Illinois Craft Beer Week

Neither internal nor external search revealed anything substantial here on LTH about Chicago Craft Beer Week (2014). It is upcoming beginning next Thursday, 15 May, and continuing through the 25th.
I personally feel this is the wrong time of the year to have it for a couple of reasons. 1) Part of it is on the same days as the national event American Craft Beer Week® (which is 12-18 May - so if CCBW was not held now, there would nonetheless be craft beer events in the area), and 2) I submit bars, pubs, lounges, and restaurants do not need any additional traffic entering their venues as long as either the Blackhawks or the Bulls are still alive in the post-season playoffs.
But anyway; it is still {oops} a lot of fun. One-off beers are pulled out of storage and put on at select pubs. There are informational seminars where you get to have craft beer and learn about the methods used to create that beer. I particularly enjoy sending myself to venues where I have not yet been.
I utilize a CTA / Ventra 7-day pass ($28) for a block of the days. I always strive to send myself out to at least one suburban area via either Pace bus or Metra rail.
This could change, but my current proposed schedule is viewable here. "Beer Under Glass", the "Brew Line Craft Beer "L" Train", and the "West Loop Craft Beer Fest" are set in place.
Perhaps I'll see you out here during the span. If and when I can connect to wi-fi, you can look for my check-ins on Twitter and|or Foursquare.

Thanks, for the post. I hit a few of these events last year and they were fun. Not sure I'll jump in this year but the reward for doing so is nice. As you posted, there are a lot of one-off brews being served throughout the event -- something for fans of just about every style of beer. I tasted some great things last year, especially at the Beer Under Glass event at Garfield Park Conservatory.

=R=

Friday night went over to The Countryside Tavern. Not sure what a normal Fri night crowd is for that place but it was quite full. Was able to sample 3 beers. Off Color Dino S'mores, Off Color/Three Floyd's Collaboration Rats in the Ashes, and Three Floyd's/Surly Collaboration Blakkr. All of them were good the Blakkr was with out a doubt my favorite of the three I had. Like eating a chocolate covered pinecone. I was sitting close to the taps and was surprised more of the featured beers were being served. Someone close to me had a Bud Light

I went to the Lagunita's Beer Circus on Saturday and had a great time. The guest breweries ran out of most of their stuff fairly early which would be my only complaint. But, Lagunita's was pouring their new Night Time black IPA which is the best black IPA I've tasted and it's not even close. I drink Greenbush's Anger pretty often but once Night Time is available by me that will be knocking Anger out of rotation.

I was alternating between Sucks and Night Time most of the day. A really cool thing we realized early was that they would only take our drink tickets about half the time. Also, they had a guy on a Segue type of thing with a barrel of their IPA that was going around giving free fills along with a couple of girls with some weird contraption that they were dispensing free cups of the IPA from.

So, out of the 4 tickets that came with admission and the 4 tickets I bought when we first got in I ended up giving 2 away as we were leaving.

I had one guest Double Pale Ale that was just okay and I don't remember who the brewer was. Also had a Cappuccino stout when one of the tables ran out of Night Time. Other than that I didn't vary it up much but it was still well worth attending. Circus acts, a drum pyramid, food trucks, bands, some small rides and a lot of cool people. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.


Yesterday I hit Amelia's during their craft beer dinner to take advantage of their $3 pints they have every Monday. I had 4 different beers from Temperance brewing. The most memorable was their Imperial Black Ale which was very tasty. They had a rye pale ale that had a nice sweet finish on it that was very good too. Their cherry tart beer didn't really have much of a cherry taste until after I ate some fries and coated my palate in salt. Then the cherry was more noticeable. Their porter was far too thin for my tastes. It was the first beer I drank and it just wasn't something I'd ever order again.

Good start to craft beer week for me.

Monk's is tapping some kegs they've saved throughout the year today. I plan on hitting that after work and then walking over to Haymarket for their Wiseacre guest tap takeover. Should be some good beers to be had tonight.

It's time to reach into the cabinet and pull out this file again.
If you want to have an exhibition season before CCBW starts; you could take advantage of 11-13 May being the national (or actually American) Craft Beer Week. How?
Maybe that would be a good time to go to the 18th Street Brewery in Gary, Indiana (steps away from the South Shore Line Miller station).
My comments about the timing of CCBW [c.v.] still hold. The URL which showed my activity in 2014 is still valid and now shows what I have planned for 2015. But, a bunch of events have yet to appear on the dias. I have to deduce there will be another episode of "South of I-80".
One aspect which I wish would return is some sort of post-CCBW reward for getting to a bunch of venues. I surmise with all the venues that are now officially taking part, the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild cannot keep up.
I am inked in for "Beer Under Glass" {which should be "Beer Under Glass" - not "Beer In A Glass", like it was in 2014}, & the "Welles Park Craft Beer Festival". I encourage you to register with the CCBW World-Wide Web site. Use the hashtag "#CCBW" for posts on Twitter, Foursquare, Swarm, or Untappd.
See you out there.

Guess this got lost for a while.
Things have definitely changed in the span between posts here. The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild had a rough patch. In 2017, it resorted to coupling up with the Time Out Chicago people. Sadly, the main benefit of it was limited to the beers one had, both during, and after the official week.
Yet, I managed to get to fifty-three breweries during last summer (including one that shut down after my visit), and I drove to none of them. What was my bonus for this?
Squat.
Zilch.
Nada.
Nothing.
Not even a 16-ounce can snaffler.
ICBG had better provide a tangible prize for me this year.
As it is, I was unable to get a ticket to either the opening or closing events of the official week (Did I mention it is now titled "Illinois Craft Beer Week"? It changed the name, but it didn't change the time of year.). Ticketmaster | Universe have no connectivity for v.92 internet users. If I ever managed to get the ticket into my cart (I usually get snagged by the captcha, which decides that I'm not using a supported browser. It won't even show me the box that says, "I'm not a robot."), it would time me out trying to jump through the hoops to buy it.
There is no longer a World-Wide Web page where somebody can indicate which nightly events he | she will attend. I have some ideas of which I will. I shall likely put those out on my Twitter account. I will utilize a seven-day Ventra Pass.
Anyhow, despite my digs, it really is a fun time. The beers, especially the ones which are not an India Pale Ale, are intriguing.
For 2018, the dates are 18 - 25 May.

Yes, I am going to notice that Illinois Craft Beer Week has pulled up a week for 2019. It is still the wrong time of the year for it. What does ICBG have against August?
For this year, ICBW is 10-17 May.
American Craft Beer Week is 13-19 May.
Five of the eight days of ICBW are paste-overs of ACBW.
Why bother?!
If there was no ICBW, area breweries, taprooms, and bars would have special events much like they shall, with just a nomenclature alteration.
ICBG treats the state (and city) much like the unfortunate person who was born on 23 December ["Happy Birthday AND Merry Xmas, bunky."].
I did not try to buy a ticket for Beer Under Glass. I did not know when it opened for sale. I would have to leave the abode here in order to try for a ticket. Ehhh, I do not need to go to that.

ICBG's W-WW site is a bit jumbled. It is not well organized day by day. So I can't swiftly scribe here where I will go. Old Irving Brwg. is a solid guess for one of the evenings. The Evanston brewery crawl sounds intriguing. I will focus on events where the key beer on offer is not an India Pale Ale (of any clarity).
I will obtain an ICBW Summer Passport. This year, I'll work on getting to forty (40); and not go over-the-top to try for as many as possible. (For 2018, I went to seventy-three [73].)
You could succeed at finding me if you follow my Twitter timeline.
Anyhow - have fun, get out here, savor tasty craft beers, and #Seektheseal.

Our plans for Illinois Craft Beer Week will start out Friday, May 10 with something rather inappropriate to the theme — FEW Fridays alley party. It’s in the alley leading to the distillery, with a food truck, a band, and carefully crafted cocktails. Sometimes miscellaneous other stuff, too.

Afterwards, we will go back to the beer thing, walking about a block down the street to Sketchbook Brewing’s taproom, for the re-release of their Grodziskie, the somewhat obscure smoked Polish-style wheat beer that got Sketchbook started.

Then, on Wednesday the 15th, (after lunching with The Evanston Lunch Group™), we’ll be at the Firehouse Grill (also in the same neighborhood) for A Battle of the Bizarre Brews, a five-course meal featuring supposedly bizarre beers from four local breweries. (Although, at last year’s Battle, the beers weren’t particularly bizarre. I have far more bizarre beers that I’ve brewed, currently residing in my basement.)

The next day, I’ll be at the Newbies and Freshies beer sampling event at Bitter Pops (3345 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago). A bunch of new breweries will be pouring, as well as several that have been around a few years. (Full disclosure — I'll be the guy pouring Sketchbook beers.)

Moetchandon won’t be joining me for that, since she’ll be at the Evanston Craft Crawl. Note that this isn’t specifically a beer event — Sketchbook Brewing is the only brewery on the crawl, unless you consider Kombucha Brava. But it does include lots of other restaurants, shops and galleries along and adjacent to the stretch of Chicago Avenue between Main and Dempster.

No plans for Friday, the 17th, yet … but who knows?

(Inexplicably, the official website for the Illinois Craft Beer Week, oddly organized as pudgy notes above, lists all the Evanston events as "Chicago — Northwest Suburbs." If Evanston's considered Northwest Suburbs, it's gotta be the further east of the Northwest Suburbs possible. Maybe they know of some suburbs further east submerged in Lake Michigan?)

Tentative plans for the first three days:

• Friday, the 10th: #54 Cicero bus southbound to Cermak Rd.
• Buy italian beef sandwich and fries to go @ Scatchell's.
• Ride #54B South Cicero bus to Midway Orange Line “L” terminus.
• Take obscure, UPS shift-change Pace route #390 to Archer and Willow Springs Rd. in Willow Springs for Imperial Oak Brwg.
• Obtain ICBG 2019 Passport there.
• Eat italian beef sandwich and fries.
• Enjoy delicious, savory, medal-winning craft beers from Imperial Oak, including its barleywine.
• #390 bus back to Midway @ 9:25 or 10:15 pm.

Saturday, the 11th: It looks like I will buy the Metra Weekend Pass and head for Flossmoor Station Brwg. Co. for its 2018 Wooden Hell barleywine tapping.
Sunday, the 12th: Somebody I know has a birthday today. This is still unsettled. Appears there is nothing I like on the official ICBW roster. It could involve the Union Pacific West Line to Elmhurst (Elmhurst Brwg.) or Wheaton (Emmett's Wheaton | Dry City Brwg.), or the BNSF Line to Westmont (Scallywag Brwg.), Downers Grove (Emmett's Downers Grove | Alter Brwg.), or Aurora (Two Bros. Roundhouse).
This is how it appears at this moment.

Check the time of this reply. Incidentally, I love responding to myself. Because I am interchanging with an intelligent person, unlike many other forum respondents (but not here @ LTHF ).
Sunday was a bit out-of-whack. The train ride was to Downers Grove - Main St. I went to Emmett's Downers Grove. The laptop did not come out. Emmett's wi-fi networks seem to have throughput problems, at least for me. So, since I had 90 minutes, and opted to have two craft beers, I drank and stared at the TV screens.
I caught the train back to Westmont. I walked north to the new Scallywag Brwy. on N. Cass St. It is a credit-card-only venue. It seemingly has wi-fi, but for my Windows® 8.1 laptop, I kept getting a 'Restricted' result - which meant I could not actually do anything wi-fi associated. {It never generated the 'TOU' screen which is what usually occurs when the connection gets a 'Restricted' response.}
It closes early on Sunday (8:00 pm | 20:00 hours). My train back to Chicago was not until 11:49 pm. I wound up at a dive bar on W. Burlington Ave. called "The Uptown". This venue has rubbed me the wrong way. It did so again here tonight. But, its wi-fi worked, and let me access it, so I have to allow for that. If I am in Westmont again (I think it is probable, if not to determine whether Scallywag has fixed its wi-fi.), I will close the evening at the Johnny's Blitz restaurant, which has credibility for the best hamburger in Westmont. {Yes, I know. How many other hamburger restaurants not associated with (inter-)national chains have locations in Westmont - the progressive city?}
For Monday, I did not go to any breweries. I went to Links Taproom, one of my favorites, for its collaboration night between Whiner Brwg. and Brussels Beer Project.
I actually won a hat from Whiner. This was a welcome departure from getting brewery glassware of which I still have way too much.
For Tuesday, I am headed to the Barley Angels event at Metropolitan Brwg.[$23.76]. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get the birthday present I really wanted.
Anyhow, I hope you're having fun getting out here - seeking the seal (#Seektheseal) - and enjoying the superb selection of craft beers Illinois, and Chicago, have to offer.