Are You Drinking Fall Libations in Lake County?
By: Jonathan Jones 10/16/2018
Are you drinking fall libations in Lake County?Why not? Take a trip down the Lake County Libation Trail and take your taste buds on a journey to flavor country.
Lake County is home to delicious suds, vino and spirits with the autumn theme we all know and love.
Every year these masons of brew, spirits and wines continuously blow our minds with the options they offer at their speakeasies.
Celebrate the season the right way by tasting a vast variety of adult beverage flights.
Bosacki's Home Brew
Beers: Scotch Ale "Wee Heavy," Oktoberfest, Weekend Dark Wheat
Outlook: The Scotch Ale "Wee Heavy" is the perfect fall libation in Lake County for the brisker forecast. The sweet-tinted ale, also that may be a bit overweight, contains a 7.3 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) and rated on the International Bittering Units scale. Due to the higher ABV content, the Mundelein brewery limits customers to only two of the pints in one visit. The Oktoberfest is a lager obtains a toasty flavor, but the finish aftertaste leans on the dry side. The Bavarian Marzenbier-styled matches the style of a German Oktoberfest beer but is mildly hoppy. Oktoberfest rates an 18 in IBUs and has a 5.3 percent ABV. The Weekend Dark Wheat is a 5.8 percent ale with 21 IBUs that cures what ails you. This cloudy beverage has a kick of wheat and caramel flavors that complement each other well.
Bosacki’s Home Brew, 610 E. Hawley St., Mundelein.
Buffalo Creek Brewing
Beers: Xerxes, 42KOutlook: Few would turn away chocolate, bacon or stout. Xerxes embodies all three contents. This chocolate bacon stout carries a 5.8 percent ABV and rates a flavorful 35 IBUs. This concoction was created as an autumn festival in your mouth, but now is a year-round drink (best drank in the fall). Bruno Mars's "24K Magic" can't compare to the Long Grove brew home's Belgian strong ale. The 42K is actually the water connection expenses Buffalo Creek has to pay for their facility expansion. Like the cost of the fee, the ABV stands at a high 10.5 percent and is rated 31 IBUs. You'll never taste the exact same 42K as the last because the two yeast strains integrated into the beverage change the flavor of the malt.
Buffalo Creek Brewing, 360 Historical Ln., Long Grove.
Copper Fiddle Distillery
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Cranberry Crush at Copper Fiddle Distillery in Lake Zurich[/caption] Spirits: The Gin Gimlet and The Cranberry Crush
Outlook: The Gin Gimlet is a cocktail with 2 ounces of fiddle gin, a half ounce of simple syrup and a half lime squeezed shaken and strained into a martini glass. The Cranberry Crush is one and a half ounces of gold rum, two ounces of cranberry juice, one-half ounce of brown sugar syrup, one-fourth ounce of lemon juice and two dashes of lemon bitters. The Lake Zurich berry drink is shaken and poured over the rocks.
Copper Fiddle Distillery, 532 W. Route 22, Lake Zurich.
Half Day Brewing Co.
Beers: Half Day Oktoberfest, River Bank - American Brown AleOutlook: Oktoberfest contains 6.5 percent ABV and is your classic German lager. This refreshing brew has notes of caramel and biscuit malt, but there is also a presence of hoppiness. The River Bank is a nutty chocolate brown ale with 5.4 percent ABV.
Half Day Brewing Co., 200 Village Green, Lincolnshire.
Glunz Family Winery & Cellars
Wine: Mission Angelica
Outlook: This berry beverage has aged for an average of 25 years in oak. Besides the grapes and other fruit concoctions, Mission Angelica contains butterscotch and maple syrup flavors. The Grayslake wine has a 17 percent ABV.
Glunz Family Winery & Cellars, 888 E. Belvidere Rd., Grayslake.
Lynfred Winery
Wine: Origins, OktoberfestOutlook: Lynfred Winery and Coopers Hawk partnered up to create a collaboration vino. This blend of wine merges Lynfred's Reserve red wine with Cooper's Hawk fruit-forward style. The mixture is fruity with moderate tannins. The Oktoberfest is a sweet white table wine that impersonates a German-styled blend. The Rhineland drink has a palate of pear juice and cinnamon and is perfect to eat with German pub eats like bratwurst, potato salad and Bavarian pretzels.
Lynfred Winery, 971 N. Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling
Mickey Finn's Brewery
Beer: Mickey Finn's Russian Imperial Stout, Oktoberfest Marzen Lager and Bear Down Brown Ale
Outlook: The Oktoberfest is a 5.3 percent beverage that celebrates Bavaria. The Libertyville German-brew has a sweet malt crisp and goes down nicely with October cuisine. BEAR DOWN Chicago Bears. Being neighbors with Halas Hall (the Chicago Bears practice facility), the 100-year-old brewery pays ode to the Monsters of the Midway with a brown ale. The brew heralding the inventors of the T formation is an Enlighs-styled beer that's charismatically nutty and toffee flavor. The Russian imperial stout is barrel aged and is colored like coffee. The stout is 10 percent ABV.
Mickey Finn's Brewery, 345 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville.
North Shore Distillery
Spirit: Maple Whiskey SourOutlook: Maple Syrup has made its triumphant return for the season. This sour served only in the tasting room of the Green Oaks distillery contains one and a half ounce of whiskey or bourbon, three-fourths ounce fresh lemon juice, three-fourths maple syrup and one-half ounce of egg white. The drink is shaken without ice initially, and then ice is added and shook again. The concoction is strained into a rock glass filled with ice, garnish and grated nutmeg.
North Shore Distillery, 13990 Rockland Rd., Green Oaks.
Roaring Table Brewing Co.
Beers: Barrel Aged Sister Havana, Havana Desert and Tuba Tuba!!
Outlook: Wah - Wah. The Tuba Tuba! IPA - Imperial Double is on tap and contains eight percent ABV. The New England IPA has a bowl full of citrus tasting like a fruit salad. All your friends have stuck in their head is Camela Caballos's monster hit "Havana with these two Cuban stout inspired byways ways of Russia. The Barrel-Aged Sister Havana is full of chocolate, oak, and molasses hints of whiskey, espresso, red fruits and tobacco flavors. Have the barrel-aged for dinner and then indulge in Havana Dessert after. The Havanna Dessert is jam-packed with more chocolate, cacao nibs and Madagascar vanilla beans. The other Russian imperial stout is rimmed malted milk, a sugar crunch and served below a craft donut and a coffee chocolate malted pretzel mini donut.
Roaring Table Brewing Co., 739 W. Route 22, Lake Zurich.
Tighthead Brewing Company
Beer: Greenway Boogie IPA and OktoberfestOutlook: The Greenway Boogie IPA is a partnership with the Mundelein brewery, Lake County Forest Preserves and REI in Vernon Hills to make this bitter beauty. The limited edition IPA is full-bodied, incredibly refreshing and brewed by award-winning craftsmen. The boogie brew is listed at 6.7 percent ABV. The Oktoberfest is a malty, complex and balanced German noble hop with Bavarian lager yeast. The Marzen-styled brew is 5.5 percent ABV and rates at 27 IBU. Tighthead will be releasing Reformator and Nectar in November.
Tighthead Brewery Company, 161 N. Archer Ave., Mundelein.
Valentino Vineyards
Wines: Serval Blanc and DechauncOutlook: Seyval Blanc is harvested late in the season and barrel aged for 364 days. The white wine has an array of flavors like a floral bouquet boasting hints of honey, oak and sweetness. The Dechaunc is a French pinot noir. The burgundy beverage showcases tastes of raspberry and elderberry and is perfectly paired with red-sauced dishes, grilled lamb and turkey.
Valentino Vineyards, 5174 Aptakisic Rd., Long Grove.
Vigneto del Bino
Wines: Frontenac Gris and Sweet Gris
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Outlook: The Antioch winery offers two fantastic whites for the fall season. The Frontenac Gris is a semi-dry wine made from the French-hybrid grape. This vino has a taste of sweetness with honey flavor and finishes tart with apple. The Sweet Gris is a combo of honey and tart apple flavor that's a delightful treat for the autumn season.
Vigneto del Bino, 42150 Crawford Rd., Antioch.
For more information about the Lake County Libation Trail, continue here. Revel in the Spooks & Spirits Lake County Autumn Celebration all of October. Click here to learn more.
