We will be releasing a new 'harvest' style ale, or at least our take on the style this week Friday! The beer is called Wake of the Flood, and is a very pleasant beer really focusing on rye, using 2 different types of rye and some pilsner malt while being balanced out with crystal hops. This beer is a taste of autumn in a glass.

Wake of the Flood will be draft only, and available only at the Half Acre Beer Emporium, starting this Friday, Oct. 15th, when we open the doors. So bring your growlers to fill up for the weekend. Have a good rest of your week and we hope to see you here! 

It is officially the end of summer and that means fall cleaning around the brewery! We have stumbled upon some 1/6th barrels that we need to get rid of. These include most of the special releases that we have produced throughout the summer.

Daisy Cutter Pale Ale

Bairn Farmhouse

Long Thai Rainbow Rye

Sticky Fat

Guajillo Baume

Shewolf

Freedom of '78

Double Daisy Cutter

So we decided to have a little party and it will take place this Wednesday, September 29th, starting at 7pm. And what other place would we decide to have this party at, Hop Leaf, who has been supporting our brewery since the beginning. Hop Leaf will be selling these beers at  $3.50 for a 1/2 imperial pint (10oz.), and will sell it until it is gone. So come early and get your fill of your favorites. Hop Leaf will also have some light appetizers out free for patrons upstairs, and the kitchen will also be open to order some of their great fare.  

Some of these beers are getting a little old, but we are going to drink them anyway, we have to make room in the cooler for more great beers. Hope to see a lot of you there, it will be a night that you won't want to miss.

Two of our special releases for the fall will be available beginning on Saturday at noon.  We are releasing our Collaborative Evil '10 and the Beelzebeer.

The Collaborative Evil was a project first started by Todd Ashman (former Flossmoor brewer), Matt VanWyk (former Flossmoor brewer) and Zac Triment.  The idea was to produce a beer similar in a broad style, but unique to each individual brewery.  This year the group, which has grown to eight, decided to do a strong porter.  This was the only requirement.  We have chosen to make an imperial smoked porter.

Collaborative Evil - Flossmoor is an 8.4% porter, made with just over 5% cherrywood smoked malt.  The smoothness and the balance between the rich flavors of the porter and the smoke blend well together and make this a nice beer to take into the fall season.

The Beelzebeer is the other release on Saturday.  This beer was made because brew #666 came up in the grand total of brews that have occured here at Flossmoor Station.  We had no particular style in mind when this batch was made other than to create something strong, dark, and delicious.  What we got was Beelezebeer at 9.5%, made with four domestic and imported dark sugars, and one very full mash tun.

Come and get yours while they still are around.

The GABF, while only my second year in attendance, has continued to impress me with what volumes it says about the trends in craft beer industry and especially the consumers that make it possible.  What other industry, in a time when a double dip recession is a real possibility, is able to generate almost a 10% increase in the number of entries.  That is 10% over the 3200 beers entered from the last year - staggering.  This translates to each year (of the past several years) as the most competitive.

Not only did this year top last years' stats based on number of breweries and number of beers, but it also gave us more geographic diversity in the breweries.  The major states have still managed their impressive number of wins, but the winners are coming from states not before recognized for their accomplishments in craft beer.

With that being said, I want to then congratulate all the winners from all the areas of the country who are creating names for themselves (especially the Midwest since I am biased) AND all the people in these areas who are trying craft beer for the first time and who explore these new styles.  Sophisticated pallets or newly emerging ones, all of them have raised their collective beer glasses and expressed their love of flavorful beer.

A trip to the GABF is also one of inspiration and rejuvenation from the perspective of the brewers too.  Who couldn't be inspired and humbled from the thousands of delicious beers which have pressed the limit of what we thought was possible with craft beer.

If you haven't ever been to the GABF, I would definitely recommend a pilgrimage.  That is not the only place you can find this quality of beers though.  You can take a walk around your local liquor store and find almost all of the winners from the Chicagoland area on the shelves right now!

So I guess I can end my GABF awestruck rant and just tell all of those people out there to keep drinking, keep homebrewing, and keep raising the bar for us brewers and breweries that you are proud to call your favorites.

Cheers

           The city of Denver is officially hung over from the first night of the festival. It was nice  to finally set up our booth and have all our beers tasting really great. The other Chicago breweries  also brought some very delicious beers . I enjoyed Half Acre's Gossamer, Revolution's Eugene Porter, Rock Bottom Lombard's ultra mega Argus, and Flossmoor's collaboration evil. Tasting Chicago beers and seeing our representation at the festival makes you really proud to be a brewer in Chicago. After saying hello to former brewing bosses and Siebel classmates, I headed over to the food and beer pavilion to do my food and beer presentation. My presentation with the home brew chef Sean Paxton went very well as did the food with the beer. The short ribs were tender and the goat cheese tart puffed up perfectly. What didn't work out so well was the genius who decided to pull the fire alarm at 3 in the morning setting off the sprinklers which soaked the whole floor in our hotel. This is what happens when you give people access to over 2000 beers in one evening. Today we are heading over to the rare beer tasting  at the Wynkoop brewery. After that it will be another full day at the festival tasting and talking about beer.

3 days
450 breweries
2000 beers
49000 people

This is what the Great American beer festival is all about. If you love beer then September 16-18 in Denver is your heaven. This is my second GABF and what I learned from the first one is to hydrate and don't start with bbl aged beers. It's all about pacing yourself and having a great time with people that love beer as much as you do.

Things on my to do list today

1. Set up the Goose Island brewpub booth with flags, taste the beers, and put up our beer entries

2. Braise some short ribs and bake some goat cheese tarts for my food and beer presentation tonight at 7:30pm

3. Drink some damn good beers  with some great brewers and beer drinkers.

So after giving our staff at the retail store a much needed break from releasing a new beer last weekend. We are ramping it up this holiday weekend and releasing our American Dark Ale, Sticky Fat. It will only be available as growler pours at the Half Acre Beer Emporium, starting Friday, September 3rd at noon. Some of you may have heard about the beer already, but have you heard the story of Sticky Fat? You can read the story HERE. We used all freshly harvested hop cones in making of this beer that came from a farmer in Northern California. He overnight shipped them and we brewed the beer as soon as they showed up. It is tasting phenominal!

August was a crazy month, as you may have noticed, this is my first post since the beginning of August. There was some sort of event every weekend, and usually 2 or 3. So, sorry for the lack of posts. 

We have started the beginning stages of our expansion project here at the brewery. The first of a series of 60 barrel tanks showed up a couple weeks ago, check out some pictures HERE. This first tank is a flat bottom bright beer tank, that we will be using to carbonate and package our beer from. This will help us move around a lot more beer, faster. There is also another 60 barrel fermentation tank on order and should be showing up sometime this month. So as you can see, we are definitely keeping busy here and are looking forward to being able to make more beer.

September doesn't seem to slow down any, and October is starting to fill up with events. I will keep you posted on those as they get a little bit closer. For the meantime, have a great holiday weekend, and we hope to see you when you come by to pick up your growler of Sticky Fat for the festivities.

Last week I ventured out to Yakima, Washington to go to Hop School. Yes, there is actually a school to learn about hops and of course it had to be in the northwest (where the majority of domestic hops are produced). Myself and two other Goose Island brewers headed to the campus of Hop Union to listen to Lectures from the likes of Ralph Olsen (former CEO of Hop Union) and Steve Dresler (head brewer of Sierra Nevada) discuss hop utilization, storage, and production.

Thankfully the education went beyond the classrooms and into the hop farms. We had the opportunity to explore the hop fields and check out new experimental hops and see how some of our favorites like Citra and Cascade were being grown. And on a personal note I got to check out the farmer's market in Washington, which were incredible. The apples, heirloom tomatoes, peaches, and peppers were delicious and very cheap. Another added bonus was the ability to enjoy a lot of beers from microbreweries that don't distribute to the Midwest like Ninkasi, Pike, and Deschutes. I included some pictures from my trip and as you will see I got a little hop crazy.

Well, it's almost September.  I have had an awesome summer.  I have seen China, Las Vegas and Iowa.  I have eaten Pig heads, lobster and fresh Iowa corn.  I have sipped, chugged and tasted beers from all over the world.  I was able to hang out and enjoy the company of almost every brewer in Illinois.  It has been, without argument, a great summer.  Beer fests, beer tastings, beer meetings, street fests, sports, rooftops, Stanley cup sightings, meeting new friends.  Heck, I even started building a brewery this summer!  There is still time for Belgian fest at Goose and the Beer Society Picnic.  There is still time for patio beers, baseball and camping.  So why do I hate summer?  Because as soon as it starts, I know winter is coming. 

 

 I spend alot of time in the winter walking around town, trying not to bust my ass on the icy sidewalk and checking out the bleak, stark views the city has to offer.  I like to stop in at all my pals joints, trying their new offerings, touring their upgrades, or in some cases, the wear and tear of a great summer.  We get the Bears back, the Hawks back, the cold back.  This winter I have more to look forward to, as we lay tile, run steam pipe and wheel brewing tanks into place.  The Pizza oven is in town, the smoker is on it's way, Chef keeps sending pictures and web links to delicious looking sausages and fun things to do with every part of the pig.  But it's still winter.  And I love it.  The city is gritty, the bars are packed, the wind is howling and the brewery will be open.  I love winter: because as soon as it starts, I know summer is coming.

I heard an interesting comment the other day, in reference to my friends over on the corner of Fulton and Wood.  I have been thinking about it for almost a week, and it has been festering in my brain like that tic that you found in your leg at the END of that camping trip.  Someone said that Goose Island 'isn't local anymore, because they are so big.'   Hmmmm.  I am not sure where to start with that one.  I have never been employed by GI, and don't profess to understand the innerworkings of their company.  But I know them.  The people.  The folks that carry the hops, drive the forklift, plan the party and respond to your emails.  The people that live in Chicago.  The sweaty, dirty, hardworking, beer drinking people that make beer.  I had a Sofie the other day, and contemplated how they are able to pull off this beer because it is STILL aged in small barrels.  50 gallon oak beauties.  Is it possible that the largest brewer in Illinois still uses those tiny little, pain in the butt wood barrels?  Yes.  It is not only possible, it is happening everyday.  Just like all those bourbon barrels full of Imperial Stout.  I would suggest to anyone who does not think GI is still local, or thinks they are just too darn big, to call over there, set up a tour and talk to the great Chicagoans making your beer.  Oh, and when it's open in a few months, feel free to stop at the Haymarket on your way!  We are neighbors.............. 

Dear Belgian Beer Lovers,

I think you're going to be really happy on August 28th. I have called up some local brewers who enjoy creating delicious Belgian beers to come to Goose Clybourn for our Belgian Fest. The festival will start at noon on Saturday, August 28th and will include local breweries such as Half Acre, Revolution, Three Floyds, Rock Bottom, and many more. The beers and brewers will be on hand to answer beer questions or just chat about their fine Belgian ales. If you enjoyed our annual Stout Fest in March then you're going to love Belgian Fest. I am bringing 5 Belgian beers myself along with some exclusive one-off beers that will only be available at this event. Admission is $25 and you'll receive 20 tickets, with each ticket for each beer you enjoy. RSVP by calling 312-915-0071.

Cheers,
Jared

The release of the much anticipated Freedom of '78 Guava Wheat India Pale Ale is happening today! That's right today! We have the bottling line all ready to go this morning, we will have 22oz. bottles and growler fills available at 4pm today, again that is 4pm today, no earlier like the last special release. Hope we see you all this weekend, if not, be safe and drink good beer!

I know last week I said that the collaboration beer that we brewed with Short's Brewing and Jonathan Cutler was going to be launched Friday of last week. The clarity on the beer was not where we wanted it to be last week, so we had to let it sit a little bit longer. Well it has been a little bit longer and the beer is looking and tasting great.

 

We are on schedule for a late Friday release. Please keep an eye out here and on our Half Acre blog HERE to get the latest info!

 

We will also be pouring our beer at the Yelp! Summerfest Friday night! I believe the event is already full, but we still hope to see you there. If not, just over a week to the Great Taste of the Midwest. We will be there again this year having fun and pouring our beer. More info on what we will be pouring a little later.

Hello Chicago Brewhouse readers and fellow bloggers. This is our first blog from Half Acre on this site, and I will be posting for us on this site. Within my posts I will try and keep you as informed as I can on upcoming events, special brews and special tappings that Half Acre will be performing. My name is PJ Fischer and I am the Director of Sales and Marketing for the company. You can also follow our moves on our Half Acre blog, that our President, Gabriel Magliaro posts here.

 

Upcoming Events:

• Thursday July 29th- Half Acre Beer Tasting at Burton Flagship Store
• Click HERE for more details
• Friday July 30th- Half Acre Sampling During Farmer Friday Farmer's Market @ Uncommon Ground-Devon
• Click HERE for more details

Upcoming Beers:

• Freedom of '78- A collaboration brew from Half Acre and Short's Brewing Company (Bellaire, MI) featuring Jonathan Cutler from Piece Brewing (Chicago). The style of beer is a Guava India Pale Ale, brewed with a 1,000 pounds of actual Guava fruit. We're aiming for an IPA that is outlandish, much like the inspiration, the band Ween!
• We hope to have this beer available by the end of the week, both as growler pours and 22oz. bottle, but definitely follow our blog throughout this week to get the latest info. You can find the blog HERE.

 We will also have 2 different saison style beers coming out in the next month. There will be more info on these beers in my upcoming posts.

I hope to see you at some of our upcoming events or at some of the other great beer events happening all around the great city of Chicago!

 

SUMMER= BBQ and BEERS

        This Thursday I will be heading over to the Green City BBQ at around 6pm. The BBQ will have more then 50 Chicago Chefs grilling up BBQ the way they like it best. Goose Island will be doing the beer pairings for Rick Bayless, Bill Kim, Mindy Segal and a few more of your favorite chefs from Chicago. Chef Andrew Hroza from Goose Island Clybourn will be doing a Boudin Blanc sausage and I will bring some Belgian wit to pair with it.
         There is nothing that makes me happier then eating BBQ with a great beer in my hand. So if you're going to the BBQ don't be a stranger and come chat with me about Brew and Que. See you there

I posted a blog earlier this summer about Full Frontal Pale ale(one of my favorite beers that we brew at piece). I know you're not supposed to have favorites as a brewer. They're kind of like your children. That being said I've always enjoyed this beer. And apparently the customers do too because we can barely keep it on tap. And lo and behold it was voted best beer (pale ale) by Chicago magazine. I hope I didn't scoop their article. This is coming on the heals of us winning #2 pizza place in chicago by Chicago Magazine, in a recent article, as well. Needless to say everyone at piece couldn't be happier, and it lends credence to our sort of unspoken motto at piece, great pizza, great beer. In addition to al that, this is all happening right before our 9th anniversary on july 27th. We will be havin a party on the 27th to celebrate. More details to come. Guess I'm just saying we're havin a pretty good summer, and I hope you are too. Now go have a beer. Piece seems like a good place to start      

Hey food and beer lovers,

I'm not sure if you've had the chance to check out your local farmer's market, but it's my favorite thing about summer. Fresh strawberries, peaches, raspberries and cheeses straight from the farm and the opportunity to get to know the farmers that have harvested them for your enjoyment. Knowing where and whom my ingredients come from has always been important to me and taking advantage of fresh ingredients is an added bonus. Hence, this is the reason I am starting the "Farmer's Market Series" at Goose Island Clybourn. During my weekly visit to Green City Market I will be picking up a seasonal fresh ingredient to infuse in one of our beers. We will not only showcase the ingredient but also the farmer and farm from where it was grown. I believe the best products are made by using the highest quality and freshest ingredients and beer is no different. The Farmer's Market Series beers will be released every Wednesday at 2pm in one keg batches.

Well, here I find myself sitting at my desk in Beijing sipping on a can of Rose sparkling wine from the fridge in the hotel room. I am an upstate New Yorker and this tastes just like the Concord grapes my 92 year old great uncle grew out back of the farmhouse.  OK, that's a story for another day.

I am a temporary 'expat' here in China and really need a beer.  Through the efforts of the BA a few years back, some bridges were built with Chinese importers and American Craft Brewers.  As C3PO once said, 'thank the makers'.  There is no beer in China.  None. 

OK again, I'll be a little more fair.  There is good beer in China that is made somewhere not called China.  I have enjoyed a Rogue Dead Guy, A Northcoast Red Seal, a Brooklyn East India Pale Ale.  I have had quite a few Belgians, even a few I had not seen in the States.  Then I came across the Dreis Kronan and Paulaner brewpubs.  Some very respectable brew coming out of some tiny multiple location brewpubs, except the diacetyl bomb that was the 'dark' Paulaner offering.  Yikes. 

There is not one brew produced on a scale large enough to weigh the donkey cart that almost ran me over this morning while I was digesting my fried rice and deep fried corn fritter breakfast.  Again, a story for another day.  I went to a brewfest today.  75 beers available.  Nothing from China that was brewed entirely from barley, or not converted(mash conversion) with chemicals that would preserve this sparkling grape juice for 50 years.

I head to Harbin tomorrow and have high hopes from the kind people of the 'Ice City' that maybe, by some slim chance, a beer exists that will be delicious, refreshing and local.  This describes the people of China, the food, even the overall atmosphere of Beijing.  Delicious, refreshing and local.  But does not come close to describing the local beer.  Hmmmmmmmmmm.  Haymarket Pub and Brewery II-Beijing, China????

This week's USA game was the best finish I have ever seen in my life. The world Cup has blown my mind with the exits of soccer giants like Italy and France. England just squeaked in the next round with the Americans clinching the group. I am loving going to work and starting a brew then going and catching the second half of a match during the sparge. To celebrate the World Cup I made a very hoppy Rye Pa with ace and Citra hops. The rye malt adds a little spiciness to the flavor whereas the hops provide pineapple and citrus aromatics. It's a great beer to drink in the summer while watching the match on a huge TV. I hope everyone is digging the games as much as I am. And more importantly I hope USA steps it up again and takes down Ghana.
      

Congratulations to Romie Gibly for naming our hefeweizen "Hefe-Hawks-Win". I had a lot of great suggestions but this one was just too good to be true for this beer. Hefe-Hawks-Win is perfect for Chicago and Goose Island Clybourn. I love the Blackhawks and think this Chicago beer is perfect for Hawks fans to enjoy while celebrating their win this summer.

We look forward to toasting Romie with pints of Hefe-Hawks-Win on Wednesday night at Goose Island Clybourn. Want to join us? Find event details here.

Cheers,
Jared

our 1940 Ford beer truck!

That's right, this is officially the first time I have ever blogged.  Ever!  If you have known me for awhile, you were surprised when I got email(Ray!) and in disbelief when I started a twitter account(Tracy!) and now here I am blogging.  I hope I am able to blog more often than I tweet! So, things are rolling along at the Haymarket Pub and Brewery, dust is settling, concrete is curing and brewing equipment is on the way.  For now, check out our antique beer truck!  Yes, we will be changing the name on the side asap!  Check back in for updates on construction and cool pics of the brewery install.  Cheers!

We did something new at piece not too long ago and the results of our efforts are pouring into glasses as we speak. There are hoppy beers, really hoppy beers, super hoppy beers, and then theres a big old, hot mess of of HOPS! That's what H...oppenheimer is. Clocking in at 11% abv (alcohol) , and an immeasurable ammount of IBU's (bittering units). This beer is a hop geeks dream. We came across 35 lbs. of whole leaf hops used twice the amount of malt and hops we use for an IPA , and made a huge mess, and took 12 hrs, and basically made the biggest hoppiest beer the folks coming into Piece have ever had. We've made double IPAs before, but this is more like a triple IPA. Don't ask how we did it. And come in soon, because it took a rare chain of events to make this beer possible. Don't know if this will ever be made again. Now stop reading and go get a beer. I think Piece is a good place to start.

Tomorrow morning I am brewing a Hefeweizen here at the pub and this
beer needs a name. We think the best way to give this beer the name it
deserves is by going to you the reader and beer lover.

I wanted to give you some background on this Hefe since you don't have
the opportunity to try the beer before you name it. This German-style
Hefeweizen is going to come in at around 5.5% ABV with flavor
characteristics of bananas and cloves. It's brewed for summer weather
so you can be sure it will be light, bright and refreshing.

The way to enter our contest is to comment on this blog post and
include your name for the Hefeweizen.  If your name is the one we
choose then we will contact you. As the winner of the contest you will
receive:

• a $50 gift certificate to Goose Island Clybourn
• 4 glass pub-pack of Goose Island glasses
• a t-shirt featuring the name of the Hefeweizen
• BRAGGING RIGHTS
  

This contest officially begins now and ends Monday, June 14 at 5 p.m.
I will be the judging the contest and choosing the name that I think
is best for our Hefeweizen. The only names that will be considered for
the contest are the ones left in comments on this blog post on The
Chicago Brewhouse blog on ChicagoNow.com.

It will culminate with a Metromix and RedEye "tweet-up" Launch Party,
here at Goose Island Clybourn, on Wednesday, June 16 where the contest
winner will be our featured guest.

Cheers,
Jared

I have always been intrigued and infinitely thankful by the following for craft beer.  The flavor palates of people these days is becoming more and more complex and the people demand good beer to satisfy these new found taste buds.  But is there a dark side to this?  Is the internet to blame for both the good and the bad?  With the ability to hear from anybody, I personally have had some really good things come from comments on beer rating sites.  As with most online forums though, anonymous muscles flex sometimes for dubious reasons.  I am not one to wear pure white though.  To get the discussion going, here are a few questions.  I promise to answer all these myself, but would like to see any feedback before I skew any posts.

To the reviewers:

Do you try to include anything constructive?
Do you feel like you have the right to say anything you want?
Is it ok when a brewery has a miss?
Do you feel like your ratings inform other individuals of a brewery's beers?
Do you list your real name?


To the brewers:

How do you feel about beer rating sites? Do you feel pressure? Do you care about them?
Do you visit often, (if ever)?
Does beer continually moving out the front door alleviate any negative reviews?
Do good ratings change a future for a "one-off" beer?
Do you feel like ratings have helped or hurt your business?
Do you feel like the review sites are a good/bad way to hear individual voices in the crowd that really care about your beer?

I am soooo freakin excited about tasting local beers for Chicago beer week. The big question this week is what events to hit up with so many things going on. All I can say is that you should check out the schedule and plan out your week ahead of time or you will either miss out or end up trying to do too much.

For example, if you love beer and food as much as I do then jump on some of these beer and food pairings or beer dinners. They all vary in price and location so it doesn't matter if you're in the suburbs or city, everyone still wins. I would also highly recommend checking out the breweries you have never tried before because its great way to find some hidden treasures.

If you're a homebrewer or just a beer aficionado then make friends with the brewers. All the brewers are really cool and willing to share advice on homebrewing or just to chat about beer. In fact there isn't anything I like more then chatting about beer... except chatting beer and food.

So here is my schedule for the week:

Today: I am heading to the Longman and Eagle beer dinner at 6:30 and then heading over to Map Room for the opening ceremonies.
Tuesday: I plan on attending the Rock Bottom Lombard dinner to taste some of Timmy Marshall's beers and visit my old stomping ground.
Wednesday: This will be a Goose Island night.
Thursday: I plan on hitting up the beer and food pairing at Goose Island Clybourn
Friday, Saturday and Sunday: Still up in the air but I know it will be a blast wherever I end up.

I hope to see a lot of Chicagans out drinking local beer this week.

Cheers,
Jared

Recently we have played around with the idea of doing a 100% Brettanomyces fermented beer.  This definitely is not the first time it has been done, but this one will be our first.  Usually beer is fermented either with a lager or ale yeast.  If any wild cultures are added (either wild yeast or lactic bacteria,) most brewers have been adding them as a secondary fermentation.

We have taken a new bourbon barrel, added a light, hoppy wort, and added a pitchable quantity of  Brettanomyces bruxellensis and let it go.  This beer should hopefully be around 5-6%.  It could be a train wreck, it could be great, or anywhere in between.  I guess that is why they call it an experiment.  Yea craft brewing!

Our award winning Fill Frontal Pale ale has made a triumphant return for summer. While this might not seem like big news, I'm pretty stoked because it's one of my favorite beers that we brew. I designed it to be the pale ale to have, when you're havin' more than one. More like 6. Big aroma, medium body, alarmingly drinkable. I'm gettin' thirsty just thinkin' bout it. It will be on for most of the summer, so stop readin' and go get a beer. Piece seems like a good place to start.       

So this Thursday, May 13th is Goose Island's 22nd anniversary as a brewery in Chicago. Which is crazy for me since I am relatively new to a very old Chicago brewing company. The brewers that have brewed on this system over the last 22 years have gone on to brew for some of my favorite breweries in the country such as Southern Tier Brewing Co, Firestone Walker and even Revolution in Chicago. What has been really cool for me is that most of this brewing equipment is the same equipment used to brew back in 1988. I found it really amazing that so many people have come through here but have managed to take care of the mash tun,brew kettle, pumps, and fermentation vessels and put out some medal winning beers over the years. To celebrate this occasion I have decided to make a kick ass pale ale full of Citra (Citrusy aromatics) and Simcoe (Piney aromatics) hops.

John Hall, our founder and owner, will be kicking off the celebration by guest bartending at the Clybourn pub from 6-7p.m. this Thursday.

Half Acre is hosting the Chicago Craft Beer Week closing party at Half Acre brewery on May 22nd. Tickets go on sale today at the brewery (4257 N. Lincoln) at 12:00 for $25 each -- first come, first serve, no tickets will be reserved. Only 200 tickets available. The party is from 6:30 - 9:30.

It should be rowdy.