…or if you like dive bars (SF’s Lucky 13 & Zeitgeist, NY’s 7B come to mind). It and Sheffield’s are my only must-go-tos in Chicago.
Yes, Sheffield’s is awesome. Also worth checking out is Small Bar. I prefer the smaller location on 2956 N. Albany, but the one on Damen & Division is good, too. Solid beer selection at all of those places.
At the risk of being embarrassingly obvious–what about Guinness Stout? It’s available just about anywhere that has beer on tap.
(Yeah, I’m sure it’s better in Ireland. But I’m in Texas.)
There’s nothing against Guinness. I’m not even 100% sure I’ve ever tried it. I have a feeling I did, once, and wasn’t a fan, but it’s not a strong memory. I’m certainly willing to try it again.
Another vote for Youngs Double Chocolate Stout. It’s yummy. I can’t drink it all the time or I’m sure I would be sick of it’s chocolaty goodness.
Sick… of… chocolatey goodness?
No, I’m sorry. The phrase has no meaning.
My first taste of Guinness I hated, but now it’s one of my favorites. I’m too poor to sample too much though.
Not sure how close it is to Chicago “proper” but Flossmoor Station is a great brewpub with great food as well.
No love for The Exit? I love $2 PBR’s. 
All kidding aside, my brother worked at Hopleaf for a long time and that has to be the top beer bar in the city. They have things on tap that I can’t even find at the liquor stores plus their menu is increadible. We used to refer to a long night at Hopleaf as being “robbed by the Belgian pickpocket” since you can drop some serious coin in there if you get a little carried away. And by a little carried away I mean after 4 pints of 10%.
I don’t know why, but brewpubs always seem to have great food. Even when I wasn’t a beer drinker at all, I found this to be true.
Where is Flossmoor Station, RancidYakButterTeaParty?
Flossmoor Station is deep in the south suburbs in Flossmoor, IL–we’re talking about 184th and Western. It’s 1035 Sterling Ave., Flossmoor, Ill. It is consistently ranked as one of the best brewpubs in the nation. Another good brewpub is Lunar Brewing in Villa Park. And don’t forget Three Floyd’s in Munster, Indiana, which, while across the state line, is still in Chicagoland and has some of the best beers in the world, especially if you’re a fan of hops (although it doesn’t look to me like you are).
I don’t know where Villa Park is, either.
So, now I’m drooling over good 'pub food, and wondering if public transit makes it to these places. Otherwise, I’m not likely to get there.
And why is it so cold outside? Grar.
On the other hand, I have beer suggestions now, so I can drink away my sadness at the cold. But after work.
I will chime in my support for both the Left Hand Milk Stout and Dogfish Head Chicory Stout. They are both absolutely delicious.
I will also add in Rogue Brewing Company. Before Dogfish Head they were my favorite American microbrewery. I highly recommend both their Chocolate Stout, and especially their Shakespeare Stout.
Villa Park is in DuPage county out in the Western Suburbs. Pretty much where 355 crosses North Avenue. On a good day it’s probably about 45 minutes from the Loop.
Both those places you can reach by Metra. Flossmoor Station is right at the stop (hence the name). Lunar Brewing would be about a 3-4 block (1/2 mile) walk south on Cornell (where the Metra stops in Villa Park). I don’t particularly remember Lunar having good food. Flossmoor Station is acceptable to pretty good.
Map Room doesn’t have much to eat (although some nights they have outside catering for free, with a two drink minimum.) Neither does Quencher’s (however, Honey 1 BBQ is just down the street on Western, and it has the best authentic Chicago style barbecue on the North Side.) Goose Island on Clybourn has some very nice burgers, among other things. Kuma’s Corner on 2900 W. Belmont ,just west of California has some of the best 1/2 pound burgers I’ve ever had. They have a small selection of very good beers, and the pub has a kind of alternative/heavy metal feel to it. It’s a bar that would be at home in Seattle–it’s quite charming.
Duke of Perth (2913 N. Clark) has a decent British beer selection, a very good scotch selection, and is perhaps my favorite place for fish and chips.
Generally speaking, I don’t like beer at all. However, I found one that I like a great deal–Lindeman’s Frambois. It’s an import from Belgium and brewed with raspberries. The company also makes apple (pomme), cherry (cherise) and a few other flavors. I’ve found that the raspberry is the best; it’s also the one that tastes least like traditional beer. (A big plus in my book!!)
Yes, I’ve had and enjoyed their currant flavor (cassis). I didn’t include it because I didn’t think of it; I think someone had previously mentioned to me that it is not exactly a beer. I don’t know if I ever understood what it was, though.
On the other hand, currant (black, at least) is right there with pumpkin and chocolate in terms of flavors. I will try at least once anything that is made with those items or supposed to taste like them. I’ve never tried the other flavors of Lindeman’s.
When I first tried it, I did a little research into it to try to figure out why I liked it when I didn’t like so many others. I never did come up with a concrete reason, but the main difference is that most beer has yeast added to it, whereas Lindeman’s does not. The yeast used to ferment this brand develops naturally, if I remember correctly over a period of years, as it sits in casks in the basement.
Interesting. I’m curious about how that would work. Seems like they’d have to throw out a lot of contaminated beer, if that was the case. Not that I know anything about brewing, but a tad about microbes, and that strikes me as odd. Cool if it works, though.
I’ll have to look into that, but I would be surprised if Lindeman’s used a spontaneous fermentation for those beers. More than likely the reason you’ve enjoyed these so much is that they add a decent amount of artificial sweetener to their beers.