There’s a secret Oktoberfest each year, but it’s held in the spring, it’s miles from Germany, and it’s closed to the public. Just as they’ve done for the last 13 years, Lincolnwood-based distributor Luis Glunz Beer on Monday hosted brewers from around the world to pitch their products to 2,000 local retailers and bar owners. The Global Beer Expo enlivened the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, where samples poured like water — delicious, free, exotic water.
The expo is educational. Attendees discover that Three Floyd’s Brewing Co. (threefloyds.com) uses rose hips in its Rabid Rabbit beer, Arcadia Brewing Co. (arcadiabrewingcompany.com) adds lactose to its Cocoa Loco stout, and O’Fallon Brewery’s (ofallon brewery.com) Smoked Porter smells just like salami.
It’s like a one-day college, only the beer is better and tutorials are tasty. Here’s a syllabus of some weird and wonderful brews headed our way this summer:
* Founders Brewing Co. (foundersbrewing.com) crafts a Breakfast Stout, made with oats, chocolate, and Sumatra and Kona coffees. The label features a kid slopping up a bowl — of oatmeal? of stout? — which should help you assuage anyone who questions why you’re drinking beer at 8 a.m.
* New Holland Brewing (newhollandbrew.com) crafts Dragon’s Milk Ale, which is aged in oak barrels discarded by the Jack Daniel’s distillery. It’s perfect for those who find boilermakers a hassle.
* The B. United International (bunitedint.com) rep boasts that his iQhilika African Herbal Blossom Mead captured the gold medal at the 2007 International Mead Festival, which surprised me because (a) I monitor the international mead circuit and had never tried iQhilika, and (b) I found sipping iQhilika akin to chewing potpourri.
* North Coast Brewing Co. (northcoastbrewing.com) offers Le Merle, a Belgian-style beer heavy with hops. As Glunz’s Anthony Norkus explains, each bottle is fortified with live yeast, causing it to re-ferment. Le Merle is a living organism when poured down the throat. Further study may be required.
Norkus will host a tasting class from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Treasure Island Foods, 2121 N. Clybourn Ave.; call 773-880-8880.