Required Reading for Land Shark Lager Oyster Fest

Today's "Get Schooled" feature in the RedEye is conveniently about oysters.  Since Landshark Lager Oyster Fest is fast approaching (September 19th from 11a to 10p, 2000 W Roscoe St at Damen Ave), it is good preliminary reading for the weekend ahead.

"Get Schooled: Oysters"

Delilah's Fourth Annual Oktoberfest & Pumpkin Beer Tasting

These people know their beer.  I only have been to one Belgian tasting here back in February, but it was pretty serious stuff.

"...an Autumn tasting of all possible Octoberfest beers -- including an Ayinger Oktoberfest 5 Year Vertical, as well as all possible pumpkin beers."

Some of the breweries represented will be: Ayinger, Becks Paulaner, Spaten, Hofbrau, Summit, Goose Island, O'Fallon, Southern Tier, New Holland, Lakefront

Bottles and samples will be available.

5-9pm, No cover
Tuesday, 9/29

Delilah's
2771 N Lincoln
773-472-2771

A Little More on Peak Organic

I am pretty taken with Peak Organic's website and decided to write more about them.  It seems the people behind this brewery are quite committed to all things local, sustainable and Fair Trade.  Good Karma.  Also, for those who claim red wine is a 'health drink' because of antioxidants (I am one of those people), you will love the fact that they have a Pomegranate Wheat Ale with Acai.  If that isn't a health tonic, I don't know what is:)  Unfortunately, I only tried the Maple Oat Ale and none of their other beers when I had the perfect opportunity.  Maybe Dan has something to say about the others he tasted.  Here are some additional notes on the Maple Oat Ale from their website:

The Maple Oat Ale is brewed with Maine-grown organic oats from granola company GrandyOats and Vermont-produced organic maple syrup from Butternut Mountain Farms in Morrisville, Vermont. The beer is in support of Chefs Collaborative, the nation's leading culinary organization that provides its members with tools for running economically healthy, sustainable food service businesses.

The Maple Oat Ale is a copper-colored ale with a soft, dynamic mouth feel from the organic oats and a subtle hint of sweetness in the finish from the organic maple syrup.

Binny's Beer Expo Recap

We went to Binny's Beer Expo last night and just wanted to quickly recap a couple of highlights.  People were pretty irritated with the general lack of organization surrounding the event, but that isn't really relevant.  There was a good mix of beer distributors and brewers represented at the event and plenty of time to speak to the reps and taste a huge variety of beers.

Tracy from Metropolitan Brewery in Chicago was at the event, so we made a beeline for her first and were able to try the new Kolsch style beer that we had heard about when we visited their brewery in July before she ran out.  It is currently on tap at some of the more beer-serious bars around Chicago, including Map Room and Delilah's.

My favorite beer of the evening was an odd choice for me personally, as I tend toward hop heavy and "big" beers.  I absolutely fell in love with Peak Organic's Maple Oat Ale.  It was such a unique flavor and stood out from most oatmeal beers, which are usually stouts.  It was light in color and body and definitely had a nice oaty, malty flavor.  Also, the maple was subtle...not disgustingly sweet.  I have already asked Dan if he will pleeeaaase brew something similar this autumn.

Final topic of note - I spoke to the rep from Half Acre about their plans for the new Lincoln Square location.  I found out that they will be opening a tasting room in October!  I added my name to their mailing list, so I will post a note about it when it finally opens.

Sunday Supper: A Head-to-Tail Event at Bluprint

Bluprint will host a five-course pig dinner prepared by four leading Midwest Chefs on Sunday in an effort to raise awareness for and in support of local farms in Illinois and Wisconsin.

The evening will begin at 6pm with a beer reception courtesy of Three Floyd’s Brewing Co. followed by
dinner at 6:30pm.  The dinner is BYOB.


The chefs are:
-Sam Burman, Bluprint

-Christopher Eley, Goose the Market
-Chris Pandel, The Bristol
-Jared Van Camp, Old Town Social

RSVP required (312-410-9800) 
Cost is $40

Dogfish Head Chicha

I was looking for some beer notes today on Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale, when I happened across this item on their newest ancient ale - Chicha.  Coincidentally, the New York Times published an article on this particular release today.  Needless to say, I was completely sidetracked by this much more interesting topic.

Dogfish Head's Chicha is based on the traditional Peruvian chicha - a fermented corn beverage dating back to the Inca.  Now to the interesting part...chicha traditionally is made by chewing corn to a pulp and then spitting the mixture into a vat of warm water.

Dogfish head has stayed true to form!  Watch the video from the people at Dogfish Head on their brewing process and read the article "Chew It Up, Spit It Out, Then Brew. Cheers!" in today's New York Times.

Unfortunately, for those whose interest is peaked, you will not be seeing Dogfish Head's Chicha in the Midwest anytime soon.  According to the Dogfish Head website, "this beer is a Brewpub Exclusive beer that was released on 9/8/09 and will be available until it's gone. Due to its limited availability, Chicha is not available in growlers."

Windy City Wine Festival

September is typically heavy with wine events in both Chicago and the suburbs.  Two of the larger and more established wine festivals take place in Chicago this weekend - Old Town Crush, Music and Comedy Fest (formerly known as Wine Crush in Old Town) and the Windy City Wine Festival.  I will focus on the latter, as I attended last year and it will probably be my choice again this year.

The Fifth Annual Windy City Wine Festival takes place on September 11th and 12th in Daley Bicentennial Plaza in Grant Park.  Tickets are $25 dollars in advance (purchase by 9/10/09 online) and $30 at the entrance and include a souvenir wine glass and ten tastings, as well as entrance to various seminars and demonstrations.  Additional tasting tickets can be purchased at the festival for $5 for 10 tastings.  From my experience, you will never need to purchase those additional tastings, because many vendors never bothered to take tickets.  We also ran into a number of people giving away extra tasting tickets as they were leaving, simply because they weren't handing them in to vendors.  Maybe they will have their act together this year.

The website for the event boasts samplings of 250 wines from around the world, though your experience may vary wildly from tent to tent.  At one tent, we spoke to an enthusiastic vendor from Spain last year (the rep had actually flown in from Spain for the event) who was more than willing to let us try and discuss every wine she had to offer when she understood that we had a particular interest in Spanish wines and familiarity with the various regions.  At the next tent, the wine was suspiciously similar to Boone's Farm - and this is coming from someone who is not entirely adverse to fruit wine.  I am from Michigan afterall:)

I checked out the list of participating vineyards this year and it looks pretty good.  I am excited to see Sebastiani Vineyards, which I visited in Sonoma a few years ago, and Cline Cellars.  There are at least two local Illnois vineyards, which I haven't yet visited or tried, but are on my list.  I am happy to see Gekkeikan Sake will be there, too, as we are fans of Gekkeikan Horin. 

For more details and to purchase advance tickets, visit http://www.windycitywinefestival.com/.