Half Acre Brewing - Chicago, Plus a Few More

I took a long weekend trip to Chicago recently with my wife and a couple of friends to celebrate my 45th birthday and I was allowed to check out a lot of good beer both locally and from other locales during the visit.  Here's a quick run-down:



Started in 2006, Half Acre Beer Company  was at full production by 2009 in Chicago on N. Lincoln Avenue.  They produce some great canned and bomber-only-bottled beer.  We were lucky enough to take their Saturdays-only tour which is limited to 60 people.

 

They mean to keep it sterile and clean here at Half Acre!
So hands off!



I had my first Half Acre brew (their Daisy Cutter Pale Ale) on my last visit to Chicago.  I was so impressed that I swore to seek them out next time I was in town and we did just that.  Thanks to my wife, Ashlee, and my friends, Wayne and Rex, for going along with my little obsession in finding them, but I think they all enjoyed the tour - given by company president, Gabriel - (a snippet of which is in the video below) and, of course, the great beer samples.  Along with more Daisy Cutter, we also got to try their brown Over Ale and their Chocolate Camaro Stout.



I found some more great canned beer (it's really becoming my favorite container for craft beer if I can't get it on tap) at a little hole-in-the-wall store just up the street from our condo.  It looks like your typical quick-stop market, but their beer selection is amazing.  I tried a four-pack of Hop Slayer Double IPA from Wild Onion Brewing in Barrington, IL, and a four-pack of Red Racer IPA from Central City Brewing in Surrey, British Columbia.  Both were excellent.

My friend, Wayne, snapped this picture of me (sporting my sad excuse for a playoff beard in support of the Predators)on our first night in town at The Hopleaf Bar up in the Andersonville neighborhood near the condo we rented.  This was a great bar with a wide variety of beer selections. Here I was having the Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale poured from a bottle by Founders Brewery in Grand Rapid, Michigan.  On another visit I even got to try the uber-popular and hard to find Zombie Dust APA from 3 Floyds Brewing just outside Chicago which Ashlee and I visited on our last trip to Chicago by car last summer.  All tried were delicious.