f96h2 CBS Events, Past CBS Homebrew Events

2009 Spooky Brew Review Homebrew Competition

Hard to believe, but our wacky annual Spooky Brew Review homebrew competition is celebrating its 18th consecutive year!

Emmett's LogoOur host this year will Emmett’s Ale House at 110 North Brockway Street in Palatine, IL (conveniently located virtually adjacent to Metra’s Union Pacific Northwest Line station). 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, which definitely should not be missed. For the third 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 otherwise by the Competition Committee will be DISQUALIFIED, and that’s very hard to do.

So, please plan on entering, judging, stewarding, or just attending Spooky Brew Review 2009 — it definitely doesn’t get any crazier than this!

The competition package (including rules & regulations, entry forms, bottle labels, and a style chart) is now available for download here in PDF format.

Judges and Stewards – we need you! If you are interesting in serving as a judge or steward on October 31, please contact competition organizers Joe Preiser (joe @ chibeer.org, 630-759-4569) or Steve Hamburg (stevie @ chibeer.org, 773-878-0177). All general questions can also be directed to the organizers.

f96h2 CBS Events, Other Beer Events

Great Taste of the Midwest (Soldout)

The Great Taste of the Midwest at Olin-Turville Park in Madison, WI is always one of the country’s best beer festivals. It’s become so popular that the limited (now 6000) tickets sell out WAY in advance. This year was no exception – the event was declared a sellout almost as soon as tickets went on sale. But, as has been the case for eons, CBS offers its members an exclusive festival package that includes a coveted ticket to the Taste and round-trip bus transportation from either Chicago or Warrenville. Tickets were sold via a members-only mailing and, not surprisingly, were completely sold out by June 1.

Tickets will be arriving via snail mail very soon. If you didn’t make the cut, your checks will be returned.

Here’s the 411 for those who have scored tickets:

  • City bus departs from Goose Island Clybourn (1800 N Clybourn) at 9:30 am, returns ~9 pm
  • Suburban bus departs from Rock Bottom-Warrenville (Winfield Rd & I-88) at 9:30 am, returns ~9 pm
  • No smoking or glass containers on the buses
  • You must be at least 21 years old to attend
  • Festival tickets will be distributed on the buses
  • Don’t be late for the ride home – most hotel rooms in Madison are already booked!
f96h2 CBS Events

A Midsummer Day’s Ales at Murphy’s Bleachers

The Chicago Beer Society and Murphy’s Bleachers present A Midsummer Day’s Ales, Saturday Aug. 1 at Murphy’s, directly across from the bleacher entrance to Wrigley Field. Weather permitting, Murphy’s will swing open its French doors and offer up the sidewalk café for another fantastic CBS event. Attendees will also be able to take a guided tour of the Murphy’s rooftop.

Summer is flying by, so don’t miss this opportunity to enjoy an outstanding selection of beer and some great al fresco dining. The beer theme for the event is session beers and summer seasonals, and the line up will include a 3.5% farmhouse table beer from the maker of Saison Dupont, two beers from Jolly Pumpkin Ales, and many more from our friends in the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. We’ll have k ölsch-style beers from as far away as Cologne and as nearby as Bolingbrook and Fulton Street.

Are you partial to hops? We’ll have a couple of APAs, a hoppy lager from one of Chicago’s newest breweries, and a dry-hopped Pils from Rock Bottom Chicago. Looking for some malt and body, we’ll have a brown ale from Wil Turner of Goose Island, and the new Golden Cap Saison from New Holland Brewing Co.  We’ll also throw a Berliner Weisse into the mix. The current beer list includes:

  • 1809 Berliner Weisse, Brauerei Weihenstephan, Freising, Germany
  • Avril, Brasserie Dupont, Belgium
  • Bam Bière and Weizen Bam Bière, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Dexter, MI
  • Gaffel Kölsch, Private Brewery Gaffel, Köln, Germany
  • Amarillo APA, Brickstone Restaurant, Bourbonnais, IL
  • Willow Street White Ale and Hex-A-Gone Brown, Goose Island Clybourn
  • Goose Island Honkers Ale and Summertime, Goose Island Fulton Street
  • Blueberry Wit, Lunar Brewing Co.
  • Hugh Hefnerweizen and Dry-Hopped Czech Pils, Rock Bottom Chicago
  • Flywheel Bright Lager, Metropolitan Brewing
  • Helles, Rock Bottom Orland Park
  • Summerbrau Kölsch, Gordon Biersch, Bolingbrook
  • Dog Days Dortmunder-style Lager, Two Brothers Brewing
  • Golden Cap Saison, New Holland Brewing, MI

Bring your appetite, and you won’t leave hungry. The ploughman’s lunch created by Murphy’s Bleachers chef Jeanne Carlson will be built around three great cheeses:

  • A British classic from Neal’s Yard Dairy (probably Lincolnshire Poacher)
  • Bermuda Triangle, an award-winning aged goat cheese from Cypress Grove Chevre, CA.
  • Grand Cru, the flagship Gruyère from our award-winning friends at Roth Käse, Monroe, WI.

This ploughman’s lunch isn’t just cheese and baguette. Look for fresh tomato chutney, house-baked Irish soda bread, fresh fruit, thinly-sliced smoked duck breast and country-style pate. And then save room for a pig roast with sides, prepared by Murphy’s Bleachers proprietor James Murphy. Once summer is gone you’ll be crying in your beer that you missed this event!

Tickets are $35 for members, $40 for nonmembers. To reserve yours, just download and mail in the official ticket order form.  Nonmember tickets may also be ordered online via Brown Paper Tickets. A limited number of tickets will also be available at the door. Of course, you must be 21 or older to attend. Valid ID required.  All ticket sales are final.

As always, we recommend that you take public transportation or arrange for a designated driver.  Murphy’s Bleachers is located at the corner of Waveland and Sheffield, across the street from the bleacher entrance to Wrigley Field (approximately 1/2 block west and 1 block north of the CTA Red Line Addison station).  The CTA Clark, Addison, and Irving Park buses run late and are a short walk.  Taxis are also an easy option.

We look forward to seeing you at the Bleachers!

f96h2 CBS Events

CBS Annual Picnic and War of the Ribs/Chili/Salsa/Dessert

Our annual picnic is always one of our most anticipated events, and with good reason:  Every year we supply an extraordinary beer selection backed up by a seemingly endless feast of ribs, chili, salsa, and desserts that are whipped up by our amazing members who compete for trophies in hotly contested competitions (view 2008 results.).

Last year we managed to hold the picnic on the rainiest day in a century, but no matter – we still had an impressive crowd and survival stories that will likely last another 100 years. This year we’ve bribed every local meteorologist to predict bright sunshine and warm temperatures, so it’s in the bag!

So, plan on bringing the family and your craft beer lovin’ friends – all are welcome and nobody ever goes home hungry or thirsty. The food is amazing – better than you’ll get in any restaurant. And the price? FREE to all CBS members and family who bring a food item to share, or $5 (fidollars) if you come empty handed. Nonmembers bringing foodstuffs pay $5; empty-handed nonmembers must pay $10, but what a deal!

Grab your folding chairs, horseshoes, lawn darts, croquet sets, wiffle balls and bats, etc. and enjoy a great afternoon of phenomenal food, beer, and fun. If you’re interested in participating in the rib competition, contact Randy Mosher. If you want to compete for the chili, salsa, or dessert trophies, just bring along your entry and sign up on-site.

Location: LaBagh Woods, Grove 1 in the Cook County Forest Preserve just off the Edens Expressway on Chicago’s North Side (auto entrance on east side of Cicero Avenue, north of Foster). We’re about 1.5 miles from the Jefferson Park stop on the CTA Blue Line, where you can hop a 92 Foster Avenue bus. It’s also not far to the Forest Glen stop on the Metra Milwaukee District North line.

For a copy of the official picnic flyer so you can save or print out the event information, click here.

f96h2 CBS Events, Past CBS Homebrew Events

Big Brew Day 2009

You are cordially invited to the annual celebration of the American Homebrewers Association‘s Big Brew Day. Homebrewers all across the country will be brewing batches of beer at the same time, including some of us. There are even some standard recipes (which we rarely follow).

Brewers, if you’re planning on coming, contact Randy Mosher (see phone below) so he can save some room.

Of course, the party is mostly non-brewing participants, thank god, as we’d burn down the neighborhood otherwise. It functions as a warped open house event. Doors will be open from 8 am (brewers earlier by special arrangement). As far as food and drink, this is a pitch-in. We usually have a ploughman’s lunch midday, then get the smoker fired up (usually by Joe Preiser, Pitmaster) and eat a hot meat dinner later. We’ll have a grill available as well as the smoker. Don’t show up empty handed. Beer, meat, sides, snacks, and desserts are all welcome. If somebody wants to take charge of Julep fixins, it is Derby Day.

We will have a big pile of firewood for the firepit. You might bring a lawn chair with you if you care what you sit on.

Date & Time: May 2, 2009 8 am-until Roger leaves.

Location: Chez Mosher-Cline, at 1604 W. Lunt Ave, Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. Lunt is 7000 north; that’s 4 blocks from the lake, 2 blocks east of Clark, about a 5 minute walk from the Morse Ave Red Line CTA stop. 773-973-0240. Also easily accessible from the Metra UPN North line stop (Rogers Park), just a couple of blocks away.