Beer Beneath Glass 2025: An Night Beneath the Skyline

• Phrases: Karl Klockars
• Pictures (besides the place talked about): Jaime Hernandez / @jaimelikesbeer

I very a lot hope this new dwelling for Beer Beneath Glass sticks round for some time.

Whereas my compatriates Steve, Eric and Jaime had been on the Union Station occasions of latest years, It’s been some time since I attended a Beer Beneath Glass. The final one I joined was the ultimate Garfield Park gathering of 2019, after which it’s taken me over 5 years to get again to Chicago for certainly one of these after the world fractured and despatched me careening out of the town.

I’m glad I got here again for this one. I had a very good time below the deep blue Chicago sky surrounded by metropolis skyline at this yr’s version, and it feels just like the sold-out crowd did additionally. Even earlier than the final admission ticketholders rolled in at 5:30, the VIP/Media entry was already buzzing to the tune of lots of of beer drinkers all properly underway with their tasting time.

Quite a lot of folks made reference to Half Acre’s Far and Away invitational that was held on the similar Harris Theater house some time again, and I’m very glad to seek out that it’s nonetheless an exquisite place for a beer occasion. A central location virtually definitely helped transfer tickets for a Friday occasion inside strolling distance of 1000’s of workplace areas seeking to kick off some early-summer ingesting in an enormous means. I nonetheless noticed fairly a number of acquainted faces from all through the years of beer ingesting, which was a pleasant reminder that there’s nonetheless a small sense of neighborhood that runs by the years and lots of, many sq. miles of beer ingesting experiences round Chicagoland.

And the beer was excellent as properly. Whereas previous years could have been an opportunity for some breweries to try to out-weird the opposite breweries with wild concoctions pushing the bounds of what beers may very well be, evidently perhaps the latest plateau or common downturn in beer ingesting had brewers bringing out some tried and true favorites alongside the considerably weirder stuff for the hardcore like myself.

Total: so many hits, so few misses. Right here’s what I discovered myself actually liking.

My Beer Takeaways from Beer Beneath Glass 2025:

The awards for Double Clutch are, at a fast look, properly earned – their true-to-style E-City Vienna Lager was spot-on tasty for my first pour of the night time.

The one line I stood in was for Brothership Brewing’s Barrel-Aged Area Particles, which hung out in rye and bourbon barrels with uncooked and toasted coconut. Yearly there’s a hype brewery and the phrase is out on Brothership – their line was dozens deep at the beginning of the fest and solely tapered off after an excellent hour plus into the occasion.

I used to be lots glad they got here to me at BUG as a substitute of me heading out to Mokena, and the Area Particles was syrupy-rich, thick, daring and nonetheless balanced between stout and adjunct. I adopted that up with a pour of Begyle’s Imperial Pajamas with Espresso, only for a little bit of comparability – I do know that FoBAB is all in regards to the barrel however nonetheless, it’s enjoyable to place a pair adjuncted BA stouts again to again and see the variations.

Issues actually began kicking once I obtained a pour of Flipside’s Rascal King pub ale, a 4.8% mid-ABV banger that was simply spot-on about what I like on this fashion. Drinkable, caramel-roasty, brilliant with contemporary earthy malt goodness – I do know they put this on cask every now and then; I strongly suggest benefiting from that possibility in case you can.

A brewery who I’ve recognized by their very distinctive identify however by no means had an opportunity to strive certainly one of their beers is Dutchbag Brewing. I fairly loved their Issues that Goals Are Made Of, a 3.6% “Nordic Weiss” that was fluffy as hell, sparkly and citrusy and creamy and really refreshing.

As I discussed in Friday’s BUG Gameplan, I used to be trying ahead to attempting a beer or two from Wolfden, and their Path Combine Porter paid off: It was a deliciously well-balanced porter with the chocolate complexity bouncing off the savoriness of roasted peanut whereas not being too heavy-drinking. A tricky needle to string however they did it properly. Talking of porters, the Imperial Porter from Moor’s Brewing was one other richly fruity pour that – to me – felt prefer it had some deep pomegranate notes to it that had been fairly welcome.

I knew that Guinness Chicago wouldn’t rent any just-average brewers however I didn’t anticipate to benefit from the Czech darkish lager from them as a lot as I did. True to fashion, clear, up-front sharp roasty character and current physique; no complaints, simply an excellent beer.

You already know what Pipeworks is nice at? Making beer. No, actually, I imply their simple American mild lager, merely referred to as Beer, was actually a pleasant choice to have on an evening the place my palate was getting a bit slammed. Vivid, candy, grainy, you’ve had an American mild lager in case you’re studying this, I don’t want to clarify it to you. However it was a tasty one.

Crust Brewing’s Orange is the New Radler was a mid-festival blast of soda sweetness and sparkle that I didn’t know I wanted however enormously appreciated. Critically, it tasted identical to Orange Crush however rather less sticky.

Sundial Brewing & Mixing was one other brewery I used to be completely satisfied to have for the primary time, and their Desk Blackberry was a revelation. Barrel-aged saison refermented with second-use blackberries and blended with desk beer (per the label – no means I’d bear in mind all that) was huge with sharp wild flavors and punched means above its 4% weight. Scrumptious.

I feel lots of people have slept on Adams Avenue Brewing, assuming the brewery jammed into the again of the Berghoff Restaurant within the coronary heart of the Loop may solely be common at finest … however most likely not a lot after many people tried their spot-on Export Stout that just lately got here dwelling with World Beer Cup {hardware}. I heard lots of people speaking about this in a fortunately stunned method and hopefully everybody that got here away impressed pay a go to.

I feel I’m nonetheless tasting the El Gallo Chingon from Whiskey Hill — their BA stout with cocoa nibs, coconut, cinnamon and three varieties of chiles. A sipper to make sure – that warmth would construct and construct quick in case you took it too fast, however persistence with it lets you draw out the sweetness and spice in tandem for a beer that was additionally spectacular in an sudden means.

Lastly, the “Gnome Launcher” watermelon bitter from Rabid Brewing was an end-of-evening suckerpunch to my palate that was only a pleasure to drink. Like sticking an immersion blender right into a watermelon and letting it rip, then sneaking in a 6.5% ABV bitter beer beneath it as a framework for that pink melon sweetness with a contact of tart beneath. This one’s most likely fairly harmful in sizzling climate. I may drink this quick; too quick, most likely.

These are my takeaways from Beer Beneath Glass 2025 – much more good than unhealthy and even mediocre, fortunately, and a testomony to how sturdy all the Chicagoland brewing scene is. Enjoyable instances, and due to the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild for taking an enormous swing in bringing this competition downtown. It was a success.

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