by Marissa

Recently my travels brought me to Chicago, otherwise known as the windy city. Chicago is home to the Goose Island Brewery. Goose Island offers brewery tours on Sundays at 3 & 4:30 pm at their Clybourn location. I recommend calling in advance to schedule one. The tour costs $5 and includes several samples and a pint glass to take home. The brewer gives a tour of the facility and explains in detail the process that goes into brewing. The tasting takes place in the older portion of the building where the Siebel Institute used to reside. The walls are lined with bookcases filled with book on brewing. The tour and tasting last 90 minutes and is very informative.

Also on my trip I stopped at the Rock Bottom Brewery. I was able to get a short tour into the fermentation room. While not as impressive as the Goose Island tour, I did enjoy a glass of their Terminal Dry Stout.

Surprisingly a few of Chicago bars have their own beer on tap. I stopped at the original Billy Goat’s Tavern under Michigan Ave. They had a Billy Goat Light & Dark on tap. I enjoyed the Dark immensely. I found out from the bartender that it is brewed by Berghoff out of Wisconsin. Another bar that had it’s own beer was Timothy O’Toole’s. The bartender allowed me to sample it and I wasn’t impressed at all. Chicago is also one of the test markets for the new Bud Select 55. I would say it is smoother than Bud Light but it doesn’t have much of a taste.

Chicago is a wonderful place to visit and there is so much to see and do. I would highly recommend visiting the Goose Island Brewery if you get a chance.

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