We keep a mental list of U.S. beer destinations that we'd like to experience. Sitting on top of that list for many years was Chicago. We knew it was a great beer town with a number of good breweries and beer bars, but we'd never been there besides layovers at ORD.

 

Thankfully, earlier this year Matt Venzke suggested that Merideth and I meet him and his wife Michelle for a long weekend in the Windy City. Meeting friends was just the excuse we needed to get Chicago off the list.

 

In three days, we tallied a dozen breweries on the trip. This was a good boost to our goal of reaching 600 by the end of the year. Currently, we both stand at 548.Look for the One Pint at a Time episode in late May or early June.

 

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We’ve been to Chicago over a dozen times but have never left the airport. Our ‘visits’ were actually layovers to or from Europe. On one of these layovers, we did manage to go out of security to visit the sports bar at the Hilton to drink some Goose Island beer.We knew Chicago was a good beer town and it was on our list of places we needed to visit. Lucky for us, opportunity knocked when our friend, fellow beer traveler and thebeergeek.com contributor Matt Venzke asked us to join him and Michelle in the Windy City the second weekend in May...

 

Read the complete post >http://www.thebeergeek.com/blog/?p=2534

 

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Thursday’s early morning wake up followed by a beer-filled day and a late night bedtime made for a rough Friday morning. With less demanding trips lately, Chris and I felt a little out of practice, but being the professionals we are, we ignored the aches in our heads and set out on Friday with excitement in our hearts.We climbed into the back of Matt and Michelle’s Xterra and hit the road toward the most anticipated visit of the trip: Three Floyds in Munster, Indiana. Along the way, we stopped at Flossmoor Station Restaurant and Brewery in the historic town of Flossmoor, Illinois...

 

Read the complete post >http://www.thebeergeek.com/blog/?p=2545

 

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The weather on our final day in Chicago was quite pleasant…if it was January maybe! Friday’s rain and thunderstorms had passed through and Saturday dawned windy and cold. Of course, this had to be on the day we planned on walking around town. After some bitching and moaning about the weather, the beer traveling foursome was back on the train headed to Wrigleyville...

 

Read the complete post >http://www.thebeergeek.com/blog/?p=2547