It is inevitalble that if you drink enough beer, you’ll drank some bad beer. I don’t mean the Blatz or the Budwieser Ultra-Ultra lights. I mean you’ll get a beer that once was a good beer.
A month ago, I thought it was cool that I knew where you could find Fat Tire on tap. Every place in Chicago Seems to have the big bottle of New Belgium’s product, but I hadn’t seen it on tap yet. I had tried Fat Tire a few years ago in Phoenix, and heard of the successful word of mouth campaign that got it placed in any bar that had space for the oversized bottles. It’s malty sweetness and popularity quickly made them available everywhere. I had one on tap in December in a bar called Citizen, at 346 Eire in River North and was going to talk about it here until I started this challenge. I’d link to their site at citizenbar.com but they have a browser halting Shockwave music player.
So I stopped by the Citizen and got one. But what I got was a pint of slightly putrid benzene. It was the right color, a little flat looking, with the same thin, but standard head, but was a concentrated glass of plastizers and whatever enzymes managed to mantain their molecular structure through whatever torture this liquid had been through since its birth. It smelled like denatured alcohol and melted vinyl.
The staff was in some sort of meeting, and I think this is one of those places that doens’t consider themsleves open until very late, when the clubbers come around the neighborhood, so it took way too long to get someone to acknowledge that I wasn’t going to drink this stuff. The bartender finally returned and gave me another choice. I ordered a Peroni, knowing that at least I’d be able to knock another uncommon tap off the list. Until I realized I wouldn’t be able to fulfil the official rules of drinking 4 ozs. The melted polymer flavor was in this beer too. At first I thought it might be a chemical reaction with whatever was left in my mouth, but It was unmistakably repeated. Whether it was the lines or glasses not properly washed, I couldn’t tell. Normally this offense would make me never return, but since I’m reporting it, I might try them again in a few weeks to let everyone know if it was a one day fluke.
Luckily, the Green Door Tavern is around the corner. And I was pleasantly surprised to find Fat Tire on tap there too. Fat Tire the way it was supposed to taste – malty and ‘biscuity’ slightly carmelly and very drinkable. Its popularity is probably due to its approachability. Not overly hopped or overly alcoholic like many micro styles, it’s a good choice for beer drinkers moving up from the macros.
As for the Green Door, I’ve worked directly across the street from the place for years, and while I’ve been in there enough times, I’ve never officially become a regular. The reason is its popularity – whenever I want a beer after working late, all the bar stools seem to always be full. But other than that, the Green Door is a great bar, a true Chicago tavern, around since just after the Fire (one of the few wooden framed buildings in Chicago) with good food. I’m a fan of their chili and their ribs, served with a slightly orangey sauce. They have a good selection of other tap beers, but nothing really unusual. I’ll probably head back when I go to cross Hacher Pschorr off the list.
I’ll write up reviews of some others, but here’s some updates to the list of tap beer I’ve had so far this year:
7. Maredsous 8
8. Lagunitas Censored
9. Unibroue Maudite
10. Guinness
11. Goose Island Christmas Ale
12. Rogue Dead Guy
13. Goose Island Matilda
14. Fat Tire
15. Peroni
16. Smithwicks
17. Fuller’s London Porter
18. Fuller’s London Pride
19. Fuller’s ESB
20. Trumer Pils