Chicago Beer Society

While this is not an official Chicago Beer Society event, this is an event that we as the Chicago Beer Society wholeheartedly support. The event is on Saturday the 22nd of March (a bit more than a week away!).

Come out and support our local Rock Bottom brewers! The following is an email from Pete Crowley announcing Rockfest to the Chicago Beer Society’s email list.

Hello all! I wanted to send out a reminder that if you don’t get enough beer this weekend with Stoutfest and St. Pat’s and all, please join me on Saturday the 22nd from 1 to 5, noon for brewers and those other important types like media and such, for the first annual Rockfest benefiting the MDA. We will feature over 30 of the finest beers from Chicago area Rock Bottoms. We will showcase some real ales, barrel-aged beers, winter warmers, I.P.A.s and session beers! It’s only 20 bucks and all the proceeds go to charity. Come on down and see how different us RB’s really are and check out the cool 40 deep trench that the city has dug around our building! Yes, we are still open! Thanks for the support-Pete p.s. tix are only available at area RB’s for purchase on a first come basis. Cheers!

Pete Crowley-Senior Brewer
Rockbottom Chicago
1 W Grand Ave
Chicago, IL 60610

Come out and support some great Chicago area beers from some great Chicago area Brewers!

Night of the Living Ales, the region’s largest celebration of cask-conditioned beers, was held on March 1. Twenty breweries from Chicagoland and beyond provided 40 casks of real ale, while over 500 attendees sampled the beers and cast ballots to decide the 2008 Champion Real Ale of Chicagoland. After spirited voting, Surly Brewing‘s Tea-bagged Furious (Hoppy) emerged as the champion. Goose Island-Fulton captured second place with its Imperial Stout with Chicory, while Rock Bottom-Orland Park took third with its unusual M&D Peanut Butter Brown. Congratulations to the champions, and thanks to all the breweries for supplying such an outstanding list of beers.

NotLA IV simply could not take place without the support of CBS members and guests. We also owe a great debt to the Siebel Institute of Technology and World Brewing Academy and the Brewers Supply Group for their sponsorship this year; Roth Kase USA for supplying the fabulous cheese for the fourth straight year; above all, we want to thank John Hall and Goose Island Beer Company for their unstinting support for CBS over the last 20 years. Goose Island Wrigleyville has been our gracious host every year. Thanks to Reggie, Minda, Daria, and all their staff for their help.

We realize that this year’s event was much more crowded than it should have been. We’re sorry that we oversold tickets, but can assure everyone that we will substantially limit capacity in future years. We know that this may exclude some of you, but this will definitely provide a more comfortable environment and a better experience for all who attend.

Here’s the full list of breweries and their beers:

Goose Island Brewpub – Clybourn Avenue
1. Debbie’s Special Bitter
2. Pub Stout

Goose Island Brewery – Fulton Street
3. Matilda w/Juniper Berries & Branch Tips (pre-brett)
4. Honker’s Ale (dry-hopped)
5. Matilda w/Lime & Orange Peels (pre-brett)
6. Imperial Stout w/Chicory (Bourbon County pre-barrel)

Piece Brewery & Pizzeria
7. Big Black Moriah Smoked Porter
8. Mooseknuckle Barleywine

Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery – Chicago
9. Blitzen Belgian Strong Golden
10. Siegle d’Houblon de Moineau Belgian Rye-P-A
11. Who Are You Wit?

America’s Brewing Co – Aurora
12. Rex Grossman’s Big Play Barleywine
13. Kyle Orton’s Statistically Strong Scotch Ale

Brass Restaurant & Brewery – Lake Barrington
14. Anticipation Pale Ale

Emmett’s Tavern & Brewing Co – West Dundee, Palatine, Downers Grove, Oswego
15. McCarthy Red Ale

Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery – Flossmoor
16. Bitter Harvest American Pale Ale
17. Milky Way Stout
18. X-IPA

Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant – Bolingbrook
19. Schwarzbier

Govnor’s Public House – Lake in the Hills
20. Randall Road IPA (dry-hopped)

Lunar Brewing – Villa Park
21. Kind Ale IPA
22. Orion’s Oatmeal Pale

Mickey Finn’s Brewery – Libertyville
23. Rye Stout
24. Irish Red Ale

M.T. Barrels – West Dundee
25. HopHead Heaven IPA

Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery – Orland Park
26. King of Hearts Imperial Red
27. M&D Peanut Butter Brown
28. Naughty Scot
29. Hopbomb IPA

Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery – Warrenville
30. Belgial Dubbel
31. English IPA

Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery – Yorktown
32. Valentines’ Double IPA
33. 630 Suburban Wheat
34. McCoy’s Pomegranate Stout

Two Brothers Brewing Co. & Taphouse – warrenville
35. Cane & Ebel

Lagunitas Brewing – Petaluma, CA
36. Old Gnarlywine

Three Floyds Brewing – Munster, IN
37. Decimator Doppelbock
38. Blackheart English IPA

Surly Brewing – Brooklyn Center, MN
39. Oak-aged Bender (Malty)
40. Tea-bagged Furious (Hoppy)

For the fourth consecutive year, CBS will be sponsoring the region’s largest celebration of cask-conditioned ales, Night of the Living Ales. This event will feature around 40 casks of real ale from Chicagoland breweries and some very special guests. As always, this promises to be a big firkin deal for area real ale enthusiasts. Attendees will be able to sample the beers and then select the 2008 Champion Real Ale of Chicagoland. Past champions have been Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, Flossmoor Station X-IPA, and Three Floyds Admiral Lord Nelson. Who will win in 2008? It’s up to you!

NotLA IV will be held at Goose Island Wrigleyville, 3535 N Clark St, Chicago, from 6-10 pm (9:45 last call). Tickets are $35 for members, $40 nonmembers, purchased in advance. Admission includes a tasting glass, beer samples, and appetizers (artisanal meats and cheeses; Goose Island grub). You must be 21 or older to be admitted. As of February 17 we are now completely sold out. Thanks once again to all our members and guests for your continuing support of this event. Extra thanks to the Siebel Institute of Technology and World Brewing Academy and the Brewers Supply Group for their sponsorship this year.

As always, we recommend that you take public transportation or arrange for a designated driver. Goose Island Wrigleyville is located approximately 2 blocks west of the CTA Red Line Addison station (one-half block south of Wrigley Field). The CTA 22 Clark bus runs past the front door all night; taxis are also an easy option.