This content was originally published by The Hop Review, a digital magazine that joined the Hop Culture family in March 2020.
This piece was written by Tom White.
In this week’s Hoplinks, Two Brothers pops-up, a culinary brewery gets even more creative, a much-hyped brewery hits Chicago, other breweries change hands, an Indiana staple’s big plans are revealed, and we nominate our 10 Best in beer.
LAKEVIEW, CHICAGO — Bitter Pops is teaming up with Two Brothers for their first ever pop-up. Taking place Friday (that’s tonight!) and Saturday, the festivities will feature a ridiculous number of special bottle releases and rare tappings, as well as an appearance from Chicago beer pioneer Jason Ebel. Check the beer release timeline for each event on Facebook. [THR Wire]
PILSEN, CHICAGO — Culinary brewer Moody Tongue has just introduced their Menu Series [PDF], the brewery’s most ambitious single batch, limited releases to date. Secondly, the Chicago-based brewery announced today its release of Toasted Rice Lager. This beer marks the first American beer brewed especially for Chinese cuisine.
CHICAGO — Tampa, Florida’s acclaimed Cigar City threw their hat into the crowded Chicago market this week with the launch of five of their core cans. In other distribution news, beer goliaths Ballast Point and Dogfish Head traded distribution partners, with the prior headed to Lakeshore Beverage and the latter settling in with Breakthru Beverage. In related news,
Dogfish announced they’ll be sponsoring the 2018 James Beard Awards, taking place in Chicago. [The Full Pint, Brewbound, THR Wire]MUNSTER, IN — Indiana’s biggest brewer shows no sign of slowing down as plans to triple Three Floyd’s homebase footprint were released by the town of Munster. Whether any of these incredibly ambitious plans come to fruition remains to be seen. Regardless, we look forward to future waits outside the taproom because “there’s no room inside.” [Chicago Tribune]
USA — You might have seen breweries and bottle shops touting their nomination for USA Today’s ’10 Best’ in 2018. We at The Hop Review contributed our favorite spots from around the country and, as you’d expect, Chicago is well represented. Click your way through the list of candidates and vote early and often through the next three weeks to take your go-to spot to the top. [USA Today]
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Photo of tap handles and beer at Whiner Beer Co. in Back of the Yards, Chicago from our January 2017 interview — by Nick Costa.