Recent Evolution of Chicagoland Beer Retailing

Here is a 30 thousand foot view of the beer retailing market. Why the review now? It's important to know how far beer retailing has come, and where it's going. The continued growth and increasing share of micro-brewed beer depends on a healthy retail environment. And much of the retail improvement has come over the past 2-3 years.

Witness these observations:

- Most Whole Foods stores now have good multi-pack and single bottle beer lineups, including 6 drafts at the Grill at the new Sauganash location
- Lush Wine & Spirits, with two locations, Drinks over Dearborn, and In Fine Spirits are all new in the past 2 years, and are similarly small shops which stock primarily singles of hard to find micros, and some vintage ones too.
- The re-birth of Armanetti's on Lincoln (and the others still in the chain), now a much better location for micros.
- The growth and commitment of Binny's, which has hired some of the best beer experts in the city, capped by the giant selection and tasting bar at the new South Loop location.
- Archer Liquors has become a major internet retailer.
- Even local grocery stores have stepped up to the plate.

This commitment has incentivized brewers across the board to responded to and fill this growing demand. Now we have new bottles coming from Flossmoor Station, Metropolitan, Half Acre, and a renewed commitment to specialty bombers by Goose Island. We have many more varieties of high quality Belgian beers now. We have drawn distribution interest from major West Coast players like Lost Abbey/Port Brewing and even a Wisconsin brewer (Tyranena).

Bars have upped their lists as well, witness the growth in the bars qualifying as beer destinations for Chicago as defined by Beer Advocate.

These are good times indeed, and the perishable nature of beer will keep supply and demand in check. It's much easier now to get the style and precise beer you want. Much easier to find a single of that beer for tasting. Much easier to compare prices across the internet sites of the predominant retailers. And much easier to find it close to your home or office.

We have one of the best markets environments for the purchase of beer. It's all due to the changing demand of the Chicagoland beer drinker - keep those microbrews coming.

Beer Advocate is the networking place now

Beer Advocate has grown swiftly with the internet boom and the craft beer boom to become the most influential online location for US beer lovers. They also have a magazine, but that's just a way to make money. The real action is online, as they how have changed their homepage to highlight their beer forums.

Until recently the only regional focused forum for Chicagoans was US - Midwest. Recently I discovered a new group under Chicago. What a find! Lots of local information, on new beers coming into the market, events, and reviews.

The formation of this group made possible for one of the most exciting recent beer tasting events in Chicago, the BA Chicago Gathering/Beer Swap. Fully 62 folks signed up for this, and the reviews on the forum were great.

Beer Advocate, for a modest cost, is the place to keep up with if you seek info on beer coming out, venues, events, and anything else beer Chicago. I certainly will be watching it.

Firkin to Rival Rock Bottom's?

Interesting place. We finally made it to Firkin, an "English-type" pub, at least according to their website. The offerings here would not be seen in England, however, maybe close to the border with Mexico, but more about that later.

In downtown Libertyville you must walk into the back door, the front on the street shows that on a Saturday night around 7ish it is packed. Parking in the back, take the back door down a long hallway from there to the dining area, with a long bar on the left, and some 20-25 tables well spaced. Interesting decor, the posters particularly, mostly from China? Weird stuff hanging from the high ceiling. Nice look, lots of middle aged folks enjoying themselves.

Our problems started as we sat at the bar waiting for a table. The bartender gave us several tastes as we weren't sure we what we wanted. That was good and appreciated. The problem as it turned out was that they were out of 3-4 offerings of the 25 or so listed. Upside, on cask there were 2, but the red ale wasn't that good (didn't try the IPA on offer, probably a better choice). We ended up with a nice Dortmunder from Two Brothers, a Kasteel Red, and a few other nice choices. The website says it's mostly micros (or was it the menu) but many Belgians on offer as well.

The food menu has many pages, a mix of Mexican, bar food, and lots of seafood. Unusual. Best appetizer was the special pork tacos. Guacamole just ok. The burger was loved, the fish tacos so so, the Cuban pork sandwich was very good. But we would not go back for this food if not for the beer list, and that was an issue.

Another bigger problem, lack of response from the wait staff. We had some missed requests on food, the worst of which happened near the end. We didn't like the look of the desserts, so we chose the Fantome Chocolate as our dessert. It came, seemed nice, no chocolate notable. We asked the waiter, he said he didn't know, we said we'd like to speak to their "beer guy". Instead of this guy, the waiter came back and told us that the Chocolate had run out, that it turned out it was the regular Fantome, and that it has "Chocolate notes" so we should like it. We did, but I protested, told him we wanted the Chocolate, especially as I've tasted the regular Fantome before, and for the $27 we paid (about twice retail) we should get what we ordered. We didn't stay for satisfaction, and it's very offputing that the manager would tell the waiter just to placate us. I'm still pissed and doubt we'll return.

Their home website says that our country is thirsting for this kind of English pub. Well, not this type with crappy people who think customers are idiots. I'll take Rock Bottom or Goose Island any day, and maybe these Canadian's haven't heard we already have some nice pubs. Grade this a C+, just for having a nice tap list, but not worth the drive or aggravation.