The featured chef for tomorrow's cooking demonstration at Green City Market is Susan Goss of West Town Tavern. West Town Tavern is long a fave of the Chicagoist food and drink staff; Goss is one of the few to get us to eat fried chicken in the summer. The demonstration starts at 10:30 a.m. Hard to believe that when we mention pinot noir to casual wine drinkers, they still start quoting from "Sideways" three......

A visit to the East Coast isn't complete without lifting a pint or four of selections from the Boston and Vermont-based Harpoon Brewery. Harpoon's UFO hefeweisen is probably my favorite American weiss beer. But that's like saying that the girl you're dating is the best looking one at an all-girl college. The focus this week, however, is on Harpoon's India Pale Ale, which is a lighter version of the style. That lightness can be attributed......

I remember my first beer. Hopefully, so will this kid:......

A problem we have with Skylark — a good one to have, mind you — is that we've managed to work our way through their entire draft beer menu, save for the most recent additions. Last week while enjoying the grilled tuna sandwich (the address for Skylark is in the "One Great Sandwich" post that went up yesterday) we were equally blissed on the beer we were drinking. Lagunitas doesn't get enough of the "BotW"......

Hard to imagine that Chicago, a city who's seen its major breweries go belly-up decades ago (save for a brewpub or two) could become the homebase for the offices of both the Silver Bullet and Purveyors of the High Life. But it could happen. Crain's reports today that the joint beer venture MillerCoors are eyeballing locations in both Chicago and Dallas for their headquarters and offices. Where might MillerCoors put the approximately 400 new hires......

This week's selection was born from a desire to do something positive for a friend in need. Shortly before her 40th birthday, Virginia MacLean was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. MacLean was already raising funds for cancer research running triathlons and endurance events, so she enlisted the help of two longtime friends to assist her in a new fundraising endeavor. Those friends just happened to be Alan Shapiro of SBS Imports and Pete Slosberg of Pete's......

We've got a Taste of Chicago preview for you later. In the meantime, here are some things around town to check out in the coming days. The Red Witch Pirate will set sail this evening for a 2-hour cruise and dinner with food catered by Bonsoiree. Cost is $45 and interested parties may RSVP here. The churrasco-meets-slow-food restaurant ZED451 (739 N. Clark St.), which has become one of the hottest destination restaurants in town largely......

Occasionally I receive e-mails from readers asking what taverns or restaurants they can find the "BotW" selections and if I could include them in the reviews. Admittedly I take for granted that readers know I buy most of the selections from one of two stores: Lush Wine and Spirits University Village location and Archer Liquors. But knowing that a certain bar carries a "BotW" selection may spur some readers to both seek out the beer......

New Belgium Brewing's Tour de Fat is only four days away. Already, someone's decided to trade in his vehicle for a bike and it's a longtime Chicagoist reader. Matter of fact, it's someone we'd thought would do it. Joe M500 is taking the plunge Saturday, trading in his 2001 Jeep Cherokee for one of the bikes New Belgium is offering at the Tour de Fat. Having participated in Critical Mass rides and hung out......

There are many things to like about New Belgium Brewing. All employees are also owners in the company; they practice open book management; they're a sustainable company using wind power and methane from processed water treatment to produce their own electricity, recycle waste water and utilize the latest green practices in their buildings; they give their employees a bike after one year of employment. Biking and New Belgium are almost symbiotic. Their latest folly,......

Our second annual "reader's choice" month here at "BotW" begins with a simple question from Dan Jones: "How about Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter?" How about it, Dan? We've been on a porter kick lately as grilling season is starting to kick into high gear. The smell of smoke normally suggests to our senses barbecue and smoke is what you get on the nose with Edmund Fitzgerald immediately upon pouring, along with a deep black......

After a full day in trade show hell, we needed a beer to the point that we might have accepted a Budweiser if it was presented to us. Lucky for us we moseyed past the Food and Wine of Australia booth before it came to that. The Australian-based Coopers Brewery is noted for making simple, clean beers, and home brew kits. We've actually experimented with their malt and yeast extracts in the past and came......

A conversation we had with our downstairs neighbor and good friend last night as we were preparing to clean out Sam's Wine and Spirits out of what was left of their closeout sale: Her: Have you tried this beer yet? Chicagoist: What is it? Her: Kalamazoo Royal Amber Ale. Chicagoist: I have. Her: What does it taste like? Chicagoist: Bell's Amber. Her: Why do you say that? Chicagoist: Because that's what it is. You really......

The Day After: Don't expect to see foie gras back on menus immediately after the repeal of the ban yesterday. The earliest that's going to happen will be June 11th. What did leave a bad aftertaste was the end-around used to repeal the ban and how Mayor Daley put Alderman Joe Moore's dick in the dirt in the process. If you don't know after that why Daley is often referred to here as "His......

Beer is made from four ingredients: water, malt, yeast and hops. It's the hops that provides bite and spice to the mix. Hops also help preserve beer, making it last longer. Back in the days when the sun never set on the British Empire, brewers working in India would add extra hops to their English bitter in order to survive the trip home around the south African Cape Horn and ensure its drinkability when it......

This is South Chicago Heights resident Bill Bramanti. He had a his coffin specially made to look like a can of his favorite beer, PBR. He's 67 and in good health, so in the mean time, he uses it as a cooler. [AP]......

All About Beer magazine (via) listed their "top 125 places to have a beer before you die" (a nice arbitrary number, by the way). Five local taverns made the cut: Hopleaf (#24), Clark Street Ale House (#43), Map Room (#47), Goose Island (#84) and John Barleycorn, which makes the cut ten spots from the bottom at #115. Our doppelganger in the Emerald City wholeheartedly agreed with the inclusion of Hopleaf and Map Room, although Map......

We had our gripes about DarkLord Day, to be certain. But there were some good things about heading down to Munster and waiting for four hours in line with nothing to show for it except a farmer tan. For beer lovers it means getting to hang around with your own for a day, sampling from folks' private collections. At times, the combination of beer and the crowd made DarkLord Day resemble "Heavy Metal Parking......

Was clued in to this interesting article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal about the Brew Blog, a beer and brewery industry blog sponsored by Miller Brewing Co. Written by former Advertising Age reporter James Andorfer, Brew Blog reports on industry news when it happens, as it happens. Seeing as how Brew Blog is also sponsored by Miller, Andorfer does his job while simultaneously taking some requisite and light-hearted shots at Anheuser Busch and its best......

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......

This week's "BotW" selection is one of those "day late, dollar short" deals. It was available briefly right around WhiskyFest at Guthrie's, Delilah's, Map Room (actually, Map Room may have some left), Long Room, Underbar and Weegee's. It also tied in to WhiskyFest in that the malt used in brewing was whisky malt. The beer is the ultra-rare Unibroue Raftman. This Belgian pale ale is lighter than most anything Unibroue has ever brewed, including Blanche......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Frozen Yogurt, Frogurt, Whatever, It's Free Today marks the opening of the new Starfruit store in Wicker Park. Falling right in line with tax day, they're giving away free samples of kefir frozen yogurt while supplies last. 1745 W. Division $10.40 Celebration Pops for Champagne is hosting its annual 1040 Tax Relief Celebration today from......

And it is true: both dailies are reporting that Goose Island will close down its flagship brewpub on Clybourn by the end of the year, after losing its lease. The brewpub, which founder John Hall opened in 1988, has survived demolition of the buildings surrounding it (and inspired one of Goose Island's signature brands); served as an anchor for the rapid retail development of the Clybourn corridor; attracted beer lovers from around the world; brewed......

Slow Food Chicago and Uncommon Ground are joining forces for what appears to be, on paper, to be one hell of a dinner. The event next Wednesday at Uncommon Ground's recently opened Devon location will feature a menu of seasonal, locally farmed produce from chef Brian Millman with beers from Goose Island, Two Brothers, Surly Brewing, and Dark Horse Brewing. Additionally, the brewmasters for the respective breweries (Greg Hall, Jason Ebel, Omar Ansari and Aaron......

First, a disclaimer: we've been thoroughly underwhelmed by Sam's new South Loop store, which just seems like it was thrown together ad hoc in order to start generating revenue for South Loop residents starved for retail and has all the charm of a run-down Armanetti's. But we did manage to pick up a couple of brewed gems on our recent visit. This week's selection comes from Bear Republic Brewery, which was featured here last autumn......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Fundraiser Here's a "Top Chef" spoiler for you: tonight's episode was taped at the 2007 Celebrity Chef Ball. The annual event at Macy's, whose proceeds go to support Meals on Wheels Chicago, raised over $200,000 last year. Tonight you can catch a preview of the episode at Jake Melnick's Corner Tap, which is hosting the......

The Tribune reports today that Wirtz Beverage Group, which is best known locally as Judge & Dolph, Ltd., is in the final stages of purchasing Glazer's Distributors of Illinois. When the deal is finalized, Wirtz Beverage group will once again become the largest distributor of beer, wine and spirits in the state. Glazer's, which operates locally as Union Beverage/National Wine and Spirits (best known for getting Larry Bell to take his kegs and haul ass......

Sometimes we come across a beer that not only puts hair on our chest, it removes said curlicues. Such is the case with this week's "BotW" selection. Night Tripper is the latest entry to New Holland Brewing's "high gravity" series, and it is a monster. This imperial stout is one viscous mother, with the carbonation forcing its way to the surface (head: nonexistent). It teems with the flavor of roasted barley malt and dark......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Theater Pegasus Players and Live Bait Theater are the co-producers behind Steven Simoncic's "Heat Wave." Based on the book of the same name, this play takes a look at the heat wave of 1995 which took the lives of 739 Chicagoans and asks if the deaths could have been prevented and what went wrong. 1145......

Take that shot in, will you? Just look at that stein filled with the proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Sometimes you have to keep your beer simple, but not too much. There are a lot of reasons that should not be featuring Bitburger in the "BotW" series. But two moments in the past two weeks override all the arguments against it. The first was the way the crispness......