New Holland Brings Hatter Days to Chicago

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Jun 22, 2010 5:20PM

New Holland Brewing's Hatter Days are an annual event celebrating the success of the Michigan brewery and distillery with their customers and fans with a litany of versions of the flagship "Mad Hatter" ale. Starting today New Holland is bringing the Hatter Days to Chicago for a rousing bacchanalia.

Things kick off tonight with a $65 beer dinner at the Bad Apple (4300 N. Lincoln, 773-360-8406) that kicks off at 6:30 with a roast suckling pig hand carved by New Holland "Beervangelist" Fred Bueltmann, followed by the actual dinner, paired with five different styles of New Holland's Mad Hatter and their Hatter Royale "Hopquila." Tomorrow they take the party to the suburbs with visits to the Bavarian Lodge (1800 Ogden Ave., Lisle, 630-241-4701) from 5-8 p.m. and Tribes Ale House in Mokena (11220 W. Lincoln Hwy., 815-464-0248). New Holland will be serving Hatter flights at both bars.

This all builds to a Thursday climax called the "Hatter Hop." this pub crawl gets started at 5 p.m. at Quenchers (complete with a toast/benediction from Bueltmann), then heads to Whole Foods Kingsbury at 7 p.m.; Fountainhead at 8 p.m.; a firkin tapping at Small Bar Division at 9:30 before Hatter Days has its dénouement at Green Mill, 1 a.m. Friday.

Bueltmann has asked that folks attending any of the Hatter Days events use the Twitter hashtag #hatterdays2010, which will give twitter users updates and passwords for free swag and special giveaways.