I made my way to Chicago with a lot of conflicting ideas.  I’ve been to the Windy City before and left thinking I missed a lot.  This trip, I was grappling with how to approach the metropolis.  Should I focus on architecture? Sports?  Food?  Beer?

In the end I decided to relax.  We only had one full day, so we wanted to take in the essentials, things that only Chicago can offer.

The day started with a long bike ride, eight miles of Lake Michigan and skyline as we made our way into the city.  We planned to grab lunch and hit up a museum—some deep-dish pizza and culture.  Perfect.

The whole time, however, my mind wandered.  On my first trip to Chicago, I tasted Honker’s Ale, the flagship beer of Chicago’s Goose Island Brewery.  Every since that first sip I took three years ago, Honker’s has become one of my favorite brews, the goose that resides on their label a symbol of my longing.


The beer’s deliciousness coupled with its rarity in New York fueled my passion and I was more than looking forward to hitting up their brewpub in Wrigleyville.  After a day in the city we were going to meet up with a friend at Goose Island and then to see the Cubs at Wrigley Field, another Chicago landmark.  As we made our way to the brewpub I began salivating at the thought of another encounter with brewery fresh Honker’s Ale.

As I sat down at our table I quickly ordered up a sampler.  Bad news.  Goose Island doesn’t do samplers during game days; too many people, too many beers to serve. 

At first I was on the verge of tears, there was no way I could drink glasses of all the beers they had to offer.  How would I try it all?  As my watering eyes peeked around the room, however, I noticed the sea of blue hats and shirts, happily chatting and unmoved by the lack of a sampler.  I was in Wrigleyville after all, why not just belly up like a champ and do like the locals do?

A number of Honker’s Ales later and I found myself sitting along the first base line at the ball field.  The old-school feel and friendliness of the fans eased the pain of my lost beer adventure.  In fact, I even reveled in the moment and proceeded to drink nothing but Old Style, the Milwaukee staple brew that has been quenching the thirst of Cubs fans for over a century.

After a couple of brews, a few innings of baseball I felt right at home in Wrigley.  Although I wasn’t able to geek out at the brewpub, I had field full of friendly people, an old style in one hand and a delicious Chicago-style hot dog overflowing from the other.  Chicago couldn’t get any better.