Beerhoptacular has become a yearly pilgrimage for my partner and me. This incredible event brings in over 72 breweries and cidreries from around the country to one fantastic location in the month of September. Three years ago, the event was held at the Aragon ballroom. Last year it was held at the enormous warehouses at Lagunitas Brewery. This year, the event is held at the Vertiport helicopter tours hanger. In fact, they are offering deals for folks to take helicopter tours of the Chicago skyline! How cool! Fantastic beer, cider, and other alcohol-themed vendors for a flat fee of under $60...what is not too love? Also, there are always fantastic food vendors/trucks! Last year we had delicious Asian fusion tacos and this year the tacos in-a-bag vendor won the day. So delicious! As avid beer fans, we've been to many beer festivals. But this is the only festival that we go out of our way to make sure we are able to attend! If you've never been, make sure you block this Saturday out or your schedule for the following September! read more

See all

So it's high time I updated my review of this fine festival. To be honest, I kind of go every year. They no longer have it in tents, which sounds more fun in theory than tents generally are. So, yep, last year was in a heliport, or was it an art space? Regardless, it led to much ebullience. It wasn't insanely crowded so beer acquisition was easy peasy, lemon squeezy. My home fries and I kind of had a blast . Thereby, I hereby decree, it's kind of a blast. read more

BeerHoptacular - To beer - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

I went to the second annual Beer Hoptacular with a group of friends and, while we had a lot of fun, there's definitely room for improvement for next year. This year there were two session - an afternoon and evening one. We opted for the evening session. Tickets could either be purchased online or at The Vic box office. Buying online would have added about $10 to the already non-insignificant $35 ticket price so one of our group was kind enough to purchase all of our tickets at The Vic (which totaled a far more reasonable $38.75). We showed up at The Aragon right at 6 to find a huge line that stretched around the building and down the alley. Fortunately once the doors opened the line moved quickly. ID and ticket checks were a breeze, no one searched our bags and we'd made pretzel necklaces and were slightly worried we'd be hassled for bringing in outside food, but no one said a word. It turned out those pretzel necklaces were a stroke of genius. Food options inside were very limited and none of the breweries had any sort of palate cleanser. When you're serving a pale ale AND a porter, it'd be nice to have something to reset your taste buds. We were very disappointed to find Pyramid brewery already gone by the time our session started. 5 Rabbit and DESTIHL brewery ran out of beer by the end of the night (they ultimately took first and second place, so clearly they were popular but come on - plan better). This was the biggest disappointment - our tickets were as expensive as the earlier session, but some of the breweries clearly hadn't planned for the crowds (which is odd, because they knew how many tickets were sold). By the end most of the breweries were out of some, if not all of their offerings. While this didn't spoil the evening, it put a bit of a damper on my enjoyment. I'd still consider going to Beer Hoptacular next year, but I would go to the earlier session. read more

I came to the 2011 Beer Hoptacular and had a pretty good time. This was their second year and they did pretty well. I heard that last year they had to offer up a ton of last minute free tickets because they couldn't seem to drum up enough interest. However, this year they sold out a couple days before the event. It was quite packed. The first drawback I noticed was that they hit you hard for a convenience charge if you didn't buy tix from the Vic's box office (with somewhat inconvenient hours). Our group was lucky enough to forgo some of the extra payments by sending a friend to get our tickets for us. We ended up paying $38.75 for $35 tickets (I'm still not sure why they weren't just $38.75) instead of $40-something online. The second drawback was the pretty large line to get in. We didn't really get to our beers until about 6:30pm for an event that started at 6pm. These lines continued inside of the event and were very uncoordinated. Large groups of people stood around in no real order, partially because there wasn't a lot of room, so it was hard to tell where the lines were. Many people cut by moving from one stand to the next without waiting their turn. It was very unorganized. Don't get me wrong. We had a really good time and tried a ton of beer, but there were a number of breweries that ran out of beer way before the end of the second session. For example, 5 Rabbit disappeared less than an hour into the tasting. We also saw a couple others run out of beer as we got there and several open tables that presumably had representation because the map was full. There were no empty spots. So we can only assume the spots were created by a shortage of beer. It was just a bit disheartening since we paid just as much as the first group but got less beer. I hate to bash it completely, so I'll end on a high note. I absolutely fell in love with DESTIHL's Strawberry Blonde Ale and they definitely deserved their Beer of the Year win with their bourbon barrel aged Dosvidanya Russian Imperial Stout. There were also some well known breweries there that brought some lesser known beers. My heart still belongs to Hard Cider. I will always love Magners and Woodchuck, but Crispin kicks their butts. I'm slightly bias as they are a Minneapolis company. Brewery Ommegang surprised me with their delicious Ommegang Abbey Ale and I especially loved Brouwerij Liefmans Liefmans Cuvee Brut, which is a spectacular cherry lambic type beer. read more

A great selection of companies present. It could have been a great event but, there were several things that made me not want to go back next year. Really crowded; there were a lot of people, i don't know the logistics but there was a lot people shoving and people overall being jerks. Scheduling; They let us in late and kicked us out early. We were there early and didn't get in until almost 20 minutes until after the start time. They also shut down the booths 20 minutes early. Organization; very disorganized, they had what seemed to be an event on the main stage. When I asked someone who worked there what it was all about he said i don't know. He offered to let me up on the stage which I graciously accepted and walked around to see a booth with no one present and a bunch of people trying to figure out what was meant to be done with the stage. The illinois beer society event at garfield park over the summer was better organized and an overall better experience. I would have given it two stars but I had a good time overall so it gets 3 stars. read more

I made the mistake of purchasing VIP tickets which were overpriced at $75 each! I got stuck in traffic driving to the event and missed the 30 minute early entry period for VIP ticket holders. I was promised food pairings and limited release tastings but by the time I entered with the long lines there was nothing available. I enjoyed tasting the beers and it was great meeting some of the brewers. The interior location was nice but it was chilly outside at the tent area. read more

I went to the early session and we were the first people in as we arrived well ahead of the 1:00 start. That first half hour was the best as the stands were not crowded yet. Megan G mention Pyramid being gone in the evening session - they were actually MIA toward the end of the afternoon session - talk about poor planning! We had a lot of fun, but it was definitely a very crowded venue. I would have liked to talk to the reps a bit more but it was too crazy to do so. Kudos to Boston Beer Company - I figured I'd tried most of the Sam Adams varieties over the years, but they brought a bunch of stuff I'd never heard of. Loved their chocolate chile bock. I also appreciated seeing the folks with the pretzel necklaces - definitely something I'll do if I go next year! My wish for next year would be to add another session (maybe Friday night, and 2 on Saturday?), cut the number of attendees per session, and kick up the ticket price to compensate. That way, the lines would be more manageable and there would be more space to stand and drink your samples without constant jostling from the moving crowds. Also, the organizers should have taken note of who came unprepared (Pyramid!) and warn them that they need to get their act together or they're out. If this event catches momentum as it appears it did this year, they will probably have more brewers beating down their door to have a table there. Maybe even Three Floyds! read more

I attended Hoptacular on Friday 11-8 for the first time. I really enjoyed it. We arrived at 545pm and wait outside for the doors to open. The folks waiting were friendly so the wait was not bad. They opened the doors promptly at 600. We enjoyed many delicious beers. The brewers were knowledgeable and friendly. They offered lots of cool swag too. There was some food offerings, Chubby Wieners and a tamale vendor (can't remember the name). I tried both and enjoyed them both. The venue Lacuna Lofts, was awesome. Cool artsy feel, lots of room to roam around. We never wait more than a few seconds in any line. I would recommend the Lacuna lofts as the future locations for all Hoptaculars and I will be there! read more

Please don't say Hoptacular5 in Chicago cost $55 when it is $67 (21% additional). I understand the $3 ticketing fee to Jam Productions, but what's with the additional $6.50 convenience fee & the $2.50 Facility Fee? read more

So much potential to be a 5 star event. Sample glasses of over 150 beers to try - WOO HOO! But the event was crazy from the beginning. Even with a 1pm start time and a second session at 6pm, the line wrapped around the building, street, corner and a ways. Luckily it moved quickly, but once in the main ballroom with the beer vendors, it was packed. Sardine packed and annoying. It was hard to tell who was in line for a sample and who was just standing in front of the taps blocking others. There was no "flow" at all, and really just too crowded for full enjoyment. They should have not sold so many tickets to the event, period. This also made it, so that some boothes completely ran out of beers I really wanted to taste! Boo hooo. And we were suppose to vote for our favorite beer - but somehow they voted and tallied before the end of the event!? How's that - How do we have a favorite, when I am not done tasting? I never even saw where I would have turned my vote in. If they announced it, I didn't hear it. Because of the number of peole and hectic feel, any and all annoucements done on the main stage were lost on me, and my other 6 friends for that matter. Too bad. They either need to make attendance less or keep it the same, but get a larger more spread out venue next year. I will keep the 3 stars though, because it was a great way to try a ton of beer I may otherwise never thought of :) read more