North-west of Chicago City proper, Logan Square ia a predominantly Latino neighbourhood with relatively low cost housing. Not really a place you might expect to find a newly opened cosmpolitan brewpub. Aptly named 'Revolution' this trendy new bar with a high level of quality food had been highly recommended by our contacts in Detroit and Chicago.
Opened in Frebruary this year, Revolution is a superbly put together venue. They don't yet bottle or keg so everything is served directly from the tank. They share their tap lineup with other local craft and worldly brews and have a well rounded bottle list of 62 beers.
We started with a flight of the six house brews available.
- Workingman Mild
- Bottom Up Belgian Wit
- Iron Fist Pale Ale
- Eugene Porter (which was the favourite)
- Coup de Grace Saison
- The Whip Wheat IPA (notable for its use of the Japanase Sorachi Ace hops)
As we worked our way through the flight, the knowledge of our bartender and the quality of the food became apparent. We really should have organised this as a six course degustation. But by the time we started matching beer to food we had moved onto the guest beers. Not as a snub to the house brews, but because they were beers you just couldn't go passed.
First up was the Founders Diablo Noche Black India Ale, which was well balanced, restrained yet a full dark malt character and a good punch of hops, a suitable match for the applewood smoked wings w/ blue cheese potato salad and dipping sauce. Other interesting appetizers were the bacon fat popcorn, sweet potato cakes and the range of four types of bruschetta (particularly the roasted cauliflower, white bean, arugula & lemon-infused oil).
We'd had some good wings, but these took the cake!
Americans seem to always find a way to get more fat into their food,
but the bacon fat popcorn was surprisingly delicious!
Sweet potato cakes w/ roasted red pepper yogur, a tasty vego option.
Though our stomachs were bulging by this stage, the Dogfish Head Immort Ale (a barley wine brewed with peat-smoked barley, juniper berries, vanilla & maple syrup) seemed like the perfect match to the locally produced Creamy Sexy Blue (Great American Cheese) served with poached apple, candied wallnut and drizzled with honey...a match made in heaven!!
We were done....no...but wait, there's more! We had apparently drunk the Dogfish Head barrel dry and this made way for the New Holland Brewing Dragon's Milk Ale, a strong ale aged in oak. This was the perferct excuse to try the house cherry bourbon cake!
Overall, our experience at Revolution was excellent due to the following factors: the beers were solid and they had a great guest line-up complemented by a big range of quality bottled beers. The food was awesome, some of the best we'd had on our trip. Most importantly, the staff were friendly, informative, had a good understanding of the product and were actively interested in their role not just from a customer service aspect (ie. tips) but in delivering the overall beer/food experience. Revolution stood out as one of the most impressive beer & food centric venues we had seen.
Alas, we couldnt stay there all night. We had a date with Randy Mosher and a brew swap meeting at Goose Island Brewpub! Our final Chicago post, yet to come.
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