Beer Forum

About a 1.5 weeks ago I went to one of my favorite brewpubs near Chicago, Illinois while I was out there visiting family for a week. Being from California I don't get to visit very often... but this marked my 2nd and 3rd visit to the brewery (I went twice in 3 days on this trip ). The brewery is only a short drive across the border to Munster, Indiana. The brewery is small, the bar is small, the restaurant is small but the do just about everything big! The have plenty of beers on tap leading off with Alpha King Pale Ale (which is also what their statute in the parking lot is based on), Dreadnaught IPA, Behemoth, Gumballhead Wheat, Pride & Joy, Robert the Bruce, De Muerte, Drunk Monk and the ever famous and very rare "Dark Lord," which is an Russian Imperial Stout. I'm sure plenty of you know what DL is all about... if not you should get to know it I was happy to meet the eldest Mr. Floyd in the parking lot while he was working on the flower bed and statute area... he's a man that doesn't mind getting dirty and doing it himself. Very nice gentleman with a Scottish accent I believe....

My favorite two beers ended up being their flagship beer, Alpha King, and the outstanding Dreadnaught IPA. The Dreadnaught IPA carried a 9.5% abv but wore it extremely well. Tons of flavor, malt character and balance. They on serve the Dreadnaught in half pints...but hey, I just call that more work for the bartender cause he has to keep pouring more... haha. They had a Panzer Wolf Double IPA, 100 ibu's, etc... but I didn't care for it nearly as much as Dreadnaught... I thought the PW DIPA was overdone and overhopped "just because"... if that makes sense. They have a ton of great bottled selections as well from nearby breweries and some not so close. I saw some selections from Stone, Pizza Port, Ommegang, DFH, etc.

Anyway, had a great time on my two visits there a week or so ago... if you in that area or going to be, try it out, it's well worth the trip!! The great part too is after you hammer a few beers there is a little White Castle about a block away... those little burgers go down well after a night at the bar. Here are a few pics I took... oh, and I tried every beer from the brewery on the chalkboard

Preach on Brotha! One of the best breweries anywhere. Behemoth with cherries? How was it?

Great pix - I've been reading about 3F for a few years now and hoping that I could get some out here. I think I got their Scottish Ale a couple of years ago when I was in Iowa City. I've always wanted to try the Alpha King but never seen it anywhere. A distributor told me they changed their strategy a year or two back and were focusing on serving locally at the brewpub rather than shipping bottled beer regionally. Based on what I've read, really hoping they will ramp up production and ship more around the Midwest.

Dunno about their plans, but I found several new beers in bottles when I was in Milwaukee. Maybe they are keeping distribution closer to home. I'd guess they are running close to capacity and may not want to expand.