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, a long awaited taproom opens, a long time favorite closes, BrewLights are nearly here, Black Friday plans are made, a confounding legal battle plagues Portland, and “unworthy” brew shirts are rounded up.
LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO — The long awaited Off Color Mousetrap opened its doors last week after months of anticipation. Tucked away south of the bustling North & Clybourn shopping district, the space features 12 Off Color beers and a BYOF policy. We checked it out for ourselves following the grand opening and can confirm it’s worth a visit. [Eater Chicago]
LINCOLN SQUARE, CHICAGO — Lincoln Square is officially losing one of it’s best known restaurants next month, as Chicago Brauhaus shuts down for good on December 11th. With the owners of more than 50’s years set to retire, we’d encourage all fans of weiner schnitzel and litres of beer to head there for one last round. [Chicago Tribune]
LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO — Winter weather is in full swing, the holidays are just around the corner, and the annual BrewLights festival at Lincoln Park Zoo is just weeks away. Put on by Louis Glunz Beer as a significant fundraising event for the Zoo, it features 12 of the distributors breweries pouring beer beneath over two million lights. Those interested in attending can pick up discounted tickets now for the December 7th event. [THR Wire]
BUCKTOWN, CHICAGO — Black Friday is nearly upon us and for beer geeks across Chicago, that means Bourbon County is back. With BCBS-centric events coming in thick and fast from all over Chicagoland, one of the more
fun events is at Bucktown’s Whirlyball, featuring free games and a whole lot of Bourbon County, both old and new. [THR Wire]PORTLAND, OR — Another day, another legal battle in the beer world. This one, however, is pretty unusual as the City of Portland, world renowned as a brewery friendly town, seems to be actively trying to subdue one of its own in favor of ABI. The city’s battle with Old Town Brewing over the use of their trademarked White Stag is as interesting as it is confounding. [Beervana]
ESCONDIDO, CA — Stone’s Arrogant Brewing is lashing out again at breweries who have sold out to brewing conglomerates. Their “Unworthy Beer T-Shirt Amnesty” program aims to collect shirts from breweries who are, in their opinion, no longer worth your time. They jokingly claim they’ll send them to Lagunitas and InBev breweries, but will hopefully be donating them to those in need as hinted in their over the top description. [THR Wire]
–––
Photo of holiday lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo at the 2015 iteration of BrewLights — by Jack Muldowney.