United Nations of Beer

Rock Bottom, Chicago

by Matt Morgan
(Beer Delegate, IL, USA)

Rock Bottom
Chicago, IL, USA

Downtown Chicago in the River North section, on the corner of State & Grand, there stands a building where exceptional spirits are born.

Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery has an exceptional brew philosophy going on. Brew Master Pete Crowley is rolling out the barrels with a line of beers you'll want to take public transportation to taste. Conveniently at the Grand Ave stop of the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) Red Line subway, this place is sublime.

First off, our server, Aaron, happened to be an old acquaintance and was very cool and helpful guiding us through the vast choices of beer and entrée pairings at this artisan establishment.

Also a plus was the fact that we came at the slowest time of day... 2pm on a Monday. As a side note, Aaron is an improv actor with a local comedy troupe "pH" of Chicago.

Before then Janelle and I saw him in a comedic film production called The Story about the Time When Larggy Got a Bee-Sting and Shut Himself in His Room and Went Insane. The connection is a long story, but I assure you we had animated service.

We began our afternoon with the Rock Bottom Sampler; a flight of seven year-round brews offered by Rock Bottom Chicago and two complimentary samples of their current special brews. The samples were 4oz pours of each variety served in half-pint glasses. These sips of bliss were lined up from the lightest, Line Drive Lager (their top seller) to the Brown Bear Brown, aged seven months in old bourbon barrels.

Rock Bottom is an oasis in the midst of downtown Chicago. It felt more like a log cabin (despite being a brick building), designed by Frank Lloyd Wright with his inspired sycamore wood etchings surrounding the bar. It exemplifies the concept of Feng Shui with spacious seating, four openly positioned billiards tables in the back and Golden Tee golf.

With viewing windows to see the brewing and storage tanks from every part of the restaurant, it’s nice to own a brick two-story building in River North. You have to use the elevator to use the bathroom, which is kind of weird, but it does allow them to create more spacious restroom facilities, which were clean (a good sign).

Rock Bottom Chicago has several well-placed monitors for sports and news, yet they are unobtrusive enough to have a quiet date. The other aesthetics like the old-timey prints highlighting the exposed brick walls are nice points of focus.

Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery is an interesting corporate structured micro-brewery (oxymoron I know, but who doesn’t like jumbo-shrimp?) that maintains a distinct identity within any neighborhood it operates, while the quality control of recipes from franchise to franchise keeps an even standard. So a Line Drive Light from Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery in Chicago, IL tastes just like it does in Ahwatukee, AZ.


Now let’s talk about the beer. Links to my reviews are below. Be sure to rate any that you've tried.

Line Drive Light

Chicago Gold American Pale Ale

Eric the Red Ale

Walleye Wheat

Brown Bear Brown

Naughty Scott Scotch Ale

Blitzer Belgian Strong Ale

Terminal Imperial Stout

Santa’s Revenge #666

I now intended to order food. I went with the Bourbonzola; a half pound burger topped with gorgonzola, seared and coated in a bourbon reduction served with kettle chips and mustard on the side. This would surely suffice as cushion for continued beer tasting.

It’s hard to say exactly how much we had as the pours were generous. With food on the way, my wife and I indulged in a nice little "rumspringer", Santa’s Revenge #666.

I kept full perspective of my time and consumption as I imbibed and the two cops eating lunch in there kept me aware of my meter. Also a testament to the great menu as our Chicago city workers are a legit guide to good eats. So, this is a good sign as our food arrived.

Janelle had the beer battered smoked salmon w/carrot slaw (if bar food was punk rock, this chef was Sid Vicious), while I can overstate how great this meal was: the concept of smoked and beer battered salmon was brand new to me.

The burger was seared to perfection with crisp kettle chips and a bourbon reduction to boot. Sorry to all you vegetarians and vegans of the world, I live in the mid-west and if it moos, eat it. Sound bearish? I reckon. In defense of a seeming gluttonous menu, Rock Bottom Corporation does have a philanthropic side. Check out the foundation.

Let me just say in all of the tasting, there were few pedestrian flavors of about 12 varieties, which turned out to be three more servings than the standard sampler, thanks to the fact that I was representing the United Nations of Beer (benefits already) and coincidentally knew our server.

While Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery plays good small ball with their best sellers, they have a heavy hitting line-up and good speed on the base paths with their staff. Unreal caramel brown stouts... I’m wondering if there isn’t an army of oompa-loompas to come out and sing about stout beer.

Pete Crowley rolls out the barrels in Willy Wonka fashion with Rock Bottom Chicago’s award-winning stout varieties. Like I said before, just check the medals. For a double sawbuck (Google it) you can treat yourself to a nice meal and a couple beers. Rock Bottom Chicago offers a solid menu and delicious beer.