Monday, September 01, 2008

I was on the cover of the Trib's "At Play" section Thursday

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/explore/chi-brew-inside-0828aug28,0,7420795.story

The online version doesn't include the photo of me but you can still read this anway.

Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery

1035 Sterling Ave., Flossmoor; 708-957-2739, flossmoorstation.com

Situated in an old train station, next to the current Metra station (you can spit and hit the brewpub from the platform—but don't) Flossmoor boasts wood-trimmed white walls, shimmering copper tanks and a bar made from enough gleaming wood to build a yacht. A deck for outdoor seating connects to a caboose rehabbed to house an ice cream shop. Flossmoor Station was named best small brew pub (and best small brewpub brewer) in 2006 by the respected Great American Beer Festival. With praise like that and easy Metra access, you can't not visit.

Beers: 10 to 12 beers on tap at any one time; $4-$4.50 per pint. Eight are year-round; 2 to 4 are seasonals. Flossmoor makes about 20 to 25 beers a year. Flossmoor started bottling three of its beers (Station Master Wheat Ale, Pullman Brown Ale and a rotating India pale ale) in April, says brewer Matt Van Wyk, but they are also available at the pub. I tried the Gandy Dancer Honey Ale (made with orange blossom honey, it has an easy hoppy bitterness with light honey flavor and aroma) and the Roundhouse Raspberry (lambic-like flavor, with raspberry tartness).

Food: A mix of American restaurant staples (cheese fries, Caesar salad, burgers, brats), many with beer and/or railroad inflected names, such as beer cheese soup, brew kettle chili, Pullman beer-b-que. Try the country fried chicken sandwich (crispy, plump, juicy) with the Roundhouse Raspberry or sauteed perch fillets (tender, moist) with the Honey Ale. Don't miss the amazing beer-christened tartar sauce with tarragon.

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