f96h2 CBS Events

12th Annual Chicagoland Brewpub & Microbrewery Shootout (Sold Out)

Come out and enjoy the best beers and best foods from Chicago area brewpubs and microbreweries as CBS presents the Chicagoland Brewpub & Microbrewery Shootout for the 12th consecutive year. Sample a bunch of beers and each brewery’s food item and then vote for your favorites (beer, food item, and beer-food combination). Winners will be announced at the end of the event. Support your favorite brewery or brewpub – or discover a new favorite. Either way, you get to taste the very best beer and food that Chicago has to offer.

The Shootout runs from 1-5 pm in newly-remodeled space at the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N Knox Ave, Chicago. An event flyer and ticket order form was mailed to members (valid as of December 1, 2009) in early December. As of Sunday night, December 27, orders have been processed and the event is now officially sold out. There will be no ticket sales to nonmembers. If your order arrived after the sellout was reached, your check will be returned. Tickets were mailed in early January.

If you weren’t lucky enough to score a ticket, your best bet is to check our CBS-HB listserv, as occasionally there are a handful of last-minute cancellations.

To our members who we could not accommodate, we are very sorry. We have looked into expanding the event, but the participating brewpubs, breweries, and their staffs have said that expanding the attendance would be too difficult for them to handle logistically.

f96h2 CBS Event Recaps, General CBS News

33rd Annual Fall Tasting Recap

Approximately 120 members and guests attended one of the most memorable Fall Tastings in recent memory. Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro was our host for the evening, and wow – they were great. The room was beautiful, the staff couldn’t have been more helpful, and the food was both plentiful and delicious. And then there was the beer…

Thirteen outstanding beers were presented in a walk-around blind tasting, and after the ballots were cast, Older Viscosity, a wood aged Imperial stout from Port Brewing, San Marcos, CA was selected as champion beer. It narrowly edged out Claire’s Impure Thought, a Russian Imperial Chocolate Raspberry Stout from Rock Bottom Chicago. The voting was so tight there was a tie for third place between 1871, a pre-prohibition lager from Emmett’s Tavern & Brewing Company and Daisy Cutter Pale Ale from Half Acre Beer Company.

Filling out the rest of the impressive field (in presentation order):

CBS thanks all of the brewers, distributors, and bar-owning friends who made such an incredible selection possible. We also owe a great debt to the organizers and volunteers who made this event possible and who did their hardest work behind the scenes.

To our members and guests and attended, it was great having you! Hope to see you at our next event, the 12th Annual Chicagoland Brewpub & Microbrewery Shootout, coming up in the new year. Make sure your membership is current to assure your exclusive opportunity for tickets.

f96h2 CBS Event Recaps, General CBS News, Past CBS Homebrew Events

Spooky Brew 2009 Homebrew Competition Results

Congratulations to the winners of the 2009 Chicago Beer Society Spooky Brew Review Homebrew Competition. We had 304 entries this year, the most ever! Thanks to all the brewers who entered beers in this year’s competition.

When the dust settled and judging was completed, Calvin Rowland of Bolingbrook and the Urban Knaves of Grain won Best-of-Show with a superb Applewine (BJCP category 28C); CBS’s own Dave Phillips and his team (Kyle Swansen, Tony Kline) were runners-up with their Specialty beer (category 23), a hoppy Belgian Pale Ale with brettanomyces; Ron Stazuk kept his streak alive by capturing the Spooky and Smashed Pumpkin awards again. After a post-event review revealed a clerical problem with the Witches’ Brew scoring, co-winners were named:  Cindy Pillar and Katie Quiter with “Scary Spice,” who brewed a pumpkin ale with cinnamon and clove,  and Stephanette Smith with “Inky Pawprint,” a very fine dry stout. Also, special kudos to Michael Shannon of the Midnight Carboys for earning 1st place honors in 4 categories and 9 ribbons overall. Well done! The complete results are available here.

Emmett's LogoThe organizers owe a great deal of gratitude to brewers Ryan Clooney and Rob Hunter and all of the staff at Emmett’s Tavern & Brewing Company in Palatine for their incredible hospitality in hosting the event. Everyone on site was unbelievably helpful and patient; the lunch and beers were outstanding. We encourage everyone in the region to visit Emmett’s – great businesses like these deserve our support!

But even more, we really have to thank all of the Chicago area judges and stewards who stepped forward and did such a great job getting through our record number of entries.

Cheers,

Joe Preiser and Steve Hamburg, Organizers

f96h2 CBS Events, General CBS News

33rd Annual Fall Tasting and Dinner at Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro

Join us at Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro (3906 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago) on Saturday, November 14 for the 33rd edition of the country’s oldest tasting of commercial beers. This will be a blind tasting to allow you to judge the specially procured beers strictly on their own merit. When the formal tasting ends, all the beers will be available for your enjoyment. There are a limited amount of seats available. Reservations are due by November 7 and pre-payment is required. Everyone must be 21 or older to attend. NO REFUNDS.

Mrs. Murphy and Sons specialize in contemporary Irish cuisine and they’ve prepared a great menu for us that includes:

  • Irish Cheese and Meat Platter
  • Field Greens, Toasted Walnuts & Cashel Bleu Cheese with Cider Vinaigrette
  • Cider Braised Pork Loin -and- Irish Stew
  • Roasted Red Skin Potatoes -and- Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage
  • Irish Brown Soda Bread and Butter
  • Apple Crumble with Whiskey Whipped Cream

Tickets are $45 for CBS members, $55 for nonmembers. As always, nonmembers who sign up for CBS when making reservations get to pay the member rate. Check out the official event flyer for all the tasty details and use the attached form to reserve your tickets. We look forward to seeing you on the 14th!

The Chicago Beer Society emphasizes responsible consumption and recommends public transportation or the use of a designated driver for all our tasting events. Mrs. Murphy and Sons is located a short walk from  the CTA Brown Line stop at Irving Park and is convenient to multiple bus lines and easily accessible by cab.

f96h2 CBS Event Recaps

Results from the 2009 CBS Picnic and War of the Ribs/Chili/Salsa/Desserts

Perfect weather brought out a record crowd (approximately 470 wristbands were distributed) to LaBagh Woods for our umpteenth annual picnic. Suitably we offered 15 beers and 1 cider, all of which were completely drained by 6 pm. The list, in alphabetical order:

Attendees voted in the featured food competitions and the winners were awarded attractive trophies. We also had separate blind judging for chili and ribs and awarded 1st place trophies to the champs. There were 8 rib competitors this year, 20 chilis, 24 salsas, and plenty of desserts (I don’t have the official count, sorry!).

The Winners:

Ribs – Popular Vote
1. Tim Norris
2. Pigsiclicious
3. Randy Mosher
4. Todd Boza

Ribs – Blind Judging
1. Todd Boza
2. Pigsiclicious
3. Rich Larson
4. Howard Miller

Chili – Popular Vote
1. Thomas Griffin
2. Rodney Kibzey
3. Adam Murphy
4. Dmitry Shub

Chili – Blind Judging
1. Thomas Griffin
2. Jean O’Malley
3. Dan Lehnerer
4. Robert Watts

Salsa – Popular Vote
1. Ed Seaman
2. Jennifer Proesel
3. Brian Bernard
4. Tom Stetter

Dessert – Popular Vote
1. Lowell Defrance
2. Livia Glatz
3. John Warnik
4. Adam Murphy

Many thanks to our friends for their generosity: Laura Blasingame (Map Room), Kevin Blodger (Gordon Biersch), Greg Browne (Mickey Finn’s), Pete Crowley (Rock Bottom Chicago), Matt Gallagher (Half Acre), Doug & Tracy Hurst (Metropolitan), Patrick Karnick (Woodchuck), Russ Klisch (Lakefront Brewing),
Harry Mihailidis (New Belgium), Wil Turner (Goose Island Clybourn), and Rogue Brewing.

With tremendous weather, record-breaking crowds, and tons of great food (and just enough beer) the 2009 CBS picnic may have been our greatest ever. Thanks to everyone – members and nonmembers – who made it such an excellent day.