This weekend is one of the high water marks for the local restaurant industry, led by the third annual Chicago Gourmet in Millennium Park. more ›

In keeping with our stated goal of focusing the remainder of this year's "BotW" selections on breweries we've not covered, we turn our attention this week to Dark Horse Brewing Company in Marshall, Michigan. It's a 3 hour drive to Marshall from Chicago and — as with New Belgium Holland, Founder's and, naturally, Bell's — worth a day trip. more ›

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 arrived home. This is how the India Pale Ale style earned its name. more ›