Josh Noel – Page 50 –

Kusanya Cafe is the kind of place where you can get a cup of coffee, check out the community board, print a school paper or simply jump on the internet. You'll see people huddled together over papers strewn across the wood tables or someone walking in simply to say hello to the small staff. Because the nonprofit cafe roasts its own coffee on-site in small batches, don't hesitate to order that lavender iced latte ($3.49) or a plain cup of coffee. The breakfast and lunch menu is lush with references to famous musicians, like the Lupe Tabasco breakfast sandwich ($2.29). It features a thin egg patty, with melted cheese and Sriracha on ciabatta, and you can add sausage, spinach and tomato for an extra charge. The cozy and brightly lit environment is exactly where you want to catch up on some work or meet up with friends. 825 W. 69th St., 773-675-4758, <a href="http://www.kusanyacafe.org/">kusanyacafe.org</a> — Grace Wong

Reflecting on 15 years at Goose Island, from scrappy upstart to global giant

July 2, 2019 at 3:59 p.m.

Mark Kamarauskas has had one of the wildest careers in Chicago beer you've never heard of. Kamarauskas began working at Goose Island in 2002, when the brewery was a semi-struggling...

Amid so much regional German influence, it only makes sense a German-inspired craft brewery should make a definitive version of one of the most iconic German styles of all. Afterburner is a toasty Oktoberfest beer with lingering depth and body and a long bready finish.

How I learned to stop worrying and love hazy IPA — some hazy IPA

May 2, 2019 at 1:10 p.m.

Hazy IPAs are the best thing to ever happen to craft beer. And they're the worst. I could come to no other conclusion after six weeks of drinking hazy IPAs,...

In WarPigs Lazurite IPA, the requisite fruit flavors of the modern IPA are in abundance, offset by honey and faint grassy bitter pine.

WarPigs’ first American release, Lazurite, a good balanced IPA

May 2, 2019 at 1:10 p.m.

What it is: So, there's this brewery in Munster, Ind., called Three Floyds. You've probably never heard of it. Small operation. Toiling in the shadows. Struggling to get noticed. In...

10 new Chicago beers to take you through the summer

July 2, 2019 at 3:59 p.m.

Among the greatest joys of the ever-growing craft beer scene is choice, and the relentlessness with which it arrives. Every season brings an ocean of new beer from Chicago and...

Goose Island releasing 7 Bourbon County beers in 2017, the most ever, as brewery regains confidence

May 2, 2019 at 2:09 p.m.

Two years ago was a painful misstep. Last year, a learning experience. In 2017, Goose Island aims to reclaim its place atop the craft beer mountain with the most ambitious...

Matilda Belgian pale ale from Goose Island Beer Co.

May 2, 2019 at 1:26 p.m.

Production of Goose Island's bigger-volume beers has been shipped off to massive Anheuser-Busch InBev plants, but the best of the best, like Matilda, are still made in Chicago. Due in...

Jungle Boogie (pale wheat ale) from Marz Brewing

May 2, 2019 at 1:25 p.m.

Bridgeport's Marz Brewing seems to have 6,000 beers on shelves, but in fact it's only about 5,500. (I counted.) One of the standouts is Jungle Boogie, which boasts not only...

Domaine DuPage from Two Brothers Artisan Brewing

May 2, 2019 at 1:26 p.m.

One of the few local examples, or examples anywhere, of the French-style beer called biere de garde, Domaine DuPage excels in its malt-forward balance and simple elegance. Ideal beside nearly...

The Defender from Haymarket Pub & Brewery

May 2, 2019 at 1:26 p.m.

Only released four times a year, this stout has won nine medals at the nation's top competitions — World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival — in recent years....

Lu (kolsch-style) from Solemn Oath Brewery

May 2, 2019 at 1:25 p.m.

Kolsch is an underappreciated style, and could convert many Bud Light drinkers to the world of craft: lean, crisp, refreshing, lightly fruity and approachable. New to 12-ounce cans, Lu, which...

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