a brew year, month one.

It's quickly come to my attention that J and I have fallen into the habit of going on a different brewery tour each month; something I'm definitely not opposed to. Our first foray into the brewery touring world was in Chicago, in January, on a particularly blustery day. Last month's was in Kansas City on an equally cold and disgusting winter day. And later in March we're heading to California where we'll be staying with my cousin and her family and -- you guessed it -- going on another brew tour (sans snow).

This is all fine and well with me, of course, 'cause I love me some beer. And the only thing I love more than, say, drinking beer, is watching it being made and visiting the places where it has been painstakingly crafted (well, sometimes). Taking these tours with J is also exciting because he's been brewing his own beer and learns something new about the process at each one.

So. The Great Brewing Adventure starts in Illinois. In January. On the first day of our trip to Chicago. Our first stop in Chicago was -literally- the Goose Island Brewery in Lincoln Park.

Aaand this is how it begins. iPhoning at the bar, waiting for the tour to start. We ordered a quick lunch (their sweet potato fries and curry ketchup were the bomb) and started with half pints of their 312.

 

The group assembled and we were off. We headed to the factory room, where huge silo-like containers held gallons and gallons of beer, all at different stages of fermentation. The guide did a great job of explaining how each step of the process worked and gave us a little background on the specific beers they make at the Clybourn factory. 

The tasting room was next. We were all gifted a pint class, emblazoned with Goose Island's logo, and six tastes of their beers -- the catch? We had to guess what each beer was, following the guide on the placemats. Our guide had us talk with our neighbors about what each beer tasted like to us, whether we liked it, if we absolutely despised it...and then he revealed which beers were what. 

There was a porter or two thrown in there, which you can see J enthusiastically downed (and took mine, I don't have a thing for porters). And! I found my new favorite beer -- the Sahti. Our guide explained that the Sahti wasn't like any other beer at the factory, because it is highly spice with juniper berries; this gives it a clean, crisp taste and a hint of gin. GIN! If you know anything about me, you know that gin is, hands down, my alcoholic beverage of choice. Both my paternal grandparents love G&Ts and I definitely think my love for gin is just in my genes. The Sahti was my favorite brew of the day, with the Green Line Pale Ale coming in for a close second (J loved that one, too). 

The tour was a huge success and so much fun -- not to mention, we had a great guide that was totally patient with everyone asking a million questions about the beer. J and I had a wonderful afternoon at Goose Island and it was a great way to start off our first trip (ever!) together.