CHICAGO VICINITY, ILLINOIS
Across from Millrose Restaurant, South Barrington’s spacious red brick BRASS RESTAURANT seemed to attract upbeat yuppies with its detailed art deco, fine wines, coffee styles, and nice array of lighter-bodied brews served in candelabra sampler trays. Visited August ’06 (a year prior to closing), mahogany bar had widescreen TV’s and rear brew tanks while back patio and left side dining catered to families. Sticky dry-bodied wheat-maize-chaffed Dortmunder-styled Lunker Light, sharp yellow-fruited German Kolsch, lemon-limed coriander-tinged Belgian Wit, and soft orange-red-fruited nut-fig-soured alcohol-burnt astringency Anytime Amber Ale had easy appeal. Weissguy Hefeweiss possessed a smoky nuance pervading malleable lemony clove-banana-vanilla illusions. Best bet: red-fruited cereal-grained barley-roasted hop-spiced butterscotch-candied Anticipation Pale Ale.