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Real Ale Festival - Chicago

Post details, reviews and recaps of interesting beer events in Ontario and elsewhere here.

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Jon Walker
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1899
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2001 8:00 pm
Location: Wherever you go there you are

Post by Jon Walker »

I know Chicago is quite a drive but this festival might just be worth the trip.

The Real Ale Festival 2002 (It's been going on for over 6 years now, maybe some of you have been in years past?) runs from February 28th-March 2nd and features;

- 165 brands of cask conditioned ales from across America and guest beers straight from Britain.

- 55 bottle-conditioned beers from across the country.

- A homebrewed real ale competition.

Real Ale Festival 2001 featured more than 230 beers from 71 breweries across America,
plus 10 casks of imported British ale.
They exhibited the following British cask ales:
Freeminer Trafalgar IPA
Harviestoun Old Engine Oil
Gale's Prize Old Ale
Dent Kamikaze
Dent Aviator
Gale's Festival Mild
Gale's HSB
Black Sheep Riggwelter
Harvey's Armada
J.W. Lee’s Vintage Harvest Ale 2000

US Breweries Participating in RAF 2001 Included the Following:
Brewery Name - State
AleSmith CA
Barley's Brewing Co. Ale House #1 OH
Barley's Smokehouse #2 OH
Bear Republic Brewing Co. CA
Big Rock Chop & Brew House MI
BJ's - Boulder CO
BJ's - Portland OR
Blue Star Brewing Co. TX
Bluegrass Brewing Co. KY
Bonfire Bistro & Brewery MI
Boscos Brewing Co. TN
Brew Moon Restaurant & Microbrewery MA
Brewer's Alley MD
Brewmaster's Pub WI
BridgePort Brewing Co. OR
Brooklyn Brewery NY
Buckeye Brewing Co. OH
Carver Brewing Co. CO
Climax Brewing Co. NJ
Coast Range Brewing Co. CA
Crooked River Brewing Co. OH
Deschuttes Brewery OR
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery DE
Dragonmead Microbrewery MI
Emmett's Tavern IL
Flatlanders IL
Flossmoor Station Brewing Co. IL
Flying Fish Brewing Co. NJ
Fox River Brewing Co. WI
Frederick Brewing Co. MD
Goose Island Brewing Co. IL
Great Waters Brewing Co. MN
Gritty McDuff's ME
Grizzly Peak Brewing Co MI
Hops! Bistro & Brewery CA
Hoptown Brewing Co. CA
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant PA
John Harvard’s Brew House - Cambridge, MA MA
John Harvard’s Brew House - Framingham, MA MA
John Harvard’s Brew House - Lake Grove, NY NY
John Harvard’s Brew House - Manchester, CT CT
John Harvard’s Brew House - Pittsburgh PA
John Harvard’s Brew House - Springfield, PA PA
John Harvard’s Brew House - Washington DC DC
John Harvard’s Brew House - Wayne, PA PA
John Harvard’s Brew House - Westport, CT CT
John Harvard’s Brew House - Wilmington, DE DE
John Harvard's Brewhouse MA
Kalamazoo Brewing Co., Inc. MI
Lafayette Brewing Co. IN
Magnolia Pub & Brewery CA
Marin Brewing Co. CA
Mendocino Brewing Co. CA
Mickey Finn's Brewery IL
Middle Ages Brewing Co. NY
Milwaukee Ale House WI
Moylan's CA
Pizza Port Carlsbad CA
Pizza Port Solana Beach CA
Rock Bottom Brewery - Arlington, VA VA
Rock Bottom Brewery - Denver CO
Rock Bottom Chicago IL
Rock Bottom Minneapolis MN
Rock Bottom Warrenville IL
Rocky River Brewing Co. OH
Rogue Ales OR
Russian River Brewing Co. CA
Shipyard Brewing Co ME
SLO Brewing Company CA
Southampton Publik House NY
St. Arnold's Brewing Company TX
Stoddard's Brewhouse CA
Stuft Pizza CA
Sweetwater Tavern & Brewery VA
The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co. WI
Third Street Aleworks CA
Three Floyds Brewing Co. IN
Titanic Brewery Co. FL
Union Station Brewery (Harvard's) RI
Virginia Beverage Company VA
White Marsh Brewing Co. MD
Yards Brewery PA

The website is here;
http://www.realalefestival.com

Whose up for a road-trip?



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jon Walker on 2002-01-14 12:08 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jon Walker on 2002-01-14 12:09 ]</font>

PRMason
Bar Fly
Posts: 873
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2001 8:00 pm
Location: Fitzroy Harbour, ON

Post by PRMason »

Scotch Irish Brewing is going to attend this year's festival, and we're submitting two real ales into the competition as well! Our Dry Hop Bitter is going to be there and we have just begun casking a limited amount of our Black Irish Plain Porter especially for the show. These will be the first ever Canadian entries. I'm as nervous as an expectant father (those who have seen my waiste-line recently may think I was expecting for real. Well, never trust a skinny brewer!)For those attending, please introduce yourselves to us at the festival. We'll form the Canadian contingent.
For those unable to attend the festival, I am planning to have the cask porter available at the Winking Judge in Hamilton sometime before the show.
Cheers!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: PRMason on 2002-01-14 15:09 ]</font>

Josh Oakes
Posts: 480
Joined: Tue Jun 26, 2001 8:00 pm
Contact:

Post by Josh Oakes »

I was there in 2000. HIGHLY recommended.

If the notice is too short for some, there is a smaller real ale fest, NERAX, in Boston the first weekend of May.

But Chicago is a must-attend festival. I can't think of another American fest I would rather visit. Every beer there is amazing, and every person there is a hard core beer geek. Pretty much the antithesis of Toronto's fest.

Lubiere
Posts: 183
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2001 8:00 pm
Location: Ottawa

Post by Lubiere »

A message to PRMason,

do you know of people in the Ottawa area going there by car?

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