Matt Morgan reviews Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, Chicago.
Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, Chicago
Submitted
by Matt
Morgan
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.
Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery
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 Restaurant and Brewery 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 Restaurant and Brewery 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 Restaurant and Brewery
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. DA BEARS! (Sorry mild Tourette's Syndrome... and so what if they lost the Superbowl?)
Line Drive Light was standard. I could have used it to rinse my palate between tasting. No fault of the brewer mind you, he has to pay the rent you know. This light lager happens to be the best selling brew at Rock Bottom Restaurant Brewery in Chicago and more because of shallow water swimmers than lack of phenomenal brews offered. Now that I’m done sounding pompous, let’s talk more beer.
Chicago Gold American Pale Ale;
the name is more
of a mouthful than the beer. Maybe it was the batting order, but I
think the
number two hitter in the Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery line up
here grounded into a double-play
taking out
the Line Drive Light that reached base on a single.
A nice step up from its lighter predecessor, its hops just don’t make the cut for most IPA leagues. Now I’m just warming up my baseball analogies because I’m about to pitch some real heavy Rock Bottom Restaurant Brewery hitters.
Eric the Red Ale; this one will give Killian’s Irish Red a good run for its money. No bull, red amber ale is well represented! Pair this one up with the beer battered smoked salmon, a unique combination. Better yet, drink this one, and then order the salmon… because what’s next is the heart of the line-up.
The number four hitter, Walleye Wheat (even sounds like a slugger) is a Hefeweizen beer which translates simply, hefe = yeast, weizen = wheat; sweet and aromatic, a cloudy orange-white hue, mild vanilla and a hint of banana. Yet again I failed to pick up the taste of cloves from a beer that advertises this flavor. This Rock Bottom Restautant and Brewery wheat beer will stand up to close scrutiny against any Weiss beer out there. The Walleye Wheat is a rotating brew, along with the Terminal Imperial Stout.
The stout beers are definitely Brewmaster Pete Crowley’s forté as he has around eight special varieties of them, all sweet malty bridges to one another, some aged in old bourbon casks, some almost allow you to see light through the glass. Some like the three-month aged Oatmeal Stout, have the sweet heat of a an Irish Car-bomb (a pint of Guinness ¾ full, 1 shot of Jameson Irish whiskey topped off with a nip of Baily’s Irish Cream; hold Jameson w/Baily’s over the near full pint glass, drop the shot glass into the pint glass and chug).
Hitting fifth, Brown Bear Brown;
just check the
medals. Roasted wheat, oats, biscuit and chocolate malts, peas porridge
hot,
peas porridge cold... I
gotta hold a porridge nine days old. Circle the bases
Brown Bear, "YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOAARD... YES!! Brown Bear Brown is
a nice
introduction to the Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery brews from which
no
light escapes. Which
reminds me to escape into the light and feed my parking meter.
My parking meter says I have 1 hour and 12 minutes to get a bite and continue my flight as 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.
Let’s say that the line up batted around as we go through the 6-7-8 hitters. Keep in mind that these were half pints of beer that my wife and I were sharing, so tasting was not inducing any disillusionment yet. 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”. We had Santa’s Revenge #666, not printed on our hand or forehead, but the beer which was deep colored, sweet and sour, with a spicy malt front with a mild hoppy finish. It’s named after the batch number it just so happened, our dumb luck I guess, but the day had been a blessing thus far.
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.
In the number seven spot at Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery was Naughty Scott Scotch Ale; my first taste was still a lingering flavor of the other dark beers I had just tasted with a cream soda-like sweetness going down.
Eighth in order was Blitzer Belgian Strong Ale,10% abv; strong indeed, with explosive bitter-sweetness like caramelized sugar that tops crème brulee.
I can’t decipher my notes to establish the last four samples in order, but I do know Brown Bear Brown Special, aged seven months in old bourbon barrels, had a boozy-caramel start and mild earthy truffle finish. Never before had I picked that up in a beer finish, and I may be called a fool, but I tasted it. It might have been that I was still working on that burger as well. The timing of our food arrival and entering the amber stout portion of our flight was perfect.
Terminal Imperial Stout; nutty chocolate aroma, this beer is smooth and creamy, has tongue coating sweetness with a nice round finish. It stood strong against the burger. A savory version of port wine and chocolate, this beer was a good dessert.
Janelle
finished the meal with a
snifter of the seven-month Brown Bear Brown; I washed mine down with a
goblet of
the Belgian Strong Ale.
It felt pretty
decadent but in the end, we had a burger, fish ‘n chips and a
few beers, with
very distinct flavor.
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 Restaurant and Brewery 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 Restaurant and Brewery offers a solid menu and delicious beer.
GET INVOLVED!
usa
canada
world
LATEST UPDATES
LINKS
"Where does he get all those wonderful toys?"
ThinkGeek: launch rockets from your PC, send digital insults to drivers, bond with wi-fi rabbits and own a REAL light sabre!
Beer For A Year
Mr. Beer is so simple, even Homer Simpson could manage it. Can't get enough of that wonderful Duff? Make some yourself then, you chuff!
Beer For A Year
Guinness Product HQ
We've rounded up the greatest collection of Guinness gear on the planet! Shirts, hats, glasses, home bar products, giftware, tin signs... all official! Check it out here
Spencers: great gear for Dirtbags like YOU
And if that doesn't tempt you, I guess we misjudged you!
