In eight days, we’ll be drinking and hanging out with Motor Row Brewing at Wedtoberfest! Read more about our returning beer sponsor.
The first thing you’re going to realize when you go through a flight in their taproom is that their brewery specializes in lager beers. Their brewmaster, Frank Lassandrello, believes in making good clean beer that’s honest and true to style, which sometimes means going against the grain of what’s trending (especially in the Chicago beer scene where hoppy IPAs reign supreme). Motor Row is really proud of their flagship beer -the Reclamation lager – which is a traditional Munich-style Helles brewed with German aroma hops. This beer is bright, clean and easy drinking, as beer should be.
Their biggest fans will tell you that the Out of the Loop is the real hero in the taproom. This beer is an IPL (India Pale Lager)–a super unique style that they’ve tweaked with years of R+D to please both lager and hop lovers. Think American IPA meets Czech-style Pilsner: a crisp and copper beer that drinks clean and has a nice hop finish. They brew the IPL with a combination of malts and hops that are characteristic of an American IPA, but it is fermented cold with their house lager strain yeast. It’s a real stand-out beer and we recommend it to anyone that’s trying to convert one way or the other.
As far as events go, Motor Row hosts regular blues nights in the brewery loft every Monday and Thursday night, featuring the original Chicago Blues All-Stars band. It’s a jam, so you can bring your own instruments (or play theirs) and join the band! It is by far one of the most popular events that they host at the brewery, so it’s highly encouraged for folks to come out and get down.
Motor Row is always working on collaborations with other local restaurants and breweries, their most recent project being a collab with The Publican in the West Loop. They brewed a super traditional Roggenbier with a centuries-old recipe, which turned out pretty fantastic. You can only drink it at the taproom or at Publican- they don’t distribute it anywhere so its a pretty special beer indeed.
Learn more about Motor Row Brewing and our other beer sponsors at Wedtoberfest on September 22nd! Make sure to buy your tickets today if you haven’t already.
