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Chicago's Piece of the Microbrewery Pie
Monday Feb 12, 2007.
By Dana Kavan
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 photo: Dana Kavan
The damage: $4.50. Thousands of bars in Chicago, why this one? When I spent a summer in Boulder, CO, I began to wonder if every restaurant, bar, gas station and salon brewed its own beer. With so many local options, it was easy to take a pass on Bud. You'd think that in Chicago, a city recently found by a federal study to lead the U.S. in binge drinking, there'd be plenty of microbrewers looking to cash in on our insatiable appetite for suds. But apart from a few places in the 'burbs and Goose Island (which you can get in Iowa, so how "local" is it really?) the city has only one microbrewery: Piece. Thankfully, what the city lacks in quantity, we make up in quality. Piece's award-winning beers, tasty pizza and upbeat atmosphere would make any Birkenstock-wearing Boulderite feel right at home. How it went down: With names like Double D Hefeweizen, Fornicator and Golden Arm, Piece's beer list intrigued me before I even read its detailed descriptions. To start I picked the Worryin' Ale, which promised to help me drink away my worries. I felt fairly worry-free to begin with, but after one pint of the rich yet drinkable brew, I beamed. Don't be fooled by its deep copper color; Worryin' looks dark but tastes refreshingly light. It has all the likable attributes of dark beer (namely flavor), but doesn't taste overwhelmingly hoppy and finishes with a smooth aftertaste. I promptly ordered another, and followed it with the 8 percent alcohol, bold Double D Hefeweizen (just doing my part to hold up the binge-drinking study's accuracy). Would I want to become a regular? Though I dig a deep dish pie from time to time, I've always favored thin crust pizza, and Piece has some of the city's best. To order, you pick between red, plain or white sauce and then add on the toppings. Our waitress looked at us oddly and repeated our order just to make sure we really wanted white sauce with mushrooms, tomatoes and clams. We put our faith in Piece and figured they wouldn't offer 21 toppings (including mashed potatoes) if they didn't taste delicious when combined. The combo mingled beautifully atop the crisp crust.
Piece offers plenty of entertainment options, including Live Band Karaoke on Saturdays, to keep you occupied. The night we were there, a live band played everything from G-Love to Bob Marley, drowning out the talkative, young, neighborhood hipsters who filled the large space. Like its brewing style, Piece's lodge-like decor, complete with a timber, lofted ceiling, could also be ripped from the Rockies. To our luck, though, Piece calls Chicago its home and reaps the rewards because of it.
Dana Kavan scours the city for drink deals so good you'll offer to buy a round and creative libations that outshine your average on-the-rocks concoctions. Want to give Dana tips on where to rack up a bar tab? Share your finds before her next night out.
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