From Brewpubs to Tap Rooms: Explore Chicago's Best Craft Brews
When it comes time to wash down your deep-dish pizza, Chicago dog or Italian beef sandwich with a cold brew, opt for a locally made drink
If you enjoy local brews, you'll want to squeeze in one of these tours during your Chicago visit. There are more than six dozen Chicago breweries to choose from and an equally impressive number in the surrounding suburbs. You can see how your old favorites get made—or discover a new one when you take a fun Chicago brewery tour.
A Father and Son Success Story: Argus Brewery
When the working-class Pullman neighborhood banned alcohol in 1904, the Schlitz Brewing Company opened a two-block row of taverns, serving up their booze just outside its borders, across the street. The pubs closed down during Prohibition, but nearly a century later, Schlitz Row's brick draft horse stable reverted back to its brewery roots. Father-and-son founders of Argus Brewery then set up shop within its walls in 2009. You can now take a barley-to-bottle tour of Argus' green brewing methods inside this historic building and relax with a cold one.
No Wild Goose Chase: Goose Island Brewery
Inventing new flavors of beer may sound like a dream job, and the innovators at Goose Island Brewery get to live that dream. They have free rein to imagine the next great flavor and work up small batches in the Innovation Room. The Tasting Room at the end of the Goose Island Brewery tour is the only place where you can place your lips on the best of these small batches before they hit store shelves. See how they create Bourbon County Brand Stout and vintage Belgian Sofie, and then sip a glass on the Tap Deck overlooking the brewing area.
Awaken New Tastes: Half Acre Beer Company
If you've never heard of Half Acre Beer Company, you won't soon forget it after touring their brewery and sampling the unique beers. Flavors like coffee, coconut, maple and cherry merge in Benthic, a brew aged in bourbon barrels—just one of the unique brews that will have your taste buds wanting more. But artistic flavors aren't confined to the brews. Don't leave without tasting one of the brewery's famed burritos, such as the BLT-Avo-Rito, Taco Salad burrito or Fried Chicken-Mac N Cheese burrito.
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