21 Lake County Libations To Ignite Your Fall Feels
By: Jonathan Jones 10/23/2020
Ditch the pumpkin spice, and sip 21 Lake County libations to ignite your fall feels. Lake County is home to delicious suds, vino and spirits with the autumn theme we all know and love.
These adult beverages come at the perfect time, as all through November, the land of lakes is running its Lake County Libation Trail Check-in Challenge. Cheers to Lake County Libation Trail Month!
Every season 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 wide variety of adult beverage flights. Especially during a public health crisis, libation aficionados should drink local to support your local makers.
Here are 21 Lake County Libations to Ignite your fall feels! Salud! Prost! Kan-pie! Let's drink to our health!
Maui the Trickster Milk Stout
"What can Zümbier say except, 'You're welcome. For the tides, the sun, the sky.'" This demi-god, trickster who has the heart of Te Fiti, is a rum barrel-aged chocolate coconut milk stout. Named after the Disney legend that hails from Tonga and/or Samoa, is a 6.1% Alchohol per volume (ABV) brew packed with cacao and loads of toasted coconut and aged in the rum barrel. The Waukegan brewhouse serves it in a 22-ounce bottle format or via tap.
Five Eyes Honey Ale
Viva La Honey! The Lincolnshire Marriott Resort teamed up with other Lake County Libation Trail participants, Tighthead Brewing Co. in Mundelein, to concoct Winnie the Pooh’s favorite snack with the “Illinois Made” craft brewhouse. These black and yellow geniuses harvest the honey onsite at the Lincolnshire resort’s apiaries. This cream ale contains a pilsner malt that provides a grainy sweetness while the fermented honey sugars. This refreshing brew has a crisp and light taste with subtle floral notes. Tighthead Brewing Co. is open for pickup and curbside, while Wright’s Brew & Bistro is closed till we flatten the curve a little more. Did you know that bees have five eyes?
Hop Slayer Double IPA
Make it a double! The Lake Barrington brewery provides a bright and fresh imperial IPA brewed a ton of hops and has a citrusy flavor. The skull-branded suds stand at a whopping 8.2% ABV and rates 100 on the International Bitterness Unit scale (IBUs). The imperial Indian pale ale is light in amber color with notes of grapefruit and tangerine zest. You can taste the malt presence, and the hoppy beer has a sweet taste. The Wild Onion Brewery beverage is served in a 10-ounce draft or taken home for later consumption in a 32-ounce crowler.
Marquette
"I like to drink wine more than I used to. Anyway, I'm drinkin' more." The semi-dry red table wine is a robust beverage created from a French Hybrid grape called Marquette. The vino is smooth going down and contains a pleasant aroma of berries with an oak finish. The Marquette has similar features to the Merlot. The 2009 planted berry concoction contains a 12.5% ABV. The Antioch vineyard and winery is hosting outdoor tastings periodically and providing curbside service.
Valentino Signature Red 2004' VTG
You can't go wrong with any wine that is a winery's calling card. The 2004 red is an International Medal-Winning Wine. This full-bodied, smooth finish Bourdeaux styled vino with mid-to-full range tannins aged two years in a combination of French and American oak barrels. The delectable wine that pairs well with heavy eats like steaks, whitefish, chicken and lamb, is 13.8% ABV.
Longsnapper IPA
The Monsters of the Midway have a winning record through six weeks of COVID-world pigskin. Celebrate "Club Dub" with former Chicago Bears special teamer and current NFL analyst Patrick Mannelly as he partnered up with Tighthead Brewing Co. in Mundelein to create Long Snapper IPA. The longest-tenured Bear's suds has ample base, and Vienna malt accented by caramel notes from Karastan and Munich malts. Designed on Mannely's favorite beer styles, this IPA stands at 6% ABV and contains 40 IBUs.
Tone Deaf India Pale Ale
The Bars & Tone IPA has a little sibling named Tone Deaf India Pale Ale. The brew is made with hemp hearts, cascade, Simcoe and experimental Medusa hops. The American IPA contains a 6% ABV and was submitted to the Great American Beer Festival. The Wauconda brewery serves this delicious ale via the 16-ounce draft in house and by pick-up with a four-pack to go. Side Lot never skimps on the can artwork as their aluminum stories are always novel.
Four Shore Belgian White Ale
The rabbit on the can and the beer just know how to spread love in the craft brew world. The Belgian-style white ale is a camaraderie offering as they collaborated with Roots Pizza in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood in the Windy City. The suds palette features orange, coriander, wheat and barley tastes. Obviously, the Four Shore is complemented by pizza. The brew is 4.5% ABV with 13 IBUs.
Four Grain Straight Bourbon
The Four Grain Straight Bourbon Whiskey is a combination of bourbon's major grains: corn, wheat, rye, and malt. The mash bill is 68% corn, 14% wheat, 9% rye and 9% malt. Crafted to optimize the balance between the sweet, silky mouthfeel from wheat with the spiciness of rye. At 100 proof, it will stand up in any of your favorite cocktails while remaining smooth and enjoyable as a neat pour.
Ruckus & Riots
The name Ruckus & Riots commemorates the Gurnee brewpub's fifth anniversary and speaks to the civil unrest in the past few months. The adult beverage is stout dessert in a glass. The suds obtain a bouquet of roasted malts with char, oak, vanilla and bourbon characteristics. The Gurnee maestros also infused the barrel-aged brews with fudge brownies and Madagascar bourbon vanilla. The bourbon barrel-aged brownie batter stout is on tap and canned. The 13% ABV brew was September 2020 Lake County Libation of the Month.
American Malt Whiskey
Illinois-Made inventors love to experiment on new flavors with a plethora of different ingredients, and that’s why the award-winning Green Oaks distillery designs innovative art with their liquid creations. During the pandemic's height, the Kassebaum’s (the proprietors of the Green Oaks distillery) made hand sanitizer. North Shore created an 88 proof malt whiskey that stands at 44 percent ABV. The North Shore Distillery’s whiskey has a rich, smooth and balanced taste with spice and fruit notes and was aged no less than six years in the bourbon barrels.
Helen Loomis Waits
"Bill Forrester and Douglas head downtown in Bill's car to get some ice cream. Bill orders old-fash
