Gripping oatmeal porter loads dark-roasted mocha malts, creamy dark cocoa powdering and fudgy cookie dough yeast atop ashen wood-smoked hop char. Baker’s chocolate, Hershey’s chocolate, light-roasted coffee, vanilla and molasses subsidies deepen heady mocha theme to its capacious oats-sugared spine.
Interpolating a Cascadian Dark Ale (a.k.a. Black IPA) with sour saison yeast and earthen barnyard funk, far-reaching farmhouse brew allows dark-roasted mocha malting, pine-charred hop bittering and spoiled citrus piquancy to set the tone. Raw molasses tarring embitters chocolate-roasted coffee bean backdrop. In the distance, dry bourbon and burgundy undertones emerge alongside a smidgen of mildewed peat soiling.
Naturally nuttier than brewers’ Ultrahighfrequency, draping dark-roasted chocolate malts across maple-glazed walnut, pecan and hazelnut illusions. Smoky mocha assertiveness gains prominence after the first few sips. Piney citrus hop bittering deepens over time.
Exemplary floral-fruited Imperial farmhouse IPA (with camouflaged 10% ABV) contrasts juicy tropical tang and crystal malt sweetness against soft citric-hopped bittering. Yellow grapefruit-peeled lemon zest, mandarin orange, clementine, tangerine and banana illusions abound over earthen minerality to delicate white-breaded spine. Perfumed orange blossom oiling, vinous green grape tartness, mild peppercorn prickle and docile rosebud-lilac wafts provide pertinent backup. A perfectly mellow saison/ IPA hybrid.
Strictly American-styled medium body (sans Solemn Oath’s usual Belgian influence) tosses massive piney hop bittering at dark-roasted rye graining, toasted caramel nuttiness and honeyed fruit bouquet. Tangy red apple, brown apple, peach, melon, honeydew and cantaloupe sweetness quickly embittered by sharp orange rind, pink grapefruit and pineapple briskness.
Approachable saison moderation softens white-wined Chardonnay buttering with light grapefruit-orange tartness, lemon-rotted champagne grape souring, lilting lemongrass liming and floral-hopped pleasantries (layered above a biscuity malt base). French saison yeast offers ascending lactobacillus acidity to dry earthen bottom.
Promising soft-toned hybrid combines orange-peeled coriander spicing of a Belgian witbier with the grassy-hopped ‘floral citric’ aromatics and resinous pining of an American wheat ale. Mildly creamed caramel malting anchors yellow-pink grapefruit tang and navel orange juicing to biscuit-y white and red wheat spine.
Emphatic Imperial Pilsner (with corn liquor-like 9.4% alcohol burn) upholds preponderance for sharp IPA fruiting. Wafting floral sweetness embraces assertive lemony orange-grapefruit tang and grassy hop bittering over honeyed cereal grain malting. A bold hop-head alternative.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
In Chicago’s upscale Wicker Park section in a red brick building on North Avenue, sensational hipster joint PIECE BREWERY & PIZZERIA, opened July 2001, recently celebrated its eighth anniversary. Modeled after Connecticut’s highly successful Bru Rm. at BAR, this humble post-industrial pub serves as a top-notch pizza place (specializing in thin crust New Haven-styled pizza) and casual sportsbar.
A rounded 20-seat right side bar sits across roomy stool-tabled seating. Multiple TV’s and several guitars (Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen’s part owner) are strewn about the gray and mauve walls while wood lattices and exposed ducts crowd the skylight rafters. Besides having a respectable selection of house beers, there are 20-plus bottles of fine craft beer available.
During July ’14 on a bright Sunday, my entourage grab a table at the raised level next to the front windows. Despite being crowded and busy, our thin crust pepperoni pizza came post-haste alongside the seven beer samplers.
For starters, dry-bodied Golden Arm Kolsch retained a lemon-soured hop fizz and orange-rotted cologne musk that may suit Blue Collar thirsts (though its sulfuric diacetyl murk may turn off a few stragglers).
A better choice was stylishly concise light body, Top Heavy Hefeweizen, a surefire bet with lemon-sugared banana, clove, bubblegum and vanilla sweetness sidling bubbly champagne effervescence and white-peppered orange blossom snips.
Similar in approach, Belgian-styled moderation, Swingin’ Single, brought tart banana-clove sweetness to dry black-peppered lemon peel bittering.
Piney juniper hop bitterness mellowed to grapefruit-peeled lemon pit souring for crisply clean Dysfunctionale, a wily American IPA with ancillary honeyed pineapple, mango, navel orange and tangerine tang.
For contrast, English-styled IPA, Victoria, maintained a musky lemon-grapefruit frontage, subtle juniper hop briskness, reedy bark-dried astringency and dewy earthen mustiness.
On the dark side, fudgy Roland The Headless Assistant Brewer possessed an approachable mocha theme as roasted chocolate, Columbian coffee, milked espresso, creme brulee, sweet hazelnut and bitter walnut illusions rode above the dry oatmeal base.
Best bet: classic Egyptian Pale Ale, Cameltoe, hid its hefty 9.5% ABV behind tropical IPA fruiting and soft resinous pine hops. Caramel malt sugaring and mild vanilla creaming sweetened its ancillary yellow grapefruit, mandarin orange, tangerine, clementine, pineapple, peach, nectarine and papaya tang as well as candied apple, pear and banana nuances.
While Chicago’s brewpub scene keeps growing exponentially, Piece continues to thrive and build a substantial reputation amongst locals and travelers alike.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Along Chicago’s youthful northwest Lincoln Park section, brown-wood-paneled gastropub, ATLAS BREWING COMPANY, opened in June 2012 (then closed in 2018). Brotherly brewers’ John and Ben Saller took the Atlas moniker from a pre-prohibition brewery specializing in diverse ales.
Competing with established local competitors such as Revolution and Piece, this laid-back modern Industrial lounge features one large community table, several booths, overhead Edison bulb lighting and black tin tiling. Glass-encased stainless steel brew tanks at the rear hold the soft-toned liquid gold soon to be consumed. And at the 15-stool right side bar, glass mosaic-tiled tap handles serve the nine hand-crafted brews to be had on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, July ’14.
Since the eight-tabled front deck is completely full, my small coterie decides to sit inside at a booth to quaff a few five-ounce samplers. Alongside the lightest fare, I munched on the outstanding cheese-sauced mussels and duck confit. Though diacetyl buttering disrupted corn-malted perfume-hopped Prager Pilsner, moderate flagship offering, Diversey Pale Ale brought decisive IPA-like fruiting (yellow grapefruit, orange rind, pineapple and mango) plus floral-perfumed hop bittering to bark-dried wood tones.
Belgian saison yeast spiced up yellow-fruited Farmhouse Wheat Ale, a light-bodied nicety gathering lemony Bartlett pear, banana, plantain, grapefruit and pineapple briskness for its sweet lychee-spiked wheat base. In a similar vein, mild tropical-fruited Two-Headed Boy Belgian Pale Wheat covered its sugary bubblegum yeast with dry-hopped grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering.
A limited edition collaboration with nearby Une Annee Brewery, Raspberry Brown Saison, brought sweet ‘n sour raspberry tartness to zesty lemon, oaken cherry and vinous grape notions, finishing dry (with a nutty quirk).
More adventurous fare included Americanized Belgian pale ale, Archaeopteryx Dreamcoat, a ‘juicy citra-hopped’ moderation with yellow and pink grapefruit tartness, lemon rot souring, green apple pucker and advertised orange-blossomed blueberry subtleties. Just as pleasurably hybridized, floral-bound Rookery Rye IPA used grapefruit and gooseberry flavors to advance its rye-dried multi-grain breaded appeal.
On the dark side, chocolate-sugared Invincible Armor Robust Porter possessed a smooth dark-roasted mocha malting and dried cherry tang while lightly creamed Freight Handler Milk Stout plied smoked black chocolate to lactic cocoa-dried Baker’s chocolate and cacao nibs snips.
www.atlasbeercompany.com
NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS
The undisputed crown jewel of conservative suburb, Naperville, SOLEMN OATH BREWERY began crafting interesting Belgo-American-styled ales in 2012, developing a distinct flare for remarkably adventurous and original fare along the way. Located in a light industrial park warehouse, this daring no-frills brewhouse has built quite a sturdy reputation among local beer geeks and fanatical brewpub travelers.
Brewing an endless assortment of stylishly diverse ales from large stainless steel vessels and massive fermentation tanks, Solemn Oath has expanded exponentially since opening. As of my July 2014 jaunt, the dedicated staff now bottles, kegs and taps its highly respected product for Chicagoland consumption.
Upon entering the left side door of this off-white cement-floored edifice, an L-shaped serving station accommodates a packed late afternoon crowd. Nirvana’s raucous anthem, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” blares in the background as my friend, Scott, and I sample eight endlessly rewarding and stylishly hybridized libations. Many of these selections, plus a few others bought in bottle, are reviewed more fully in the Beer Index.
Light-bodied farmhouse ale, Hexafoos, began our session. Its fruity saison yeast ‘zang’ retained a white-peppered lemon pit sourness and mild herbal bittering, allowing mandarin orange, blood orange and tangerine illusions to flutter past whimsical chamomile snips.
Bettering most casual pale ales, the santiam-hopped version of Skinny Jeans Are Ridiculous possessed an herbal fruited pleasantry layered above dry pale malts. Its sweet citric zest and lemon-dropped grapefruit tartness contrasted hop-oiled hemp notions, picking up a broadened juniper bittering by the bold finish.
Boasting large amounts of grapefruit, pineapple and mango, tropical-fruited pale ale, Snaggletooth Bandana, brought buttery malt creaming to floral-hopped phenolic astringency.
A neat collaboration with Stone, ‘red’ farmhouse ale, Pyrros, seemed reminiscent of a Flanders Red with its tannic red cherry tartness, vinous green grape esters and light Sherry illusions downplaying unanticipated pepper-spiced herbage.
Effervescent Belgian IPA, Butterfly Flashmob, offered dry tropical fruiting to floral-bound herbage and salty hop-oiled spicing. White-peppered yellow grapefruit rind, sweet orange peel, sweet banana and pineapple coast alongside crystal malts.
Approachable saison moderation, Whisper Kisses, softened its white-wined Chardonnay buttering with light grapefruit-orange tartness, lilting lemongrass liming and floral-hopped pleasantries (layered above a biscuity malt base).
Black kolsch-styled Eigengrau stayed subtle as light-roasted black patent malts skewered its coffee-burnt hop char and smoked chocolate subtleties. Powdered cocoa and Baker’s chocolate whims skim the surface.
Perhaps the best offering, Foux Du Fafa, a floral-fruited Imperial farmhouse IPA (with well-hidden 10% ABV), balanced crystal malt sweetness with delicate citric-hopped bittering. Lemon zest, orange blossom, vinous grape and yellow grapefruit illusions abound over earthen minerality.
www.solemnoathbrewery.com
LISLE, ILLINOIS
Exquisitely rewarding gastropub, THE BAVARIAN LODGE, may have the best beer selection in Chicago’s affluent northwest suburbs. Matching the elegant splendor of an Alpine hunting lodge with the cozily rustic warmth of an English pub, this genteel Ogden Avenue hotspot clearly puts the tiny village of Lisle on the map. Beautiful wood decor, vintage art deco, gold-foiled ceiling tiles, stain-glass tulip lamps and multiple beer plaques line the low ceiling pub area and a stone hearth reinforces the antique lodge-like setting. A separate intimate dining area suits families and large parties.
Serving an amazing selection of 38 rotating tapped beers and 150-plus bottles alongside generously portioned authentic German cuisine, The Bavarian Lodge blew away Du Page county’s craft beer competition on my initial visit, July 2014. Sitting at the U-shaped bar for dinner with my college pal, Scott, I ordered the delicious potato pancake appetizer and liver dumpling soup with the ample Roast Duck platter. Local denizens recommended the Weiner Schnitzel, Kassler Rippchen (wood-smoked pork chops), Schweins Hax’N (pork shank), Hungarian ghoulash and bratwurst.
On this busy Wednesday evening, one admirable cask-conditioned bourbon from Michigan’s famed New Holland Brewery (made in Dragon’s Milk beer barrels) is available to quaff along with special one-off ‘new arrivals’ such as Germany’s Alpirsbacher Klosterbrau Pilsner and Plank Heller Weizenbock, Belgium’s Dieu Du Ciel Rosee D’Hibiscus, Stone ‘Crime’ Bourbon Barrel Aged Ale (with dry-hopped chili peppers) and Three Floyds Backmasking Oatmeal Stout.
For starters, I order three previously untried brews from Indiana mainstay, Three Floyds. Renowned mild pale ale, Three Floyds Zombie Dust, brought beautiful floral-fruited IPA-like zest to mild resinous pine bittering, contrasting wheat-honeyed caramel malting with spruce-tipped ruby red grapefruit, orange rind and pineapple tartness. Three Floyds Space Station Middle Finger Pale Ale offered a dry-hopped floral citrus bouquet to honey-spiced pale malts. Three Floyds War Mullet, an enticing Imperial IPA, received an ultra-dry piney hop bittering and brisk juniper bite for its juicy citric tropicalia.
Dinnertime fare included Czech Republic’s Praga Dark Lager, a mocha-based medium body gathering burnt caramel, creme brulee, toffee, molasses cookie and honeyed pumpernickel illusions, as well as adjunct pale ale, Dogfish Head Rosabi, a mild wasabi-spiced elixir with red rice graining softening its hesitant horseradish heat. (Full reviews are in Beer Index).
bavarian–lodge.com