The Daily Parker

Welcome to stop #123 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Duneyrr Fermenta, 2237 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago
3 (of 5) stars
Train line: CTA Green Line, Cermak-McCormick Place
Time from Chicago: 10 minutes
Distance from station: 600 m

After five hours, four kilometers of walking, three pints of beer, two Lyfts, and an invitation to my Brews & Choos buddy's husband to meet us three blocks from his office, we made it to Duneyrr Fermenta in Chicago's historic Motor Row. If only we hadn't had a mound of cheese curds at Alulu, we might have enjoyed the BBQ pop-up. Instead, we each tried a small glass of beer (or wine, in one case), and decided to get dinner closer to home.

Duneyrr definitely has a point of view on fermenting. They seem only to use wild yeast in their beers and wines, which I appreciate but do not like. I tried a 150 mL sample of the Riwaka Raccoon New Zealand IPA (6.3%), which had a super-dank nose and even danker flavor, with massive fruit flavors from the Riwaka and Rakau hops that the wild yeast completely obliterated. My buddy tried the Wild Buri farmhouse ale (5%), which she liked enough, calling it "less like a farmhouse and more like a göze or a lambic. Quite sour." As one who appreciates but does not like any of those styles, I will accept what she said. Her husband had a glass of the Melodic Mosaic semi-sparkling red wine, and said "Actually, that's interesting. Maybe just don't think of it as a wine." I also found it...interesting.

The space is cool, though, and they do allow dogs. Their snacks looked pretty good too. So it's worth a second look, especially if I want to entertain friends who really dig wild yeast fermentation.

Beer garden? No
Dogs OK? Yes
Televisions? Avoidable
Serves food? Usually snacks, weekend pop-ups
Would hang out with a book? Maybe
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Maybe

Welcome to stop #122 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Ramova Grill & Taproom, 3520 S. Halsted St., Chicago
3.5 (of 5) stars
Train line: CTA Red Line, Sox-35th
Time from Chicago: 15 minutes
Distance from station: 1.3 km

The Ramova Theater opened in 1929, showed its last movie in 1985, got taken over by the city in 2001, sold to Chance the Rapper and other Chicago celebrities in 2017, landed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021, and opened again on 31 December 2023. Sometime in there, they built a brewery and restaurant on the property. And on Friday, my Brews & Choos buddy and I walked down 35th Street from Marz to check it out. (The rain finally stopped.)

They've got a 1950s diner feeling befitting the history of the place. (Though I think most visitors in 1950 would have balked at the co-ed, European-style bathroom.) They brew some of their beers on site and others at partner facilities as far away as Brooklyn, and they have a full diner menu that looked pretty good to us.

We tried a flight and liked 75% of them.

I started with the 1929 American lager (5%), a flavorful and malty beer that was a bit sweet for my palate as lagers often are, about which my friend said only "It's a lager. It's a good lager." The Bubble Garten Berlinerweiß (4%, brewed on site) made my nose wrinkle and, upon tasting it, elicited a hearty "Nope!" My companion said it was "Nice. Light. The tangy finish is sorta there. Very drinkable." The Forever Ever hazy IPA (4.7%) had fruit notes that took a moment to build, with a nice balance of hops and a long finish. She: "I actually like it. More lactose than honey, soft finish." Our last one, the Simple Toast New Zealand IPA (6.8%) got the same reaction from both of us: "I did not like this" was all my friend said. I didn't either, as it had dank notes that don't work for me and a bit too much in the hop department.

Bridgeport has a lot of character, and would be worth exploring on its own. Stopping at Remova for a beer and a burger wouldn't be the worst end to the day.

Beer garden? No
Dogs OK? No
Televisions? Avoidable
Serves food? Full menu
Would hang out with a book? Maybe
Would hang out with friends? Maybe
Would go back? Yes

Welcome to stop #121 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Marz Community Brewing, 3630 S. Iron St., Chicago
4 (of 5) stars
Train line: CTA Orange Line, Ashland
Time from Chicago: 11 minutes
Distance from station: 1.7 km

Continuing Friday's epic Brews & Choos adventure, my buddy and I decided to Lyft the 2.7 kilometers from Alulu, because (a) McKinley Park and the Lower West Side on either side of the Sanitary and Ship Canal aren't very pretty, and (b) it hadn't completely stopped raining. Even though Marz is a Brews & Choos eligible distance from the CTA, you will not enjoy walking down Ashland, 35th, and Iron Street to get there.

Marz is one of only two breweries on the Southwest Side between the river and 95th west of the Dan Ryan. It's by far the largest section of the city with no breweries. So Marz has quite a following and quite a good beer list—plus some other non-alcoholic beverages that will knock you on your ass.

Again, to ensure the longevity of the day's exploration, we limited ourselves to two 150-mL pours each. I started with the Synthesizer Showroom West Coast IPA (7%), a good, clean, uncomplicated hazy with a lovely hop balance. She started with the BFF Beer hibiscus pale (6%), which had a very light essence and a hoppiness we both liked. That said: we once again preferred our own choices. Next she tried the Jungle Boogie pale wheat ale with rooibos tea (5.5%), which I found too hoppy and then too fruity. She: "I like the full palette. The fruitiness blends well with the pale aleness."

Instead of beer, though, I finished with a can of their Wild Berries seltzer (3 mg THC/3 mg CBD). It comes with warning labels. It was delightful: very light berry flavor, very crisp, not sweet at all, and about an hour after drinking it, very relaxing indeed. Marz puts up to 25 mg of THC into some of their seltzers, so as tasty as the Cherry Sublime looked on paper, we had to say no. (I mean, maybe if we split the can 3 ways it might work. Hmmm...) In fact, we had originally planned to finish the day at Marz for just that reason, but not wanting to waste our entire Saturdays argued against it.

Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Outside only
Televisions? One, avoidable
Serves food? Full menu
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes

Welcome to stop #120 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Alulu Brewery & Pub, 2011 S. Laflin St., Chicago
4 (of 5) stars
Train line: CTA Pink Line, 18th St
Time from Chicago: 16 minutes
Distance from station: 500 m

I visited Alulu once before, during the pandemic winter four years ago, and sat outside in a heated yurt. I didn't think reviewing the place under those conditions would be fair. It took until last Friday to get back there, despite the gross weather, as part of a Southwest Side tour that started with Monochrome and ended with Duneyrr.

My Brews & Choos buddy and I really needed to spend more time there, as they have a lot of interesting items on the menu. We just had a mountain of light, airy, really caloric cheese curds to go with our one 400 mL beer each. I got the Gho Gho Tzu hazy IPA (6.5%), which had a nice hoppy note and lots of flavor. (She: "It has that sweet note in hazies that I don't like, but up front, not as an aftertaste, so it works." High praise from her for a hazy!) My companion had the Monocot Sove cold IPA (7%, 70 IBU), which she found "very clean, but not interesting or complex. Still tasty." I thought it had a crispness but an odd note, possibly from the rice, and a long finish. I think we'd both order our own choices again but not the other person's.

My friend also wanted to try the Vin Thorr Oenobeer (6.5%, 20 IBU), a "mixed-fermentation saison with sauvignon blanc grapes, Nelson sauvin hops." Whoo, boy, I did not like that one. I thought it smelled like pot and tasted like wine that had gone off. My buddy had a complex reaction, to say the least. First came the faces. Then: "Hm." A beat, more faces. "I can't tell if I like it or not... I definitely taste the sauvignon blanc; it's tangy. I guess I do like it. It's light and effervescent. I'd drink this again." I would not, my friend. I would not.

In place of heated yurts, they now have ample outdoor seating, which would be a good place to park on a summer afternoon. We're glad we went there. Next time, though, we'll approach it from the 18th Street El and not the industrial despair down 21st St.

Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Outside only
Televisions? None
Serves food? Full menu
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes

Welcome to stop #119 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Monochrome Brewing, 2101 S. Carpenter St., Chicago
4 (of 5) stars
Train line: CTA Orange Line, Halsted
Time from Chicago: 10 minutes
Distance from station: 900 m

I'm sorry I never got to Lo Rez Brewing, which closed just a year ago. But I am glad my Brews & Choos buddy and I got to the space yesterday. Despite its industrial-belt location in the Lower West Side a long walk from the Pilsen Historic District, it felt comfortable and inviting inside, and had pretty good beer.

We tried four 175-mL samples. I started with the Pilsen Pils (5.2%), a very flavorful and hoppy (for a Pils) beer we would both drink outside in the summer. The Ochre New England Pale (5.8%) topped my list, with the Citra hops giving it just enough fruit. My companion said it didn't have "the sweet aftertaste of other hazies," high praise from someone who hates said aftertaste. The Quazi New Zealand Pilsner (5%) had a crispness and a long finish we both enjoyed, and would also make for easy summer sipping. Then my friend tried the Piñapple Swirl "piñapple milkshake IPA" (8%) that I did not like. She said: "Interesting. I don't think I'll order it again; six ounces is enough. Goes down smoothly, if you're into that sort of thing." (Cue Benny Hill's eyebrows.)

In short, it was worth the trip, despite the wintry mix and barely-above-freezing temperatures that makes a trip into the manufacturing district that much more dystopian. I mean, here's the forecast for the next three days; why couldn't we have gotten this yesterday?

Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Encouraged
Televisions? None
Serves food? BYOF
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes

Yesterday was the 5th anniversary of the Brews & Choos Project's high-water mark before the pandemic. On 7 March 2020, I went farther than I'd ever gone before in search of breweries to add to the list, visiting Penrose and Stockholm's in Geneva, then More and Lunar in Villa Park on the way back. A few days later the world stopped for a while. It would be almost three months before I visited another brewery.

Yesterday, I took a half-day of PTO, braved some crappy early-spring weather, and met up with my Brews & Choos buddy at a relatively new place in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. We managed to visit five South Side breweries, and—here's the science part—consumed no more than 3 pints of beer over 5 hours. It was a marathon, not a sprint, after all.

In any event, I've got a lot of photos to go through and a lot of reviews to write, so look for them to come out over the next few days.

And hey, if you want to see more Brews & Choos reviews, contribute to The Daily Parker! Your $5 contribution keeps the site running for a day—or buys a tasing-size beer.

Another reason to contribute: I've started re-developing The Daily Parker's code from scratch. I changed direction slightly on an existing project to make it a blog on steroids, and I think it'll be super-cool when complete. So how about throwing in another $5 a month to support that, too?

I want to start with a speech on the floor of the French Senate three days ago, in which Claude Malhuret (LIRT-Allier) had this to say about the OAFPOTUS:

Washington has become the court of Nero, an incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers, and a jester high on ketamine in charge of purging the civil service.

This is a tragedy for the free world, but it is first and foremost a tragedy for the United States. Trump’s message is that there is no point in being his ally since he will not defend you, he will impose higher tariffs on you than on his enemies and will threaten to seize your territories while supporting the dictatorships that invade you.

I have faith in the strength of American democracy, and the country is already protesting. But in one month, Trump has done more harm to America than in four years of his last presidency. We were at war with a dictator, now we are fighting a dictator backed by a traitor.

Malheureusement, il a bien raison. And his speech is worth reading (or hearing, si vous parlez français bien).

But that isn't all that happened in the last day or so. No, every day brings new revelations of stupidity and corruption in the new administration:

• James Fallows listened to the OAFPOTUS's address to Congress on Tuesday so you didn't have to, and found it...disturbing.
• The Clown Prince of X appears to have pressured the FAA into issuing a license for yesterday's launch of a SpaceX rocket that exploded just two weeks after another SpaceX rocket exploded. (You may call Musk a thuper-geniuth!)
• ProPublica does the math to demonstrate how the cuts the clowns have proposed at the Internal Revenue Service will actually cost more than they will save—forgetting for a moment that the point of those cuts is to make tax cheating less likely to get caught.
• Oh, and the clowns have illegally disbanded the committee that keeps your food safe from microbes.
• The Army Corps of Engineers admitted that the rushed release of water from Northern California reservoirs shortly after the OAFPOTUS took office simply wasted it, as everyone who can look at a map already guessed.
• The jobs report that the Bureau of Labor Statistics released today only encompassed data from the first three weeks of the administration, before they started illegally firing civil servants.

And now I will take a half-day of PTO and explore four new breweries in Bridgeport and Pilsen. If only the weather had cooperated.

Time got away from me this afternoon. I might read all this tomorrow morning:

• Nicholas Kristof says the Musk/OAFPOTUS administration prostrating to Russia will make the world more dangerous. So does Alex Shepard.
• Jennifer Rubin says that the Musk/OAFPOTUS administration will break the government, and therefore own it.
• Anne Applebaum decries Vice President JD Vance's speech to the Munich Security Conference.
• Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced his retirement, now that he got everything he wanted.
• The Chicago City Council narrowly voted against lowering the city speed limit to 25 mph (40 km/h), despite evidence that more people will die.
• American Airlines is adding 22% more flights from O'Hare this summer. Yay!
• Hurricane, the most-decorated dog in the United States Secret Service, has died at age 15.

Finally, On Tour Brewing, a Brews & Choos Top 10 brewery, will close this spring. A new brewery and a resurrection of one of my favorite pre-pandemic bars, Links Tavern, will open in its place. Can't wait!

The US meeting with Russia and not Ukraine to discuss the fate of Ukraine seems unmistakably similar to the Molotov-Ribbentrop discussions in August 1939 that divvied up Poland between the Nazis and Stalin's Russia. The meeting in Riyadh between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov seems more focused on a colonial-style mineral extraction concession for the US than on Ukrainian sovereignty. This comes just days after Vice President JD Vance channeled UK Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (a known Nazi sympathizer) in a speech in Munich just before meeting with actual Nazis.

("'I never thought leopards would eat my face,' sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party."—Adrian Bott)

Meanwhile, back home:

• The State Department has decided to cancel most of its news subscriptions, because why would our diplomats need to know what's going on in the world?
• Fortunately (for now), the OAFPOTUS violently dismantling the US government's bureaucracy has gotten in the way of him dismantling the regulations that he claims to hate, further showing (a) how fundamentally stupid he is and (b) how it has nothing to do with regulations.
• Apparently jealous of the OAFPOTUS's successful raiding of public funds for his own benefit, Argentine president Javier Milei and his friends appear to have raked in close to $100 million in what looks like a classic memecoin rug-pull.
• The Chicago City Council may vote today on a proposal to borrow $830 m in an issue that would not pay back principal until 2045, a structure that (a) would result in a constant cash-flow to the private investors of something like $80 m per year and (b) cost the city $2 bn once we finally pay it all back. It would be the dumbest thing the city's government has done since the parking-meter scam.
• Researchers have determined that both work-from-home and return-to-office have drawbacks and benefits, and that mandating all of one or the other isn't great for any company. (But we knew that, even if some CEOs didn't.)
• Beware anyone asking you to send a code that you see on the screen; this is a device-code authentication attack, which is increasing in popularity among your finer criminals.

Finally, one of my least-favorite Brews & Choos stops has threatened planned to open a new brewpub in Irving Park. Crust Brewing in Rosemont wants to bring the same hellish experience to the former Leader Bar at 3000 W Irving Park Rd. Yes, this is a B&C-qualifying location, but no, I won't review it until I run out of other things to review.

I threw a party for a few friends last night. Cassie's friend Butters came by and ensconced herself on the couch for most of the night. Cassie, for her part, got oo-mox from one of the guests:

Cassie has spent most of today sleeping, as I would like to be doing. At some point I may even get the motivation to read. First I have to tweak a feature of Weather Now that will help re-import all the data I mentioned yesterday.