The Beeronaut

Tag: Oktoberfest

Chicago Craft Beer Weekend, September 3-5

I spotted another brewer on the horizon: BubbleHouse Brewing Company, a family-owned operation, now has tanks and a sign up on 2121 Ogden Ave., in west suburban Lisle. No opening date has been announced, but everything seems to be trending towards one soon. The Tribune’s Josh Noel notes that Half Acre is reopening its original... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
September 1, 2021 at 7:00 pm

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Chicago Week in Craft Beer, August 30-September 2

I’m pretty caught up with tracking new events in these articles now. Just in time for Oktoberfest tappings and celebrations. I hope to catch as many new beer debuts as I can; I just need to get note of them a few days in advance. Another new brewer? Looks like LaGrange Park will soon see... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
August 28, 2021 at 10:56 pm

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Chicago Craft Beer Weekend, October 16-18

We have another beer-related casualty of the COVID pandemic, but hopefully only a temporary one. Ballast Point's Chicago operation in HydePark has posted to their Facebook page:

With the winter months ahead and our ability to generate revenue significantly impacted with limited capacity due to COVID-19, we have made the very difficult decision to shut down operations at Ballast Point in Chicago effective October 24th. At that time, we are halting all on-site retail, brewery production, and taproom operations. Unfortunately, this decision impacts all of our Chicago employees. We are forever grateful for their contributions to our company. Our plan is to reopen this location when the weather is favorable and it is safe to dine indoors.

Ballast Point has some Oktoberfest specials still scheduled for this weekend...

By Mark McDermott,
October 14, 2020 at 10:38 pm

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Non-Alcohol Beer Preview: Athletic Oktoberfest

Once again, I need to catch on a few issues that affect the atmosphere in the Beeronaut orbit. My quest for a new computer seems to have finally come to an end, with a new Mac Mini doing my heavy lifting. Still need to equipment with the software I’ve been depending upon earlier. In the... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
October 12, 2020 at 11:51 pm

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Chicago Craft Beer Weekend, October 9-11

Still futzing along with my spare computer while I wait to find out if the data from my fried MacBook can be retrieved. My spare Intel box has been working, except I'm using the same Bluetooth keyboard for this and my iPad, and the keyboard favors the wrong device when I need it. After cancelling the springtime Dark Lord Days, Three Floyds Brewing Co. has finally announced a plan to distribute this year's allotment. People visiting 3floyds.com on October 19, starting at 3 pm Central, can place an order. Each $170 package includes:

Four custom-printed bottles of 2020 Dark Lord Russian-Style Imperial Stout
One bottle of a rare 2020 Dark Lord variant
Tote bag (That's right!)

Limit 2 packages per customer. Each package will contain a random 2020 variant. People who buy two bags will get different variants...

By Mark McDermott,
October 7, 2020 at 10:24 pm

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Chicago Beer Weekend, October 2-4

Not much news to report today. Just that, to my annoyance, I spilled a cup of instant coffee into my MacBook. I did the obvious thing and flushed it out with MORE water. Then I read (on another device) that I may not be totally lost, since the keyboard is sealed from the rest of the circuitry. Just prop it up to drain and dry out for two days and hope for the best. Meanwhile, I had a teeny-tiny Intel NUC in reserve, a box a little bigger than a Raspberry Pi. Working fine so far, just using Windows 10. Only there some Firefox add-ons I don't have access to, including my passwords, and I'm out of the YouTube video production business for a while...

By Mark McDermott,
September 30, 2020 at 11:10 pm

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Beer Preview: Two Paulaner Oktoberfest Biers

Time to set aside my run of “Black Is Beautiful” beer reviews, for now, and get to something that’s also somewhat timely. A U.S. rep for Paulaner Brauerei sent me two different Oktoberfest biers for my comment. Based in Munich, Paulaner claims a lineage going back to the Neudeck ob der Au monastery, whose beer... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
September 22, 2020 at 5:43 pm

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Chicago Oktoberfest Beer Weekend, September 18-20

Oktoberfest is launching at beer bars and brewers across Chicago. And yes, for the quick summary, the first Oktoberfest in 1810 was held on October 18, but as the event grew bigger, it was determined to move earlier in the year so as not to interfere with the harvests. Now, the festival in Bavaria runs for the 16 days leading to the first Sunday in October. Meantime, the new beer and community space, Ørkenoy, is opening this weekend. They're at Kimball and Bloomington in Chicago, at the 606 Trail. And in Naperville, Noon Whistle is opening its second outlet. Personal Note: I finally took the opportunity to visit the reopened Rock Bottom nearest me, in Lombard. Surprised to see the same server from before it closed. She said she had no idea they might ever plan to reopen, but was available when they called. The brewing is currently being supervised by Iain Wilson, brewmaster of the Orland Park restaurant. They've kept some of the beers from the previous version of RB available, including their yearly Rocktoberfest....

By Mark McDermott,
September 16, 2020 at 6:24 pm

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Illinois Craft Beer Oktoberfest, Sept. 19 - Oct. 4

I’ve received a news release that is indeed of interest to my beer-loving leadership. So I’m presenting it with few emendation. The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild announced on September 15 that it will launch its first-ever Oktoberfest promotion to encourage craft beer fans to explore new breweries and discover seasonal beers brewed with pride across... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
September 15, 2020 at 6:43 pm

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This Week in Chicago Beer, September 14-17

I have another note about pending expansion in the Chicago beer scene. The village of Westmont saw groundbreaking on a mixed-use, multi-family residential development called Quincy Station. Holladay Properties is building the property south of the Metra station on Cass Ave., at 1 W. Quincy Street. The prospective first floor commercial tenant will be Whiskey Hill Brewing Co. I'll look forward to that, as Whiskey Hill's new spot would replace the departed Scallywag Brewing in downtown Westmont, and would set up four consecutive stops on the Metra BNSF line within pub crawling distance of a brewer: WH in Westmont, and Goldfinger, Emmet's and Alter at the three Downers Grove stops. This is on a line that also stops near Flapjack and Lagunitas, and ends at the Two Brothers Roundhouse...

By Mark McDermott,
September 13, 2020 at 12:21 am

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