Chicago Beer Society

Join us at Rock Bottom Chicago (1 W Grand Ave, Chicago) for the latest edition of the country’s oldest tasting of commercial beers. This will be a blind tasting - beers are served in souvenir CBS glasses to allow you to judge the beers strictly on their own merit. When the formal tasting ends, all the beers will be available for your enjoyment.

Renowned chef Charles Fegert has returned to RB Chicago and is preparing a great meal for us. Check out the official event flyer for all the tasty details, and use the attached form to reserve your tickets.

As of November 13, the Fall Tasting is sold out.

The Chicago Beer Society recommends public transportation or the use of a designated driver for all our tasting events. Rock Bottom is located directly above the CTA Red Line stop at Grand and State. It’s also within walking distance or a short cab ride from all Metra downtown stations.

The Spooky Brew Review homebrew competition is celebrating its 17th consecutive year.

Our host this year will be the famed Goose Island Clybourn brewpub, in what sadly may be the swan song at this venerable location. As usual, SBR will feature judging in all categories of the BJCP Style Guidelines. But the highlight is always the judging of the special Spooky (scariest) and Smashed Pumpkin (Worst of Show) categories - these should not be missed. For the second year in a row, we’ll also include Witches’ Brew, an open category for beer, mead, and cider brewed only by women.

NOTE: All entries for the Spooky and Smashed Pumpkin categories must be drinkable. Anything deemed unconsumable by the Competition Committee will be DISQUALIFIED.

So, please plan on entering, judging, stewarding, or just attending Spooky Brew Review 2008 — it definitely doesn’t get any crazier than this!

The competition announcement, entry forms, bottle labels, judge registration/waiver forms, and the latest BJCP Style Guidelines are all available in PDF (Portable Document Format).

• Get a copy of the Spooky Brew Review competition announcement, complete with entry form, mini-me BJCP Styles Chart, and bottle labels (PDF format)

• Get the full BJCP Style Guidelines (PDF format, updated for 2008) .

Entrants, Stewards and Judges: if you have additional questions, contact competition organizers Roger Deschner (roger @ chibeer.org, 773-363-1407) or Brad Reeg (beej @ chibeer.org, 773-384-5888).