Malt Row Brewery Tour

Last week the Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce held the annual Malt Row Brewery Tour for local media that started in 2019. "Malt Row" was established in 2017 as part of Illinois Craft Beer Week. With about a dozen locations that include several craft breweries, a distillery and winery within a short proximity along and near the Ravenswood Corridor, it's a haven for lovers of craft beer and spirits.

The tour group splits up to hit different breweries and the group I was with first visited Spiteful Brewing, one that I love extra since they have some Cubs-themed brews. I tried a Cubby Bear Lager, which is the official beer of the Cubby Bear bar in Wrigleyville. Last year I tried the Bleacher Bum Peach Blonde Ale. They have 16 of their own beers on tap to try. Another cool thing to note about this place is that they also serve the Pequod's IPA that is also available at both Pequod's locations. Through that partnership, they also began offering a thin-crust version of Pequod's in the taproom, which is pretty cool. Pequod's is pretty amazing. I've only had their deep dish and honestly hadn't even realized thin crust Pequod's was thing. Definitely keep it in mind to try when visiting Spiteful. We got a little tour of the facility and paired our brew with chicken sliders from Falcon's Sliders.

Next we were on to Is/Was Brewing for another behind the scenes tour and a little tasting of their signature Saison, Will Be, as well as a tasty, refreshing sunflower saison.

The tour finished up by meeting up with the other half of the tour participants who had toured two other breweries at Koval Distilling. This spot included a more in-depth tour of this distillery that happens to be the first to open in the city of Chicago since Prohibition. After a little talk by our guide on the distilling floor, we headed to the tasting room where we sampled a Cranberry Gin Spritz, their most popular cocktail. We also tried out some slices from Chicago's Pizza. It was a fun evening of catching up with other blogger and influencer friends, sipping on new brews and learning more about the neighborhood and all it has to offer, especially when it comes to the craft beer scene. For more info on the Malt Row Breweries and to plan out your town exploration of Malt Row, visit ravenswoodchicago.org.