Docile fruited pale ale (made with lemon peel) needs deeper resonance. Its brisk lemon peel bittering loses out to a sourer lemon pit mildewing. Lemony grapefruit rind prowess perked up by mild lemongrass prickle and perfumed wildflower-jasmine-daisy whims. Lightly lagered white wheat malts wilt at soapy dishwater finish. In canned version: straw-cleared summertime softie brightens up pilsner-malted Cascade hop passivity with fresh-squeezed citrus zest.
Simple straw-cleared light body (contentiously listed as a wheat ale) slips into German gose styling with its salted coriander tartness, lactobacillus-soured wild yeast and Seltzer-like carbolic fizz. Ancillary lemon-dropped cider souring reinforces mild coriander salting above fragile flaked oat-wheat bottom.
Beautiful floral fruited display brings enormous Citra-hopped IPA-like zest to mild resinous pine bittering, contrasting wheat-honeyed caramel malting. Spruce-tipped ruby red grapefruit, orange rind and pineapple tartness heightens musky hop-oiled bitterness while juicy tangerine, clementine, peach, melon, cantaloupe, mango, papaya, passionfruit and guava illusions sweeten the rounded finish. An elegant world class moderate-to-medium body.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Situated in the increasingly popular Logan Square area (known as Hipster Highway) on Milwaukee Avenue just a few blocks away from Piece Brewery, ultimately rewarding gold-bricked beer haven, REVOLUTION BREWING COMPANY, practically created the whole 21st century Chi-town craft beer renaissance. An amazing modern Mecca for brews and food, Revolution opened in 2010 to rave reviews, expanding into production brewing at a nearby Kedzie Avenue location thereafter.
A nifty German beer hall-styled central island bar serves 40-plus patrons plus the left-side dining tables and right side balcony. Beautiful pine furnishings, hanging globe lights and silver ceiling tiles provide exquisite elegance. A rear open kitchen, full service second story bar, exposed ducts and windowed brew tanks fill out this ultimate north-side restaurant and brewpub.
Filled to the brim on a sunny Sunday afternoon in mid-July ’14, I grab the only seat left at the bustling bar to sample 13 well-rounded selections. Besides the excellent hand-crafted fare emanating from the colorful fist-clenched tap handles are 100-plus bottled choices – many of which were rare finds or one-offs.
The lightest fare was quaffed first. Soft-toned Bottom Up Wit unleashed orange-dried lemon zest upon floral-perfumed hops and white-peppered coriander spicing, leaving banana-breaded vanilla sweetness to contrast puckering limestone acridity and delicate mandarin orange tartness by the crystalline watered finish.
Traditional German pilsner, Mother Of Exiles, retained a light-bodied citric-soured spicing as grassy hops, musky grains and flaked corn reached its doughy bottom.
Tame lagered moderation, Use The Schwarz, brought mild dark-roasted mocha malting to the fore, as dry cocoa bean, Baker’s chocolate and burnt toast reminders usurped its earthen hop bittering.
One of Revolution’s most interesting elixirs, Rosa, a tart summer ale, brought red grape, red cherry, lemon and lime souring to raw-honeyed coriander salting, rose-watered lavender florality and a latent white wine spritz that contrasted sweet vanilla-spiced banana licks.
A worthy collaboration with Wicker Park cocktail joint, Big Star, Fist City Extra Pale Ale, fortified its light hop-roasted grain malting with frisky orange-peeled pineapple bittering.
Ultra-dry Iron Fist Pale Ale placed wood-dried Chinook hop bittering beside lemony orange-rotted souring and dewy earthiness (picking up a diacetyl hint if warmed).
A better alternative was approachable Double Fist Imperial Pale Ale, where tangy orange, grapefruit, pineapple, tangerine and papaya tropicalia overloaded crystal caramel malting.
Sessionable flagship beer, Anti-Hero IPA (also available in can), layered orange-candied grapefruit and pineapple tartness and lemon-peeled herbal notions atop oily pine hop resin.
Its friendly stylistic competitor, citra-hopped medium body, Citra Hero IPA, gathered orange-peeled apple-peach-pear fruiting for its spicy crystal malt sugaring, leaving cantaloupe-melon-nectarine traces in its wake.
Peppery Belgian yeast inundated lemon-spiced Coup D’Etat, a dry mineral-grained saison with leafy-hopped sour grape esters and mild herbal nuances contrasting pleasant sugared spices.
French-styled Biere De Garde, Bastille, retained a stingy dry hop persistence alleviated by earthen green grape esters, sour-pressed Granny Smith apple tartness, sharp oak-chipped cherry acidity and latent apricot-fig snips.
Musty robust porter, Eugene, contrasted its cocoa-powdered coffee, molasses and chocolate stead with dried cherry, grape and date fruiting.
Best bet: Spectral Imperial Wheat Ale, Filibuster, a luxuriously smooth 11.5% ABV remedy aged in Old Forester and Woodford Reserve barrels, splashed bourbon hints upon rum-sugared vanilla creaming, almondine-candied butterscotch sweetness and bruised orange-cherry-nectarine chewiness.
www.revbrew.com
PLAINFIELD, ILLINOIS
Serving the rural town of Plainfield as well as neighboring Naperville, NEVIN’S BREWING COMPANY took over its large North Plainfield Crossing Mall space on main drag, Route 59, during December 2012 (and closed August 2019). An expansive upscale sportsbar and brewpub (with intermittent entertainment), its plushly designed red-bricked interior matches antique wood with modern flagstone in a burnt orange-walled setting .
Besides its pristine central bar island, Nevin’s also offers wraparound dining tables, terrace balcony seating, a backroom banquet facility, glass-encased brew room and huge lanai vinyl side deck. Exposed pipes line the black ceiling, a chalkboard lists all current house brews available and a few pinball games at the entrance attracts gamers.
Science-teaching home brewer Marc Wilson, a Texas-reared Seibel grad formerly at Rock Bottom-Warrenville, provides a wide variety of beer styles for Nevin’s customers. Burgers, pizza, tacos and sandwiches fill the pub-fared menu.
On my mid-July ’14 two-hour nighttime stopover, I quaffed all twelve four-ounce pours available. Though best selling golden ale, Nevin’s Yolo!, had a gnarly vegetal musk, dank grained pungency and soured yellow fruiting, a better choice had to be soft-toned Nevin’s Summer Sesh, a less pungent alternative with lemon-rotted grapefruit acidity and grassy hop herbage overriding wheat-chaffed wild oats.
One of my faves, Ardennes yeast-affected Nevin’s Quick Witted, gained an herbal lemongrass-chamomile piquancy to highlight its sweet orange-peeled coriander spicing and distant banana snip.
Decent Vienna lager, Nevin’s Vienna Waltz, maintained a musky lemon-bruised tartness over rustic alfalfa, whey and poppy nuances. But a finer option was dry-hopped Nevin’s IPL, a yellow-orange fruited India Pale Lager with dry bark astringency and resinous pine bittering contrasting sugary crystal malts.
Flagship medium body, Nevin’s Contentious IPA, brought tropical fruiting to peppery herbage as orange-peeled yellow grapefruit, pineapple and mango subtleties battles back banana-clove whims.
Just a tad richer, Nevin’s Fool Proof, a rounded Imperial IPA, let its multi-hopped tropical fruiting get affected by unexpected vanilla-creamed Chardonnay buttering.
Belgian pilsner malts aided Nevin’s Tripel Hops Brewed, a citric Cascade-hopped pleasantry with wood-dried perfuming.
Easygoing maibock, Nevin’s Bock It Up, possessed a dry honey-spiced yellow fruiting and candied Pez-like tartness.
Busy Baltic porter, Nevin’s Bolsha Moi, layered its cocoa-dried Baker’s chocolate bittering with sour prune, sweet raisin and black cherry illusions, finishing like day-old coffee.
Creamy mocha nuttiness and a thick eggshell head furnished Nevin’s Southside Stout, a decisive oatmeal stout with hop-charred graining, dark-roasted chocolate malts, amber walnut sugaring and wild cherry scurries.
The strongest and most aggressive offering, Nevin’s None Of Your Business (a hybridized 12% ABV Imperial Stout), received a barleywine-like dark fruiting to contrast its sweet chocolate-toffee conflux and deep-roasted black patent malting.
www.nevinsbrewing.com
NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS
Arguably Naperville’s best craft beer pub, JIMMY’S GRILL is situated down the hill from my alma mater, North Central College, and across the street from established downtown staple (and college hangout) The Lantern. An L-shaped black marble-topped bar welcomes brew hounds to this veritable sportsbar (with TV’s at all corners). Classical wood columns and pristine oak furnishings adorn the red brick interior while windowed doors lead to the umbrella-laden front deck. A rear dining area suits families and private parties.
On a hot Saturday afternoon in mid-July 2014, a few of my long-time college pals join me at a table near the side entrance to drain a few local suds emulating from the 16 available tap handles. Happily, Jimmy’s revolving taps included a few previously untried libations (and the coolers were filled with well-selected bottled fare).
Hailing from Chicago, Half Acre Daisy Cutter, the brewers’ flagship offering, brought forth a sharper citric acidity than most pale ales, draping champagne yeast and bark-dried oak atop lemon-peeled grapefruit rind, pineapple, mandarin orange, tangerine and mango illusions.
Even sharper and woodier, Ale Asylum Hop-a-licious loaded resinous pine hop bittering inside floral-bound orange rind, grapefruit, tangerine and peach tones.
A bizarrely concocted collaboration between Colorado-based New Belgium and Indiana-based Three Floyds, Lips Of Faith Gratzer, revived an ancient Polish smoked dark ale style with its oak-smoked wheat, burnt wood char and dry mocha malting overriding wispy cola, walnut, Baker’s chocolate, cocoa powder, black coffee and crisp tobacco notions at the milk-soured lactic finish.
www.jimmysgrillnaperville.com
Ultra-dry medium body tosses piney hop bittering and juniper-like pungency at enhanced citric nature. Orange rind, lemon zest and grapefruit juicing scurry thru grain-husked rye spicing. Tertiary pear, apricot, tangerine, pineapple, mango and papaya illusions add depth.
Similar to brewers’ popular Zombie Dust, dry-hopped moderation offers honey-spiced pale malting to floral citrus nature. Orange-peeled grapefruit, pineapple, peach and mango illusions brighten brisk finish. Mild butterscotch sweetness stays below.
Less effective, more sessionable Belgian pale ale than brewers’ better P-2 sets the tone with black-peppered floral citrus resilience overriding peat-y pale malts. Lemony orange, peach and grapefruit illusions stay mild.
Crisply fruited Belgo-American hybrid receives affluent orange-peeled grapefruit, pineapple and mango tropicalia to brighten pine-needled herbal nip above buttery biscuit malts. Sharp dry-hopped bittering reinforces fruity aspects well.
On tap at Jimmy’s Grill, Half Acre’s well-rounded flagship offering brings forth a sharper citric acidity than most simpler pale ales. On first sip, champagne yeast and bark-dried oak drape lemon-peeled grapefruit rind, pineapple, mandarin orange, tangerine and mango illusions. Afterwards, floral fruiting picks up creamy caramel malting.
Docile Bavarian-like moderation spreads grain-toasted caramel malting across warbled citric murk and light sugared spicing. Lemony grapefruit bittering, tangy orange diffidence, musky hemp-oiled acridity and soft hop astringency depleted by minor aspirin astringency.
