Beer (Scavenger) Events & Social Updates
Powered by drunken elf hunting
Looking for a fun way to gamify your drinking this holiday season? Who isn’t!
Good news: Skeleton Key has partnered with a number of other participating venues like Flipside Brewing, Rabid Brewing, Orange & Brew Bottleshop and others for a “Spot the Beer Elf” scavenger hunt running now through the 28th.
Find the elf, snap a photo, show the staff and you can win some free stuff. Sounds like fun, so keep your eyes peeled and happy hunting.
In less fun news: I had always hoped to pay a visit to Waypost Brewing in southwest Michigan — I enjoyed the beers I’ve had of theirs and it looked like a cool agricultural beer garden kind of space — but sadly they’ve announced that they’ll be closing on December 28th.
They’re going out in style, though - on the Solstice, theyre holding a “Drink Like a Monk” event with four abbey ales being poured by candlelight or fireside. Pretty cool.
And now, onto our upcoming…
This Weekend:
Tomorrow, if you want to try like, a hundred Christmas and Winter beers at one of Chicago’s coolest bars, get to Delilah’s for their annual winter beer festival.
And if you need some holiday presents on Saturday before you head to Delilahs, is/was brewing is hosting their very first Holiday Market from noon to 6pm.
Imperial Oak’s Willow Springs location is hosting a boozy book fair tomorrow afternoon as well.
If the presents are handled and you’re up for a bar crawl, Fox Republic Brewing kicks off an afternoon full of drinking tomorrow at 2pm.
Not on the North Side on Saturday night? Kaiser Tiger’s hosting their annual Krampusnacht from 7-10pm with lots of fun stuff available.
Urban Chestnut is hosting their Lager Fest conference tomorrow as well.
Next Week & Beyond
We don’t see much from Lakeview’s Good Times Brewing, but if you have a single friend you want to sell people on for cuffing season, they’re helping to put on a Pitch a Friend event on Monday night.
On December 10, head to District Brewyards for their own festive Beer Scavenger Hunt with plenty of beer plus barbecue from Lillie’s Q.
Here’s something you don’t see very often, probably because blades + booze is a dangerous mix, but Sun King is hosting a knife sharpening event at their brewery on Dec. 13th.
It makes sense that a brewer named St. Nicholas Brew Co. would do something Santa-themed around now, and they are - a Polar Express style train trip from DuQuoin to Carbondale and back on the 22nd.
White Rooster’s Stout Fest returns on January 11, putting ten of their stouts on tap at 8am (five imperials! five milk stouts! with pastries! and donuts!).
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Surly’s annual array of Darkness variants are out, and I’m very interested in finding out what Chocolate Limoncello tastes like.
Ever had a beer made with bay leaves? If not, Begyle’s Christmas Ale can accomodate you.
Flipside, you had me at Bourbonzola. (Your Czech dark lager at FoBAB’s Lager Lounge was quite tasty also.)
Plank Road Tap Room having crowlers isn’t breaking news, but I do love these cool resealable twist-top cans they have.
Much like Starbucks, Garage Band Brewing has their special Holiday cups available once again.
Coming today from Off Color: Nitro Scurry. No widget, though, so you’re going to have to hard pour it.
As previewed in a Wednesday beer label email, Destihl’s the place to be if you want to try a Wrexham Lager stateside.
Happy 37th birthday to Lakefront Brewery.
IDK what it is, but this picture of nachos in front of a campfire at Hop Lot Brewing is just really evocative for some reason.
You know I love data, and Sketchbook ran some numbers while they celebrated their 10th anniversary. That’s a lot of beer, a lot of hops, and many, many, many pounds of grain used.
Midwest Coast is more than happy for your kids to come hang out with them - which is why they’re hosting a series of Family Day events every other weekend or so.
Sunday Family Days are also back at Hop Lot, with free s’mores and free hot chocolate for the kiddos.
It’s official: Yuengling beers will hit Illinois draft lines and store shelves early next year.
Now available at All Rise Brewing: The Krampus Dog, topped with prosciutto and gingerbread cookie crumbles, amongst other things. Wild.
Dates for next year’s FoBAB have already been announced, and thankfully it’s a little earlier than this year’s.
Once they announced the change, it didn’t take long for the former Ravinia Brewing to rebrand their cans to Steep Ravine.
Speaking of cans, Industry Ales has beer in cans now too.
Rabid Brewing has a new stout and a bunch of events this week but their suggestion for “Freyday” made me laugh out loud.
Blom Cider + Mead in Ann Arbor has introduced something interesting: a new apertivo based on Spanish sipping vermouth.
Blind Corner may not have beer yet, but they do have merch.
Speaking of merch, if you’re planning on Dry January-ing, ordering some merch is a great way to keep some cash moving through your favorite breweries. I don’t do a Xmas tree, but I’m thinking these ornaments from Half Acre would look good on my parents' tree this year.
Thank you all for being here! Have a great weekend. See y’all on Monday.
~Karl, a Guy Drinking Winter Warmers