April 28, 2008
Is Oberon Back?
We were out at Silver Cloud last night, when we remembered the interview we did with Larry Bell from last December. Didn't he say that he was going to have the new Kalamazoo Brewery beer at Silver Cloud? Indeed he did. We were excited to give it a shot, so we asked the waitress what they had on tap from Kalamazoo. When she said that they had Oberon on tap and on special, as soon as we picked our jaws up off the floor, we immediately ordered a half-dozen.
As it turns out, it's not Oberon per se, but actually Kalamazoo's American Unfiltered Wheat Ale. What kind of beer is Oberon? It's...an unfiltered American wheat ale. Now, we've had more than our fair share of Oberon over the years, and if this Kalamazoo offering isn't straight up Oberon, it's the closest thing we're going to get. Was our waitress playing on our hopes and dreams when she offered us actual Oberon? Yeah. But we forgive her. (Need more on the mess with Bell's distributor? We've covered it here.)
In addition to being on tap at Silver Cloud ($4 a pint!), we were able to track it down at Northside and Handlebar. Twisted Spoke should have it by next week. Seen it anywhere else? Let us know. Take heart, beer lovers - it may be cold and snowy out today, but spring has arrived to Chicago in the form of citrus-y, wheaty beery goodness.
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great news!
Yup, yup. At Violet Hour on Friday night. They had it listed as Oberon.
Damn! You are a tease, Karl. I thought Oberon was back! Looks like I'm gonna have to try Kalamazoo's American Unfiltered Wheat Ale.
$4 a pint hardly seems worthy of an exclamamtion point to me. Thats what it should cost. $3! or OMG $5! but simply $4, not $4!
Put in all the exclamation points you want! I'll take a half dozen myself!
You know, I think a taste out between Oberon and Kalamazoo is in order, for the subtle differences.
Anyone found Kalamazoo on the far north side? Closest I've heard of is at the Map Room.
Cobra Lounge has it. I was drinking it on Friday, it was everything I remembered...
It's limited in availability because of the distributor concerns [remember, NWS (soon to be taken over by Judge & Dolph) can still sue Larry Bell whenever they want]. the way it looks now is that, so long as Bell plays within his sandbox, NWS seems content to leave him alone.
In short, you're gonna have to make it a haul for now.
SOLSUN!!!!!
West Loop @ the Beer Bistro
Mmmmm, makes me miss summers in Kalamazoo.
Wow, a weak wheat ale is on tap! (Lame) beer lovers rejoice!
It was at Cleo's on Chicago last week as well.