Well I promised myself this year I'd visit more Midwestern breweries and I was able to make good on that promise this weekend. Since I had today off from work, I decided to head up to Revolution Brewing Co. in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. It wasn't too far of a drive, and I've had some of Revolution's brews at other bars around the area so I'd been meaning to make the trip for a while.
The brewery itself is a brew pub/brewery. The restaurant is in the front, the brew house is in the back. our table was near the back and they have big window that looks out over the fermenters and kettles. We went there in the evening so there's wasn't any action in the brew house.
I started off with the Iron Fist Pale Ale, and my girlfriend ordered the cheddar ale soup. I always like to try cheddar ale soup at different places because I've found it tastes different every where. The pale ale was a dark copper color, and was brought to the table with a light white film over the top. The scent had floral and earthy tones. I was a bit worried at first because floral/earthy hops usually don't sit well with my palette. To my pleasant surprise, this brew had a very pleasant mild taste. It wasn't as citrusy as a lot of pale ales that I've had in the past. I thought that the floral/earthiness of the hops was actually quite pleasant. The earthiness wasn't really dominant. The malt actually shined through in this pale ale, which again surprised me. The hops came through in the middle of the taste and hung around briefly during the finish. Overall, I really enjoyed this beer and it was a great beer to start off my meal with. i also thought it complimented the beer cheese soup well. The beer cheese soup was very thick, but I thought the beer flavor came out really well and since the pale ale wasn't super hoppy these two went well together.
For my meal I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with french fries. It was really really good. It was a traditional pulled pork sandwich on a roll. What really set it apart for me was the spicy cole slaw on top on the sandwich. It gave the sandwich a really nice amount of heat that paired well with the barbeque sauce. I'm not food expert, but I thought it was a simple, yet delicious, dish. I think it would have gone really well with the IPA they had but I was feeling a bit full so I saved my last beer for after the main course.
I finished off my trip to Revolution with the Eugene porter. It poured an opaque dark brown color, with a small amount of tan head on top. It had a sweet/roasty scent too it, which I'd attribute to the chocolate and roasted malts. I thought this beer tasted great. It had a good amount of sweetness too it that was evened out by some hoppy spiciness and roastiness from the chocolate malt. This brew finished with roastiness from the malt that lingered rather pleasantly. It was a great beer to finish my meal with. And as a porter it was a great substitute for dessert.
Overall I really enjoyed Revolution Brewing Co. The food was great, the beer was even better. I'd definitely head back to this place for a few brews next time I'm in the neighborhood. It seems like they rotate their brews pretty regularly, and they had a quad on tap that seemed pretty tasty. I'd also love to go back for that pulled pork sandwich paired with their IPA. I think that'd be a great combo. If you're ever on the northwest side of chicago, I would definitely check this place out. Their beers are becoming pretty prominent around Chicago, but its always fun to check out where it all begins. Cheers!
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