Organizers of the Chicago Beer Festival have begun announcing brewers who will be at the event offering samples.
The first Chicago Beer Festival, organized by events company drink.eat.play, will be held March 31 at Chicago's Union Station. There are two timed admissions to the event: 1:00 - 4:00 p.m., and 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. Admission is $40 and includes unlimited beer sampling, with food available for separate purchase. Tickets will only be sold in advance though the event website.
The site also lists the initial brewers expected to attend, with further brewers being mentioned at the festival's Facebook page. The listing is interesting in that it includes some brewers who aren't distributed in Chicago yet, and some Chicago brewers and nanos attending one of their first festivals:
Chicago area brewers: Argus, BrickStone, Chicago Beer Co., Emmett's Brewery, 5 Rabbit, Goose Island, Hamburger Marys, Pipeworks, Strange Pelican, and Wild Onion.
Other brewers: Affligem, Big Muddy, Blue Moon, Brasserie D'Achouffe, Bridgeport, Brooklyn Brewery, Central Waters, Founders, Hoegaarden, Julian Hard Cider, Leffe, Liefmans, Leinenkugel, Magic Hat, Milwaukee Brewing, Newcastle, Ommegang, Rogue, Sam Adams, Sapporo, Shock Top, Sierra Nevada, Spaten, Spoetzl/Shiner, Stella Artois, Stevens Point, Summit Brewery, Trumer Brauerei, Uinta Brewing Co., Uncommon Brewers, Victoria, Weihenstephan, Widmer Brothers, and Wyders.
The organizers have previously stages beer festivals in Los Angeles and Orange County, San Diego and San Francisco, as well as events like cupcake challenges and 80's proms. This will be their first event in Chicago.
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Filed under: Beer Festivals
Not nearly enough west coast beers. Nearly all the extreme and innovative beers in the world are brewed along the Pacific coast. You need Russian River or Stone or Drakes or Rogue or any number of other fine breweries west of the Sierras.
Why don't I see Three Floyds or Bells on your list?