Tonight is First Thursdays (or Thirst Fursdays) at Goose Island, hosted by the Chicago Beer Society.
Some pals and I went to grab our contributions at lunch (home brews aren’t ready yet), and having never been, we decided to hit up the Artisan Cellar in the Merchandise Mart. It’s a wine shop that sells sandwiches and such, but like most wine shops these days, they also carry a shelf or two of high-end beers.
Here we found a couple of unfamiliar brands, which we were counting on. The first was Clown Shoes out of Massachusetts with a variety consisting of a Clementine White and Hoppy Feet, a black IPA, but having recently fallen in love with black IPAs, it was the Hoppy Feet Double Black that got me. And from Laughing Dog brewery out of Idaho comes Dogzilla Black IPA — straight into our grab bag. Also tagging along is a La Chouffe, a welcome contribution to any beer gathering with its funky, perfect-for-summer flavors. And top off this rando collection, someone ferrreted out a Coteleigh Tawny Owl Bitter — “a West Country classic, well balanced light copper coloured bitter.”
Put on ice for later, we decided to head to the rooftop deck to enjoy our tuna sandwiches and a couple of Dogfish Head 60 mins for a pre, pre-game.
Looking forward to the gathering tonight. I’ll be there as a newly added member of the Chicago Beer Society looking for some home brew tips as I try my first one this month.
Michael Kiser
