Have you ever wanted to visit multiple awesome breweries in one day without having to force a friend to be the groups designated driver? Vorlauf brew tours solves this problem by providing a luxury coach bus and bringing you on a four hour journey to three great suburban Chicago breweries.
I had the pleasure of joining in on a Vorlauf brew tour back in January. The tour consisted of stops at Roaring Table, Half Day and Tighthead. I always wish I could get out into the suburbs to visit breweries more, but my lack of a car makes it very difficult to visit one, let alone three breweries. So this tour was especially worthwhile for me!
The tour kicked off at Roaring Table, one of my favorites that I have talked about previously on the blog! Since you've already heard the ins and outs I'll keep it short :) For my beer that was included in the tour (yas!) I had Tuba Solo, a NE-style IPA. The citra hops are evident in the strong tropical fruit aroma and flavor. I think the strongest flavor for me was orange, it added a nice bright component to the beer. I had a NE IPA on my first visit to roaring table that was pretty good, but this one blew it out of the water! Will definitely be keeping my eye out for it next time I'm there!
Our next stop was Half Day Brewing. I had actually never heard of Half Day before going on the tour, but I am really glad that Vorlauf brought us here. After quite a long debate, I settled on the Coffee Infused Iron Horse Porter. From the moment it was set down in front of me, the coffee was already evident from the aroma. The flavor mirrored that strong coffee but added a nice touch of caramel.
Our final stop was Tighthead in Mundelein, IL. After seeing quite a few of their beers around downtown, I was really excited about visiting the taproom. I got the Bear's Choice IPA. Grapefruit flavor on the front end, followed by other citrusy flavors and finishing with a bitter, yet smooth kick. Tighthead was also the location that we got our tour! I really enjoyed seeing behind the scenes and hearing their philosophy for brewing beer.
I don't want to spoil too much of what we heard on the tour,
because you guys should really check it out for yourselves!
I really really enjoyed my day with Vorlauf brew tours. Stephen from Vorlauf truly has put the time and effort into making these tours memorable. He thought of everything, from the small details like the snack bags on the bus to the bigger things like the choice of fantastic breweries. The whole day was filled with great beer and even better people. I know I've said this a lot, but the craft beer scene is really full of fun, friendly people. I will definitely be back on this tour and if you live in the Chicago area, you should really check them out!
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*Note that I was invited to come along on the tour and to pass along my HONEST opinion of it, all opinions are solely my own*