Beer Events & Social Updates: A Bonkers February on Deck
Powered by so, so, so, so many events and a powerful video
Y’all, we are seeing a LOT of events happening throughout February. Breweries are giving us lots of reasons to exit Dry January in a big way, so let’s indulge them.
Take the recommendation from the owner of Batch Brewing in Detroit, who made and shared this surprisingly impactful video this week recounting many (but not all!) of the places that closed around the D in 2024, plus a request:
“I don’t know if you’ve made a resolution this year … but if you haven’t, let me throw this idea at you. You need to go out and spend money. Twice a week. At an independently owned restaurant, or brewery, or bar, from now until the end of March.
“2025 is going to be a brutal year for the service industry … it’s in your hands who’s still going to be operating in 2026.”
Emphasis mine. Here’s a whole lot of ways to make that happen:
Reminder: Only Premium Subscribers are being sent Wednesday label updates via email. Lite Subscribers can click here to see this week’s label - the first from Demo Brewing.
This Weekend:
This afternoon, Hop Butcher takes a different look at “Dry January” with their Dryday celebration of super-dry lagers, IPAs and saisons.
The Open Bottle is celebrating turning ten years old in Tinley and the party goes through the 1st. That tap list looks excellent.
Tomorrow afternoon, you can sample some great beers from breweries like Gnosis, New Oberpfalz and Blockhead Beerworks and listen to a Johnny Cash tribute band at the Big Barn Beer Fest at County Line Orchard in Hobart, IN.
Cruz Blanca’s latest Luchador Market also takes place tomorrow. You can get a taste of their barrel-aged beers including the La Lucora that we loved at FoBAB.
The 11th annual Burnhearts Mitten Fest returns to Bayview tomorrow and takes place from noon - 8pm. Bands, rare beers, brandy old fashioneds - sounds like fun.
Revolution kicks off a busy couple of weeks with their Crazy Day tomorrow, celebrating the return of their delicious Belgian pale ale, A Little Crazy. More on this below.
Bundle up and head to the Beer Temple on Sunday (Feb. 2) for their annual WinterFest.
Next Week & Beyond:
CiderCon kicks off at the Chicago Hilton on the 4th and continues through Friday.
If there’s a famous “beer cartoonist” it’s Em Sauter, and she’s appearing at Phase Three - Elmhurst on Wednesday, Feb. 5 for a beer+food pairing event.
Also on the 5th, Off Color’s Discussion Series returns with a conversation about the intersection of beer and cider, with a special tasting of Lost in Maine, their new graf collaboration.
And the new Moor’s Brewing / Steep Ravine location, Diversey House, has their grand opening on the 5th as well.
Spiteful Brewing has been at it for a long time, so I’m a bit surprised to discover that they’re holding their very first beer dinner (with Beard+Belly) on Feburary 6th at their taproom.
On Feb. 7-8, Milwaukee’s Sugar Maple beer bar is turning into the a Spongebob-themed “Bar-kini Bottom.”
Madison’s Working Draft is hosting a Swedish beer celebration on the 8th. It’s the debut of their Swedish lager collaboration. The beer “is slightly sweeter and more full-bodied than German pilsners and with a slightly lower hopping rate” and has an awesome name.
Goldfinger’s Dark Lager Day 2025 is set for February 8, as is Eris Brewery & Cider House’s Goth Prom at Bottom Lounge, Marz Brewing’s Lunar New Year of the Snake party and rice lager debut, and in Woodridge, it’s the Hollywood Boulevard Craft Beer Festival, where you can sample from 30+ breweries throughout the movie theater.
February 9th is Hopleaf’s twelfth-annual Super Stout Sunday. Lineup TBD.
Stout Week returns to Side Project on the 11th with “Vanilla Day” and carries through to the 16th. Double Barrel night sounds like a headache-y morning would follow.
On February 15, the newly created American Craft Beer Hall of Fame will announce their inaugural inductees. You can watch the livestream at a few taprooms around the country; in Chicago, they’re viewing at Dovetail. And speaking of Dovetail…
Dovetail’s annual "Thank You for Smoking” gathering of smoked beers is set for Sunday, Feb. 16.
Spiteful takes over Big Star West Town for a Carnitas and Cans event on the 21st.
Tickets are now on sale for Destihl’s annual Dosvidanya Day, taking place on Feb. 22.
The annual outdoor Wuckfinter festival at Ray’s Wine & Spirits in Wauwatosa, in collaboration with Three Floyds, is set for Feb. 23.
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Half Acre is now offering food from their kitchen - and beer - for delivery via Doordash and Uber Eats from Wednesday-Sunday.
Plank Road Tap Room is getting ready to kick off their 2025 after a brief early year time-out. You can still join their Worst Kept Secret Society, too.
Job Alerts: Want to brew for Maplewood? They’re looking for you, and Hop Butcher is on the hunt for a cellarperson.
Beer cans from Illuminated Brew Works are now on display at the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick in Cleveland.
Online sales for Monochrome’s first barrel-aged effort, called Project Nova and crafted in conjunction with Neuronova Brewing (the “whoTF are they” brewery from FoBAB) kicked off today with pickups starting tomorrow.
We mentioned the event above, but I always loved A Little Crazy when it was in wide release from Revolution, so I’m extra psyched to see it back for a bit (and a DDH version at the taproom? Yes please).
A maple-mushroom brown ale from Old Irving and Ohio’s Derive Brewing? Also yes please.
Virtue Cider’s got pigs!
Rhinegeist is starting up a Jeopardy bar league? I want a Jeopardy bar league!
Get your woolen three-piece suit and straw hat ready - Conrad Seipp has a barrel-aged version of their bock coming our way in spring (We hope).
Mikerphone got a bunch of new Pappy Van Winkle barrels this week. Set a reminder for, oh, say about 2 years from now to see what happens. Speaking of Mikerphone and time…
Remember: Ratebeer shuts down tomorrow. Mikerphone looked back to almost exactly nine years ago when the Ratebeer Best awards named them the best new brewery in Illinois.
Thank you all for being here! You made it through Dry January. Have a great weekend. See y’all on Monday.
~Karl, a Guy Drinking at a taproom or two this weekend.
Honest question: why is 2025 going to be worse? I know 2024 was brutal