Beer time in a beer city: Chicago adventure!

Finally got to explore this incredible city, try its killer beer AND see a dope concert!

When we first set sail in 2020, we skipped Chicago. It was the height of Covid, everything was closed, it wasn't the time to visit cities, definitely not one as large as Chicago. So now that we're vaxxed up and things have opened up a bit more, we were going! Bekah had been there for a Lollapolooza back in the day, but I'd still never been. We have beer friends from collabs out there, music friends from over the years, and being a life long Alkaline Trio fan, I've always wanted to catch a show in town that inspired some of my favorite bands. Luckily, we got all of that in this trip!

Beers on beers on beers

You know our first stop in just about any city is a brewery we either know or have heard a ton about. But before we could hit one of those, our buddy Mark hit us up for a beer at his favorite dive bar, Caroline's. Mark's an old music friend who used to front the band Spitalfield and currently runs this cool music collective idea called Downwrite where musicians collaborate with fans on custom songs. We caught up about all the new newness at Downwrite over some Revolution Anti-Heros and Mark gave us some suggestions on Chicago food and beer starting with Fat Duck Tavern. Wow wow wow, this place was so unbelievably good. Pot Roast Sandwich with duck fat fries?!? Yes please!

Where to go first for some beers?!?

When in doubt, we hit up the homies to find out who's in town. I shot a message to an old collab friend, Shaun, who started a killer brewery 40min outside the city called Phase Three Brewing. He said to swing by for their 1 year anniversary, and it was one of the beer highlights of this leg of the trip so far. They pretty much make nothing but absolute crushers, but we stuck to a handful of hazys and a barrel aged anniversary stout. We could probably have stayed there all day, every beer was a new blast of flavor that was so distinct and refreshing, it reminds you why you love this industry and the creativity inside of it. Their Other Half collab, DDH All Pixel Everything, with all the citrus, melon and tropical flavors from Citra, Nelson and Motueka was delicious, of course; but the Tonal Range with Sabro, Mosaic, and Citra was the one that sent us over the edge. We're suckers for Sabro, but the way this beer managed to cram in that much coconut, peach, citrus hop aroma and flavor while still maintaining a dry finish that just left you refreshed was what really made this Tonal Range shine. If we hadn't have had to drive back to the city, we would've just kept the van in the parking lot and stayed the night there, but we had a show to get to!

First show on the road in 2021

Meeting up with and seeing our friends play music on the road was one of the things that first drove us to start this whole journey, but then live music went on hold for 18 months. When we were in Bend, we just happened to run into the drummer for a band we jam all the time in the van, Strawberry Girls. We chatted with Ben when we met him out in OR and talked about their upcoming tour and our route for the rest of the year. Of course, neither of them overlapped, so we exchanged messaged and decided to connect sometime in the future when our paths aligned. Turns out, all it took was a slight change in our plans and all of a sudden Chicago was the spot! We got to catch an amazing show at Beat Kitchen as Strawberry Girls ripped through a blistering set of crushing drums, driving bass lines, and guitar wizardry that have to be seen to believed. How any group of musicians can play such technical music at such an insane pace is beyond me, and to carry a crowd for over an hour with essentially zero vocals is a feat in itself. Huge thanks to the SG crew for inviting us to the show!

Last day for beers and food in Chicago

After having a blast at the show the night before, we were on to our last day in Chicago before heading out so that meant it was our last chance to get in all the food and beers we could. We started out to a place Mark recommended called Calumet Fisheries for some unreal smoked salmon. Seriously, if you can get over there, go hungry or ready to take a bunch home with you because you're going to want to eat a ton while you're there. After the fish, we went to the water front to walk around and catch some sights along the river and downtown before going on a brewery hunt in the afternoon. A couple we met at Phase Three told us to make sure we stopped by Maplewood Brewery and Distillery, and they were totally right! It's this cool little spot at the end of a cul-de-sac that has their Chicago hazy game on point. If you're in the area and want to sample some of the ones we loved, keep an eye out for Son of Juice, Juice Jorts and Moon Fruit - all of them were full of that great juicy, tropical, citrusy hop forward profile we love. And wouldn't you know it, just around the corner was another spot! Rivinia Brewing Co had some delightfully easy drinking, more traditional IPAs that paired perfectly with their amazingly delicious carnitas tacos. All in all, Chicago was a rad city that we can't wait to come back to when we have all the time in the world, the tail end of summer was perfect, but we want to come catch some of that Chicago summer beach life on the lake! But we had to press on, it's time to head to Buffalo on our way to cross the border and test our French in Canada!!!

Where should we stay?

Find some street parking for this one

Turns out this was a holiday weekend (Labor Day) and the overnight parking rules in the suburbs were lifted so parking was actually really easy. That probably won't be the case when you go through, but check around the suburbs and can take the train into the city easier than trying to park downtown. #craftbeer #chicago #strawberrygirls #phasethree #maplewood #calumet #beatkitchen