Art and Craft Beer Collide at This Weekends Bucktown Arts Fest

In Beer News by Ryan

Peruse cool art, listen to some good music and drink some really good beer at the Bucktown Arts Fest.

Yup, we said Arts Fest.

Color us a bit surprised when we received an email trumpeting the beer selection at the Bucktown Arts Fest, Saturday and Sunday at Senior Citizens Memorial Park. We fully expected a beer tent with maybe 312 or perhaps Blue Moon being offered. Nope. Instead, the annual festival teamed up with distributor River North to put together an impressive tap list.

Among the beers to be tapped: Goose Island’s Imperial IPA, Perennial’s Aria, Flossmoor Station Mycetes Belgian Mushroom Ale and the Local Option’s American Muscle Double IPA.

Aria, from Perennial Artisan Ales in St. Louis, is a Belgian ale brewed with Brettanomyces which — according to the brewer — creates “deeper aromatics of stone fruit and farmhouse pollen and flavors of honey and green tea.”

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Flossmoor Station’s Mycetes Belgian Mushroom Ale was brewed with a little over 45 pounds of Hedgehog Mushrooms, which are edible. A long-time reader of our site emailed me a few months ago after trying the mushroom ale and said, surprisingly, “It works! Not overpowering fungi at all.”

Local Option describes American Muscle, which clocks in at 12.5% ABV, as a “New world Double IPA.”

Aggressively late-kettle and dry hopped with four quintessential varietals of American hops; this beer is built like houses used to be built. A strong malt backbone balances a rich, flavorful palate of citrus fruit with floral and earthy notes.

Here’s the full list of beers being tapped:

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Saturday, August 24

  • Goose Island Illinois Imperial IPA (2 p.m.)
  • Stillwater Stateside Saison (2 p.m.)
  • Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca Wit (TBA)
  • Speakeasy Double Daddy IIPA (TBA)
  • Perennial Aria Belgian Ale (TBA)

Sunday, August 25

  • Prairie Ales Prairie Ale (1 p.m.)
  • Flossmoor Station Mycetes Belgian Mushroom Ale (1 p.m.)
  • Local Option American Muscle IIPA (TBA)
  • Ommegang Iron Throne Blonde Ale (TBA)

Two beers will be tapped at a time. Once a keg blows, they’ll tap the next one(s).

The Bucktown Art Fest takes place on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Senior Citizens Memorial Park (2300 N. Oakley Chicago, IL).

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Ryan

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Equal parts beer nerd and policy geek, Ryan is now the curator of the Guys Drinking Beer cellar. The skills he once used to dig through the annals of state government as a political reporter are now put to use offering unique takes on barrel-aged stouts, years-old barleywines and 10 + year verticals.

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