of Philly Beer Week. This year, PBW (May 31-June 9) will feature more than 350 events at 250-plus bars, restaurants and breweries. Should you find yourself in Philly for this year’s festivities, Russell recommends attending the Opening Tap ceremony on May 31, during which Mayor Michael Nutter will swing the “Hammer of Glory” (a sledgehammer that is passed bar-to-bar in Olympic torch fashion) to open the first keg of Brotherly Suds 4, a collaborative beer created by brewers from the greater Philadelphia area. Admission to the tasting festival is $45; buy a ticket early, as this event sells out each year.
Where to Stay: After a day of partying, retire to Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia; but before you call it a night, grab one of the Dock Street Brewing Co. collaborative beers made specifically for the Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star hotel (the summer brew will be released at the hotel’s Backyard Beer Garden event on June 6, $25 admission). As an added perk, the hotel’s Mercedes-Benz S-Class can transport you to bars and breweries in the downtown area, free of charge. Simply inquire about its availability on nights you know you’ll need a ride when you check in.
Asheville Beer Week, photo courtesy Anne Fitten Glenn
Asheville, N.C.
The Appalachian Mountains aren’t the only high-gravity attraction in Asheville. This small North Carolina town has earned a reputation for the bold brews produced by its 12 hometown breweries. Tour and taste your way through them by foot or car with Asheville Brewery Tours. Four-hour mobile tours ($54) are offered on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, allowing you to taste the brews at four different breweries. Shorter walking tours ($47) in the downtown neighborhood are held on Friday and Saturday afternoons, and include stops at three breweries and a taproom. For the die-hard beer fan, Asheville Beer Week (May 25-June 1) is the best time to visit. Though only in its second year, it already has a full schedule of pint nights at local restaurants (May 29 and 31), a homebrew festival (May 25), and a unique rare and wild beer tasting event co-sponsored by All About Beer magazine and the Thirsty Monk bar to benefit Pints for Prostates (May 31). If you’re lucky, you could snag tickets to the sold-out Beer City Festival on June 1 at the last minute. You might have better luck swinging by Green Man Brewery on May 27 for the tapping of the first-ever Asheville Brewers Alliance collaboration beer, the brainchild of more than 20 breweries. Admission is free, but bring cash to enjoy the fruits of the brewers’ labor.
Where to Stay: You’ll need a good night’s rest before you tackle the brewery scene so make reservations at the Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Inn on Biltmore Estate, a stately place to slumber in style or discuss the finer points of your beer exploration at the end of the night.
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Guerrilla Eats one day food market on King Street
Guerrilla Eats, Manchester’s mobile street food festival, will host a one-day street food market on Saturday 25 May on King Street in Manchester city centre.
In total ten stalls will be selling a variety of hot and cold food from 12 noon – 9pm including the Fire Salt BBQ Co., Tea Crumpet Emporium and Pancake Corner. There will be hotdogs from Dirty Dogs, gourmet burgers courtesy of Barnhouse Bistro, Chaat Cart selling Indian street food, wood fired pizzas from Streatza and Chorlton’s Free Shake Co. who will be selling innovative, dairy-free milkshakes. To wash the food down with, Guerrilla Eats will be offering a craft beer tent and there will be live music and entertainment throughout the day.
All the local traders involved in Guerrilla Eats use high quality, mostly locally sourced produce, all prepared from scratch and cooked to order and at affordable prices.
Simon Binns, BID manager for CityCo, Manchester’s city centre management company said:
“This is the biggest Guerrilla Eats event so far and in the most high profile location. This initiative is supported by the city’s retailers as part of our on-going work to animate King Street, which is at the centre of the city’s shopping district. By hosting events like this, we can make King Street an even more attractive and vibrant place to shop.”
Sarah Tarmaster from Guerrilla Eats says: “Bringing Guerrilla Eats to the city centre means we can share our passion for high quality street food. We’re changing the idea of street food from sweaty kebabs to honest, vibrant, high quality, affordable food. This is our biggest event to date and the first time we’ve included live music so it’s certainly going to be the best. We have nine local trader taking part plus a super special guest. Guerilla Eats is about incubating the best new talent and making street food accessible to everyone, not just the ‘foodies’. Come greedy, leave full.”
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Guerrilla Eats one day food market on King Street
Guerrilla Eats, Manchester’s mobile street food festival, will host a one-day street food market on Saturday 25 May on King Street in Manchester city centre.
In total ten stalls will be selling a variety of hot and cold food from 12 noon – 9pm including the Fire Salt BBQ Co., Tea Crumpet Emporium and Pancake Corner. There will be hotdogs from Dirty Dogs, gourmet burgers courtesy of Barnhouse Bistro, Chaat Cart selling Indian street food, wood fired pizzas from Streatza and Chorlton’s Free Shake Co. who will be selling innovative, dairy-free milkshakes. To wash the food down with, Guerrilla Eats will be offering a craft beer tent and there will be live music and entertainment throughout the day.
All the local traders involved in Guerrilla Eats use high quality, mostly locally sourced produce, all prepared from scratch and cooked to order and at affordable prices.
Simon Binns, BID manager for CityCo, Manchester’s city centre management company said:
“This is the biggest Guerrilla Eats event so far and in the most high profile location. This initiative is supported by the city’s retailers as part of our on-going work to animate King Street, which is at the centre of the city’s shopping district. By hosting events like this, we can make King Street an even more attractive and vibrant place to shop.”
Sarah Tarmaster from Guerrilla Eats says: “Bringing Guerrilla Eats to the city centre means we can share our passion for high quality street food. We’re changing the idea of street food from sweaty kebabs to honest, vibrant, high quality, affordable food. This is our biggest event to date and the first time we’ve included live music so it’s certainly going to be the best. We have nine local trader taking part plus a super special guest. Guerilla Eats is about incubating the best new talent and making street food accessible to everyone, not just the ‘foodies’. Come greedy, leave full.”
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Clough Willis’s Shefali Talukdar Joins Forever Manchester Board
Daisy Group launches business ‘Resource Centre’
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PIEMINISTER AND WAGAMAMA ADDED TO THE MENU AT URBAN SPLASH
Manager appointed for Manchester’s first Business Improvement District
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What’s on tap for Chicago Craft Beer Week? A lot
It has been an ambitious year for craft beer in Chicago — possibly the most ambitious ever.
Virtually every one of our breweries expanded in some form. Revolution added an entire new production facility. So did 5 Rabbit. Solemn Oath established itself as a legitimate player and Atlas, Spiteful, Begyle and several others joined the fray. There are now more craft beer festivals than you have cousins. Wirtz Beverage added craft beer to its distribution portfolio, and brought in major West Coast players Deschutes and Ballast Point. Goose Island turned 25, and expanded distribution to all 50 states.
The reward begins unfurling today, at the fourth annual Chicago Craft Beer Week. Our first craft beer week, in 2010, came and went with barely a whimper. But it has grown every year, and this year’s will be the largest yet: nearly 400 events throughout the city and suburbs during the next 11 days (yes, a week lasts 11 days in the craft beer world; also the sky is sometimes purple and dogs can run backward).
Virtually every brewery in town has saved a special keg or 10 of some rare, extra-tasty stuff that will be tapped during CCBW. Plus, many of the nation’s great breweries are getting involved with tap takeovers and special offerings of their own.
Below are my picks for some of the most exciting and interesting events during CCBW. This isn’t intended to be a “best of” list; plenty of the events not listed here (like things in the suburbs) are worth your time and/or money. Take a look at the full schedule here, see what’s an easy stumble home and what catches your eye. It will be difficult to go wrong.
Thursday
Now an annual highlight on Chicago’s beer calendar, the unlikely duo of craft beer and lush greenery winds up the perfect pairing at Beer Under Glass, at Garfield Park Conservatory (300 N. Central Park Ave.). It’s long sold out, but if you can’t drum up tickets, the pre- and post-BUG parties will be held at Haymarket Pub Brewery (737 W. Randolph St.). Assume there will be some special brews on tap, since Haymarket owner Pete Crowley is also the president of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild, which is one of the forces behind Chicago Craft Beer Week.
Another non-BUG option is at Fischman Liquors Tavern (4780 N. Milwaukee Ave.), which is staging a local beer festival featuring familiar names (Revolution, Metropolitan and Two Brothers), newer names (Ale Syndicate, Begyle, Spiteful and Flesk) and, perhaps just as important, food trucks.
Friday
Revolution Brewing’s tap takeover at Village Tap (2055 W. Roscoe St.) includes a bounty of barrel-aged delights, including one of my favorite beers from the last year: 3rd Year Anniversary Ale, a wheat barley wine with piloncillo sugar added that was aged for four months in rum casks. Silky, rich and boozy, what it lacks in name it makes up for in taste (seriously, Revolution, couldn’t it have been called Zombie Vampire Dystopian Space Planet?). Bonus: Village Tap is hosting a Firestone Walker tap takeover the night before, and anything still remaining will also be available Friday.
Saturday
If you’re not hungover, or even if you are, an 8:30 a.m. 5K through Wicker Park ending with five four-ounce beers at Haymarket Pub and Brewery sounds like a good idea. Occasional exercise during CCBW will help you drink more beer throughout the week. I swear.
Fountainhead’s local cask day has become a CCBW staple. For the first time, it is adding a $20 VIP hour that earns you an extra hour at the taps and two pours on the house. Casks will be on hand from Revolution, Metropolitan, Half Acre, Brickstone, Greenbush and Brewery Vivant.
I think I have literally tried every Solemn Oath beer I’ve come across during the last year, and I’ve yet to be disappointed. The beer isn’t just clean and tasty; by refusing to brew to style guidelines, Solemn Oath is also one of the area’s most interesting breweries. It celebrates its first year of existence at Bangers Lace (1670 W. Division) with 16 brews on tap. There will also be 16 brews available from Southern California’s Port Brewing/Lost Abbey.
Sunday
Goose Island celebrates its 25th birthday with a block party at its Fulton Street brewery. Among the offerings are seven different kinds of Bourbon County Stout. What else is there to say?
Monday
Drink barrel-aged beer while learning about it at Schuba’s (3159 N. Southport Ave.). An expert panel of Cory King of Perennial Brewing in St. Louis, Tim Faith of New Holland Brewing in Holland, Mich., John Laffler of Chicago’s Off Color Brewing and Kyle Henderson of Angel’s Envy Bourbon will discuss the practice and merits of barrel aging. As I write this, 22 tickets remain.
Tuesday
Some people write off Rock Bottom for being a chain, but plenty of great brewers have called it (and still call it) home. Haymarket – whose owner, Pete Crowley, is a Rock Bottom alum – hosts an evening dedicated to ex-Rock Bottom brewers, withbrews from Solemn Oath, Oskar Blues, Sun King, Gigantic Brewing, Three Floyds and, naturally, Haymarket.
The South of 80 tap takeover returns as beers made downstate or by St. Louis-area breweries are celebrated, including some not usually seen in this area. Breweries on hand will include Scratch Brewing Company (Ava), Rolling Meadows Brewery (Cantrall), Destihl (Bloomington), Six Row Brewing Company (St. Louis) and Urban Chestnut (St. Louis).
Wednesday
The $175 Little Goat beer dinner this night is booked (there’s a wait list; call if you want to be on it), but a cheaper alternative can be found at Fountainhead, where brand new BegyleBrewing will pair four of its beers with grub from chef Cleetus Friedman, formerly of City Provisions.
Three of the better beer bars on Division Street, if not the city, team up for an IPA crawl. Bangers Lace (1670 W. Division St.) will pour East Coast IPAs, Jerry’s Sandwiches (1938 W. Division St.) will handle Midwestern IPAs and Small Bar (2049 W. Division St.) takes on West Coast IPAs.
Thursday, May 23
Stout fans, head straight to the other Jerry’s Sandwiches (5419 N. Clark St.) for all five of the beers in Dark Horse’s numbered stout series. At least two more of the brewery’s beers will also be available, including something as yet unannounced that is usually only available at the Dark Horse brewpub.
The annual Bowling with Brewers goes down at 10 p.m. at one of the oldest-school bowling alleys in town, Timber Lanes (1851 W. Irving Park Road). Bowl with a local brewer, and for free.
Friday, May 24
I never knew what to call the rush of joy resulting from drinking lots of Allagash, but Bar on Buena (910 W. Buena Ave.) seems to think it’s an “allagasm.” Anway, that’s the name of the event that will include “some extra special Allagash offerings, including a few things never before seen in these here parts.” Allagash is one of the nation’s great breweries, so be optimistic.
The nearly year-old Atlas Brewing (2747 N. Lincoln Ave.) will tap three of its barrel-aged projects: a saison aged in a FEW gin barrel, a barley wine aged in a Koval rye barrel and an imperial stout aged in a Koval whiskey barrel. Local beer aged in barrels from local distilleries? Chicago booze has come a long way.
Black Rock (3614 N. Damen Ave.) pours six beers from Danish gypsy brewer Evil Twin, whose brews are never boring.
Saturday, May 25
Haymarket Brewery (737 W. Randolph St.) hosts another CCBW staple, Beerfly Alleyfight!, which is a homebrewing-food-art competition. Sound strange? It is.
This day will see the inaugural West Loop Craft Beer Fest, which is also CCBW’s official closing party (no matter that Craft Beer Week actually ends the next day — who wants to be hungover on Monday?). More than 25 breweries will be pouring at “the city’s largest craft beer outdoor block party,” which will likely be the CCBW closing event for years to come. Tickets remain, but seem likely to sell out.
Sunday, May 26
Just when you think you can’t handle any more, it’s time to make up for all those double IPAs and barrel-aged stouts with Delilah’s annual lambic and sour beer festival, where $20 gets you 20 samples.
And on Monday, drink whiskey.
jbnoel@tribune.com
Twitter @traveljosh
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