First Thursday

CBS First Thursday is back and better than ever – and back to our roots.

Moving forward, our monthly First Thursday gathering will focus on homebrewing, brewing topics and other subjects relevant to homebrewing and the local Chicago beer community. We will continue to be a forum for local homebrewers to share their labors and receive input from those who love beer as much as they do.

We will convene in the cellar room (downstairs from the main bar) or the Siebel Room (just inside the parking lot entrance) at Goose Island Clybourn at 7:30, with a presentation starting at 8:00. Please bring a homebrew or two to share with the group and receive comments and insights from fellow homebrewers and esteemed CBS members. As always, guests are welcome.

Here’s our upcoming schedule of guest speakers and/or special First Thursday events:

  • Jan 2nd, 2014 – Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Vertical
  • March 6th, 2014 – (GI Clybourn)  – Ray Daniels will joining us to speak about “Balance and Carbonation in Recipe Formulation” 
  • June 5th, 2014 – (GI Clybourn) – This month, our guests will be the crew from a new local startup brewery, Rude Hippo Brewing company.
  • July 10th, 2014 – (GI Clybourn) – Please note the date change.  This month we will be hosting First Thursday on the second Thursday of the month due to the holiday.

The Goose Island Brewpub is located at 1800 N Clybourn, Chicago. Closest CTA stops are North/Clybourn (Red Line) and Armitage (Brown Line). Cabs are easily available on Clybourn Avenue.

Spooky Brew Results

Scott Lasky captures Best of Show at the 2007 Spooky Brew Review Homebrew Competition.

Congratulations to Scott Lasky of BABBLE (Lake County, IL) for winning Best of Show at our 16th annual Spooky Brew Review homebrew competition. Scott’s English Barleywine was chosen first out of 187 entries across all beer, mead, and cider categories. CBS’s own George Westlund (American Amber Ale) and Doug Wich (American Stout) took second and third place BOS.

Other CBS winners were Tom Fitzpatrick and Nathan Dent (two ribbons) and Jeff Sparrow. Great going, guys! Rock Bottom Chicago was our gracious host this year. Thanks to the entrants, the judges and stewards, and our many sponsors. But special thanks to our competition organizer for 2007, Roger Deschner.

Well done, Rog. For the complete results, see the Official 2007 Spooky Brew Winners pages.