Travelling to Chicago
We travelled from Minneapolis to Chicago a couple of days ago (day 83 of location independent). We arrived shortly after 4pm and realized it was game 6 of the National League Championship between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs with the Cubs leading the series 3-2 and looking to close it out at home that night. After the eight hour drive we were looking to have a drink and take in the game.
Pippin’s Tavern
We were told to give Pippin’s Tavern a try, conveniently located near The Whitehall Hotel where we were staying. Pippin’s is nothing to look at from the outside and even less on the inside. However, they had many T.V.’s and signs advertising “all music stops during Cubs games” to turn the game sound on! We managed to get a couple of chairs at the bar. After ordering a beer and a rum (for Tara) the drinks arrived in plastic cups, which we thought was a bit weird. After looking around the bar we realized everyone’s drinks were in plastic cups. We managed to get the bartenders attention and asked what the deal with the plastic was (we could see plenty of glassware under the bar). He explained that under Chicago police orders all pubs who were playing the game and staying open afterwards had to use plastic cups. This was to lessen the potential damage that would happen should the Cubs win and advance to the World Series. Take note Vancouver! Of course they did win and there was little to no damage done in downtown Chicago that night. This may be a different story if the Cubs go on to win their first World Series in seventy-one years in the next week.
Chicago Craft Beer
Craft Beer is a big trend in Chicago with new breweries popping up regularly. I managed to taste four different ones at Pippin’s. Before you judge, they were in small 12 ounce plastic glasses (and baseball games can be long). All four were produced right in Chicago and all four were an IPA (India Pale Ale) or a Pale Ale. For the most part I think of them as similar although IPA’s tend to have more of a hoppy flavour in my opinion.
The first was the Green Island Green Pale Ale (5%). I really liked this one with little hoppy taste to it. I would have it again.
The second was the Revolution Anti-Hero IPA (6.5%). We nick named this one the Hulk, not because the taste but rather the green armed fist that served as the Tap handle. This one was very hoppy, a little too strong for my liking.
The third was the Argus Pegasus IPA (5.8%). It was good and probably my second choice of them all.
The fourth and final one was the Half Acre Daisy Cutter IPA (5.2%). Again and little more hoppy than my first and second choice but a bit lighter in color which made it easy to drink. My third favourite of the night.
I’m looking forward to trying some more craft beers in Chicago over our next four nights here! Oh, and by the way, we are both cheering for the Cubs to win the World Series, it was such a fun night and we enjoyed cheering for our home team (for this week).
We, Jeff & Tara Ciecko of CK Golf write two blogs, one is our 19th Hole Blog where we share personal experiences and the other an Industry Blog where we comment on general business and internet marketing best practices, sales strategies and give golf industry related opinions. We have owned CK Golf for 9 years and provide marketing, social media and business services to the golf and other industries. As of August 2016 our life and our business will be ‘location independent’. Our 19th Hole Blog is about the places we visit and the things we do. You can also follow our road trip at foodwinetravel.ca/roadtrip. If you have any questions or comments, or happen to be in the same location as us please reach out and contact us anytime.
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