Local Option Bierwerker

Client Brewer in Chicago, Illinois, United States 🇺🇸
Associated Venue: Local Option

Established in 2010

Contact
1102 W Webster Ave, Chicago, IL, 60614, United States
Description
Local Option Bierwerker is the brewing division of The Local Option, a pub in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Owner Tony Russomanno has established himself in the craft beer community through years of experience, and today he partners with six different breweries to create all of Local Option's diverse and innovative beers. Local Option Bierweker believes partnering with different breweries gives them maximum flexibility, allowing them to brew as large or as limited a batch as needed. They’ve taken up recipes long forgotten by the mainstream, such as the Kentucky Common, and perfected well-established favorites, like their steam beer Dampf Loc. Local Option Bierwerker offers a brash, in-your-face approach to craft beer; they brew with bravado and aren’t afraid of a little well-placed irreverence while still respecting the long-standing traditions that provide the foundation for their heavy metal brews.

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6.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Bar great harry, Brooklyn tap: pours orange with a white head. Aroma is spice and light fruit. Taste is a bit sweet with a bit of hoppiness. Really mild saison. Pretty good.

Tried from Draft on 06 Jun 2015 at 22:08


7
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

The Owl Farm, Brooklyn tap: pours deep gold with a white head. Aroma is oak and sugar and malts. Taste is pretty sweet and woody. Lingering aftertaste. Pretty nice even though it simple.

Tried from Draft on 24 May 2015 at 20:37


6.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Willrunforbeer sharing another bottle. Hazy Amber in color, fast dying head. Aroma is a nice level of coffee upfront with a toffee and yeast hint. The coffee come off a tad stale.

I’m not going to get going on my bottle dating rant but... I fell like 4 months ago this was a good beer. Mellow caramel and toffee base with a smooth carbonation level. The coffee is old and starting to turn mildly acidic. But I will grade on a slight curve because coffee bean can fall off fast in a brew. I hope one day I can try this fresh.

Tried from Bottle on 23 May 2015 at 20:53


6.4
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

My first Dampfbier, a historical beer style I hadn’t even heard of till very recently; basically an all-barley ale fermented with Weizen yeast, going extinct a century ago but revived around 1990. This American interpretation of this all but lost style has a thin, finely structured, light beige, lightly lacing head dissolving after a relatively short while, and a cloudy brownish-orangey amber colour with vivid sparkling, totally murky with deposit. Aroma is very estery as well as a bit oxidized - I apparently got an older bottle. Impressions of peach, cloves, cashew nuts, honey, banana, biscuit, orange peel, floral hops, baker’s yeast, hint of refreshing lemony acidity, caramel, bitter herbs. Fruity, crisp onset, dried apricot, dried orange peel and redcurrant, sourish touch probably from the yeast, medium carbo, light and rounded, smooth mouthfeel, pleasant soft bready malt sweetness, caramel, toasted accent bittering a bit, with more bitterness in the end hauling from earthy, ’deep’, leafy hops, leaving a delicate bitterness on the root of the tongue but otherwise allowing the malt sweetness to persist; a powdery yeast feeling also persists, quite strongly even - it is clear that fermentation has not been a great success here (which was already apparent upon opening the bottle, in the form of light gushing). Malty, straightforward beer but too yeasty, quenching though, and interesting to taste for its style alone.

Tried from Can on 23 May 2015 at 09:18



7.3
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

bottle. Nose of caramel, vanilla, chocolate, cafe au lait, a bit of leather. Deep amber, hazy, with a fine, low head. Sweet coffee and vanilla flavor, honey. Light, with fizzy carbonation. Bit too sweet, but nice.

Tried from Bottle on 24 Apr 2015 at 20:54


6.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Pretty good for a pilsener. Lots of nice noble hops. Pours golden with good head. Crisp bitter finish. Tap at brewpub.

Tried from Draft on 18 Apr 2015 at 13:50


6.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

500mL bottle poured into a Courage tulip-snifter. I didn’t get a head for this beer and it poured a thick orange color, low clarity. Aroma is full of sweet orange marmalade fruit yeastiness. Light dough ones as well. Flavor is It’s sweeter, less orange and a bit more dough. Thick muddy body with some tingly carbonation trying to cut through it. Not really sure how this is a saison. It’s to fruity but thankfully not banana. A dud from a place I usually enjoy.

Tried from Bottle on 11 Apr 2015 at 03:58


6.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Tap at Local Option - lightly hazy copper - I really appreciate what they were going for here, I guess trying to replicate a Keller straight from the barrel - it mostly works - there is a nice herbal and moderately bitter lager here, with a nicely clean and subtle sweetness - the oak adds an interesting dimension, but is a little strong and bitter in the finish, making it a little less enjoyable - overall, though, pretty strong.

Tried from Draft on 29 Mar 2015 at 20:17


7.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle - Coffee and nice caramel malt notes with a touch of cocoa. Cloudy gold with a decent white head. Cocoa and nice mellow cocoa notes. Nice and mellow. Pretty nice.

Tried from Bottle on 15 Mar 2015 at 23:23