10 Stars! Went on the Sin & Suds Beer Tour and our tour guide Vince was great. He was friendly, extremely knowledgable, funny, enthusiastic and someone who had a passion for beers and Chicago. He gave us an education on beer and what to look for, a mini-architectural tour on the walk between bars and lots of stories about the sinful past of Chicago, especially during prohibition. My favorite story was about Gentle Annie Stafford and how she got her man to put a ring on it. ;) We went to four bars, we were provided with several generous shares of beer at each location, each one different and tasty. What I enjoyed about these types of tours, is a local guide takes you to places that locals go to, I wouldn't know to come to these bars otherwise. What makes it even more enjoyable is that you get to meet other people, we had a bachelor party and a few couples on our tour and it was fun meeting new people, sharing a beer and was provided a slice of Chicago style pizza at our last beer stop. Well worth the time and money for both beer enthusiasts and we even had a non-drinker on the tour for a tag-along. Be sure to dress for the weather and wear comfy shoes, in total we walked about an easy 1.5 miles. Ask for Vince, he knows his stuff and ask him about the Bruce Willis Tower ;). read more

Chicago Beer Experience Beer Tours - Beer Tours Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I don't wanna seem like a beer snob, but the beers served on this tour is subpar.. actually rather awful quality.. the walk, the tour guide, and the history of the places are AWESOME. Really enjoyed all of that but really didn't take more than a sip of any of the beers served... If you're looking for exposure to GREAT chicago beer, skip this. if you are looking for history and culture mixed in a fun walk, this is nice. read more

My family and I had a wonderful tour given by Glen. We did the Pioneers and Pints tour. He was so knowledgeable, funny. We had a wide variety of beers and went to interesting bars with a ton of history! I highly recommend this tour for groups of friends or family! read more

Bacon + Beer = Amazing Time On Sunday 4/30 we participated in the Chicago Beer Experience Beer & Bacon tour. Our tour guide was Lee, he was an enthusiastic guy who was very welcoming and had so much passion and knowledge for all of the beers and Bacon. Not to mention all of the historical facts that he provided about Chicago. About the bars: All of the bars that participated on the tour were very clean, the staff was amazing and the beer varieties we tried were awesome! This tour was amazing, highly recommended! read more

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For out of towners looking for a unique Chicago experience or city dwellers looking for a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon/evening, look no further-Chicago Beer Experience is it! We started at Harrigan's in Lincoln Park where we met our AMAZING tour guide Ariana and checked in. Once everyone on the tour arrived the beer pouring commenced. The owner of Harrigan's, a great guy from Dublin, poured our beers and told us about the perfect Guinness pouring technique while Ariana gave us some great Chicago history. After 4 tastes here we head over to Paddy Long's for beer and bacon pairings-yes, you heard me-beer and bacon-hello HEAVEN! After more great beers and history we headed to Bodega Ramos, a cute little wine shop with tons of great craft beers as well. Ariana gave us a brief run down of the brewing process and we got to smell different types of barley and hops while we tasted our 4 beers at this stop. Next we headed to Delilah's for more amazing beers and the discovery of what may be my new favorite bar in the city. They have THE best whiskey selection in the city as well as tons of craft beers on tap. At this point the group was getting pretty rowdy and everyone was having a great time. Ariana (did I mention she was amazing!) gave us some more great tidbits about Chicago beer history and then we parted ways to continue our nights. I cannot recommend this tour enough, they also let us know that they will be starting a new tour soon and we cannot wait! read more

Chicago Beer Experience Beer Tours - Bacon! at Paddy Long's - Beer Tours Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Top to bottom an awesome tour. The guides (Luke and Bruce, I think?) were extremely knowledgeable, fun, personable, smart, and just awesome to talk to. The price for the tour was totally reasonable. The bacon/beer pairings at Paddy's were very cool. My only complaints are: - I wish there was more local beer to be had and featured. - There were so many hoppy IPA type beers, my palate was blown instantly and it was hard to taste much else after so many powerful beers. Overall, awesome way to spend an afternoon in Chicago! read more

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This tour is great for both beer advocates and non. Vince was a great tour guide and very knowledgeable about the beers and city. Made the tour fun at every stop. Also helped finding other great spots to hang out in the city. Definitely recommend. Beer folk need to sign up for this !! Salainté!!! We went on Sin &Suds tour read more

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Lee is the best. We went on the Sin n Suds tour. Loved it. Informative and fun. I am going to go on their other tours. Loved the people who can on the tour with us. Do it- you will be happy!!! read more

A fun walking tour comprised primarily of out of towners. The guide, Lee, an actor/standup comedian was animated and entertaining. read more

such a find time. I've done the tour multiple times and you always learn something new. great to go with a big group of friends or even head out solo and meet someone new. read more

We had such an amazing time on the Sin and Suds tour. Vince was our tour guide and we got lucky to not have a big group. We were able to learn a ton about Chicago's great history and the beer and pizza was great. I would highly suggest this to anyone visiting Chicago, but also would suggest this tour to locals as I know you will learn a lot and have a great time. Well worth the price! Thanks again Vince for making it a great experience. - David & Lauren read more

Amazing beer tour through Wicker Park! Had such a great time with our tour guide, Glenn, on our beer tour. A perfect combination of information about the beers, bars, neighborhoods, and city of Chicago. Not to mention plenty of delicious beer! A fantastic way to get out of downtown and see the neighborhoods of Chicago! read more

Jaclyn was the best guide! Learned a lot about beer (drinking beer with a "cluck!" - lol), found some new favorites and shared lots of laughs. Really enjoyed learning about Chicago history. Great fun with the ladies, but can't wait to take the tour again with my husband. read more

Top notch! Glenn guided our group on the Bucktown/Wicker Park tour, and the experience delighted. From tips on making the most out of beer tastings and local history to old Chicago mobster lore and even a dose of the ancient roots of beer brewing...Glenn knew his stuff while also being sure to encourage FUN above all else. Can't recommend it more! read more

Brought my boyfriend to the Sin and Suds tour in the Loop and had the most amazing time. Vince was an awesome tour guide and so much fun to talk too. Really enjoyed spending our happy hour with Vince hearing the history of our beautiful city on a beautiful fall day. We cannot wait to schedule the next two brew tours and plan on getting my dad this tour for Christmas! Thank you ! read more

3.5 stars. My boyfriend and I were in Chicago a few weeks ago for Lollapalooza. We both enjoy beer and wanted to learn more about Chicago, so this sounded like the perfect experience. PROS: 1. Great beer selection! Lots of beer I've never tried before 2. One of the places we went to paired beer with bacon, YUM. An extra star was added to my rating just because of this 3. Lots of historical information on the history of beer in Chicago 4. Amount of people on the tour was perfect, not too large 5. Our tour guide (I forgot her name, sorry) was fun, friendly, and informative. Kudos to her for dealing with a big group of loud happy and semi-drunk people at the end! CONS: 1. We were running a couple minutes late, and the confirmation email said to call if so. I called several times and kept getting someone's voicemail. This frustrated me at the time because I didn't want them to start without us. Luckily we got there just in time, but what if we were trying to contact someone because we were lost? They should probably make sure phone calls are answered right before a tour 2. I didn't really care for the showcase on how to make beer. I could easily google that information 3. Miller lite was the first beer we had, yuck Overall, good experience if you're a beer enthusiast! read more

We did their Lincoln Park beer tour 2 birthdays ago and loved it so when I saw they added a Wicker Park/Bucktown tour it was a no-brainer for my husband's birthday gift this year. Our tour guides - two fun, beer loving women - kicked things off by pouring our first tastes and having everyone introduce themselves and say what kind of beers they enjoy before giving us a brief intro on how to taste beer. We held it to the light, breathed it in and held it on our tongues in the most pretentious way possible. We were then assured we didn't have to do that for each beer. The tour stops at four neighborhood bars with 4 samples at each equating to roughly 4 beers total. Although we live in the neighborhood we had only been to one of the bars so this was a day of discovery. All the chosen bars are locally owned and the guides mix in neighborhood and bar fun facts along with deeper information about the beers we were tasting. You definitely get your money's worth and get a wide variety of beers to try. This tour gets a little more food in your belly which you will certainly need. Not sure if it's the same for every tour but we enjoyed a Chicago style hot dog while at Lemming's and some Chicken pot pie from Silver Cloud. This is a great tour to bring out-of-town guests on to see a non-touristy side of Chicago, but also a great way to spend a day with friends! read more

I don't love beer. I don't get all hopped up talking about hops. Or barley. Or yeast. Or fermentation. However, I was pretty interested in finding a unique beer experience for hubs' bday, so off to Yelp I went and Chicago Beer Experience Tours is where I landed! We had an ale of a good time! Bruce, the owner and our tour guide for the 3ish hour escapade, was truly fantastic. You can tell this guy loves his beer, Chicago history and showcasing some very unique bars. During our Bucktown/Wicker Park tour we checked out Lottie's (originally opened by a 6' transvestite named Lottie who had ties to the mob), Lemming's (new local art on the wall every month), Silver Cloud (neighborhood staple) & Emporium. I was able to sample (3-5 oz pours) 13 beers, 11 of which I've never tried before! Even my husband who is far more beer savvy had only tried 3 out of the 13 beers on the tour...so that's saying a lot! Additionally, there were a few snacks along the way, including a Chicago dog from George's and a tasting from Silver Cloud's (amazing) chicken pot pie. Even if you're like me and you haven't the knowledge to distinguish a pilsner from an IPA, this beer tour is super fun. read more

I am from Chicago but had a friend from out of town visiting who had never been to Chicago. I thought this would be a fun way for us to tour Chicago a bit without it being just me saying "and this is where I work, I went here once before, etc.". Although the amount of bars on the tour is low, with the amount of beer and info that comes with the tour, I feel like the group would be a bunch of walking liabilities if there were any more. All in all I ended up learning a ton about my wonderful city, and a ton about beer in general that I never thought to learn about. I would definitely bring future guests of mine along on this tour. read more

Anytime I tell someone visits Chicago, I tell them -- you gotta check out the neighborhoods-- that's where the Real Chicago shines. This tour definitely hits up a big part of one of those neighborhoods -- Lakeview-- and one of it's biggest draws-- drinking. It's a great way to learn about the neighborhood, learn about the life of beer in Chicago, eat some of the most ridiculously good bacon you'll ever eat, meet some new people and get (if you really want) pretty hammered. A great summer afternoon to be had by all! read more

Gotta give them 5!!! I basically chose to include this tour during my Chicago vaca because of its excellent Yelp reviews and I'm so happy I did it! Glen and Neil did an excellent job showing us around the Wicker Park/Bucktown area with nice tidbits of history, beer making info, and an all around fun time. We got way more than I expected with each pour and was definitely feeling pretty good by the end of it. Nice variety of bar types and beer selections, and the bars themselves were great and accommodating to the large group. I definitely like how it ended at the arcade game bar because it just puts everyone in a fun mood. And the neighborhood surrounding the last bar had great food options after we left. The bonus of the Chicago style hotdog is why I chose this over the Lincoln Park option, but I'm sure the bacon you get with that tour is tasty. If you want to see a neighborhood outside of downtown and experience some new beer options please do this tour; you won't be disappointed. read more

Glen lead us through such a wonderful tour of the city with interesting historical nuggets accompanied by his passion for beer and love of good company! He also gave us the most delicious Chicago style hot dog and tokens to play games at the last bar! Do this and ask for Glen! Best part of our Chicago experience by far!!! 7 stars if it was an option. read more

Chicago Beer Experience Beer Tours - Beer Tours Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I'm still reeling about how much fun we had at the Chicago Beer Experience this past weekend. I have done the boat architecture tour like 8 times - so I needed a new tour to refuel on Chicago "fun facts" for my next round of visitors this summer. CBE didn't disappoint. We were able to enjoy Lincoln Park's finest, taste 16 delicious brews while listening to the very interesting history of beer and Prohibition in Chicago, and EAT LOTS OF BACON! The total of 4 beers was just the right amount for me to still carry on a conversation with my fellow tour-mates and not be embarrassed the next day. We loved our guide, Bruce - he was so knowledgeable about everything-Chicago and beer, and I learned really interesting things I didn't know I would find interesting (can't tell you, don't want to spoil your tour). I highly recommend Chicago Beer Experience for locals and visitors alike. It would be a great team building trip for work, too. I can't wait for them to start tours in new neighborhoods. read more

My buddy and I had a really great time on this tour. The tour guide was very informative, and told us tons of interesting facts about not only beer, but also Chicago's history and how Chicago handled and dealt with the prohibition. He also told us about how beer is brewed and what the various types of beer are. The tour was part beer drinking, part history lesson, and part science lesson. An all-around great tour and a great way to spend a day. read more

Great organisation, efficient and awesome fun. Good group of people, not to much walking and a great difference in bars. Loved the history and Beer 101. I left happily buzzed and informed about Chicago and beer in general. GG! read more

My wife and I were in Chicago for a long weekend and decided to try something different. We both love beer so we decided to try this tour. The reviews really lived up to their hype. It was a great time and the 3 hours just flew by. Our tour guide, Ryan, gave us the history of Chicago's beer past as well as his own experiences in home brewing. It was a lot of fun. The places we visited were diverse, from an Irish Pub (props to Tony, who gave us great Guiness!) to a former speakeasy. We also loved the bacon beer bar. I could easily spend 3 hours in any of those places. We drank plenty of beers, some I preferred more than others. It was also nice experiencing some of the lesser-travelled neighborhoods of Chicago to avoid (most of) the tourists. My favorite line of Ryan's from the tour was his explanation of the how yeast does its thing: "They eat sugar and they fart carbon dioxide - it's a magical process!" Thanks for a great afternoon. And for the beers! read more

My best man hooked us up with a private tour with these guys as a part of my bachelor party. The your guide set the tone from the very beginning by being friendly, knowledgeable, professional, and doing everything he could to make the evening awesome. Every stop on the tour had great beers to try and the tasting pours were pretty generous. Our guide Vince was really knowledgeable, but not pretentious, and could read the room really well. He could tell that we were all "beer guys" and go on a lot of tours, so he really went below the surface. Probably the more memorable portion was the history lessons that accompanied at each location. He was a true story teller and kept his talks fast paced, interesting, and super funny. He touched on some well known stories such as the St. Valentines Day Massacre, while slipping in some really obscure and intriguing tid bits along the way. We are already planning when we will do one of the other tours, and we really hope we can get Vince again! read more

Sin and Suds Beer Tour in the Loop- What a great beer tour! Great beers and an awesome tour guide! Our guide Vince made sure everyone felt included by coming over and chatting with everyone while we were sampling the beers. The history part of the tour was a great bonus! read more

We had a great Friday evening bar hopping in Wicker Park/Bucktown with Glenn. It was fun, entertaining and educational . . . . kinda like kindergarten with booze. The flights of beer from the taverns covered a wide variety of craft styles; and the chosen beers were all quite good - - - - not a clunker in the group. There was a really nice mix of bars too; which kept it interesting. Our tour group was small, so we had a great time joking and getting to know our fellow travelers. After the tour, there were tons of great places to grab something to eat; especially after getting a nice buzz from the tour. We did stop for a Chicago dog mid-tour - - a nice touch at the right time. We are from Chicago, and already knew quite a bit about the neighborhood, but we enjoyed it as much as our out-of-town companions. Highly recommended! read more

We were a small group of six, and we had fun! Our guide and beer expert, Vince, was very knowledgeable. He shines in his knowledge of Chicago's mob, brothels, speakeasy, etc. The group interacted with him and brought our own stories to share. We all enjoyed the extra architectural details of several of the buildings throughout the city especially the comments of 5" inch windows and current events, R Kelly. We also enjoyed his love of the blues and his extras at Buddy Guy. We definitely will do this fun and wonderful adventure again. And we would request Vince! read more

We toured with Lee (or Leigh?) in late July, and while I'm just now getting around to the review, I haven't forgotten the great experience we had. He was knowledgeable, funny and made us feel like we were the only people on the tour. It's hard to find that customer service and he knocked it out of the park. Did I mention the beers he poured were great, the food served was excellent and the time we had was top notch? Go on this tour. read more

If you love Chicago you should definitely take this tour. If you love beer, you'll leave a very happy participant. If you love beer AND Chicago, this might just be the tour of your dreams. Starting at Vaughn's, a Lincoln Park staple, you'll meet your beer guru, tour guide and Chicago Beer Experience owner, Chris. After trying your first four of 16 beers, you'll head out on foot to three more spots within a mile walking distance. This tour is a great way to try a variety of lagers and ales, many of which are locally brewed in the Chicago area, and meet new people. Chris is a walking beerpedia, able to answer nearly every question we threw at him. I'll definitely do it again with local and out-of-town family and friends. read more

Bruce was super fun and full of both interesting beer facts and the history of beer in Chicago. 4 great stops, 16 great beers, and some outstanding bacon.... yes, bacon! Don't miss a chance to do this tour! read more

What a great way to spend an afternoon in Chicago! History lesson, neighborhood exploring, beer appreciation lessons...and 13 beers!!! Thanks to Glen for making it all happen! read more

This was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Very knowledgeable guide. I loved going around to the various taverns and plan to return to several of them on my next trip to Chicago. NOt only did I learn about beer and brewing, but also about the various neighborhoods and neighborhood taverns (and the history surrounding ). Ha! And now I know about "bacon and beer" ! Plenty to drink- I had to decline a few by the end of the tour. The ONLY reason I am not giving this a "5 star" is because it was a tiny bit too long by perhaps 15-20 min. But maybe if I had declined a few at the beginning...OK, I'm giving it a 5. read more

HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Bruce was a fantastic guide into the word of beer. The event was fun, knowledgeable and made you feel like you were there in person and not behind a screen. Once COVID-19 is no longer a threat I can't wait to fly to Chicago and check out the experience in person. read more

I recently arranged a private tour in Bucktown/Wicker Park as part of my sister's bachelorette weekend festivities. Half of the participants were local and half were from out of town. I was worried that the tour would be too touristy for us locals or too uninteresting for those who don't live in Chicago and might not appreciate its history. But this wasn't the case at all! Todd, our tour guide, was awesome. Off the bat, he got to know a little about each of us and our beer preferences, and seemed to base his approach off of this knowledge. It felt very personal. Todd also struck the perfect balance between education and fun. By the end, we were hugging! I thought a tour like this might be light on the beer, but that wasn't the case at all. Come prepared to drink! read more

This tour was awesome! Totally unique and unlike anything I had ever experienced. The real magic came from our tour guide, Bruce. He is a walking encyclopedia of beer knowledge and Chicago history. I would never have expected to learn as much about Chicago history as I did on a beer tour. This tour was the perfect balance of education, fun, and drinking. What can be better?! Note: This should not be viewed as a bar crawl and if you're looking to get black out drunk to the point where you can't stand up, this probably isn't the right tour. However, I was surprised to find out at the beginning that I would be sampling 16 different beers over the course of the day! So, you definitely leave with that warm, fuzzy glow at the end. This would definitely be a great way to kick off a bachelor party. read more

We're a beer drinking group visiting from Hawaii and our 1st stop was CBE. It was one of the highlights of our trip! Arianna, our "Beer Guide" was a gem . . knowledgable, entertaining, funny & just plain ol' fun! Definitely recommend this tour, the "beer joints" we visited were great finds, something we would've missed if we didn't take this tour. In fact so good, we actually made the trip back a 2nd night for wouldn't you know, more beer and of course B-A-C-O-N! And if you're wondering about how MUCH beer you get, we were all feeling pretty good by the end of the tour! Can't wait for them to expand and add another tour . . read more

These guys are legit, super funny and friendly. Tons of random history and we even got served some kick ass snacks. I would have given them five stars, but the week before was some sort of beer a-thon and some of the beers just weren't on the menu. No worries it was still a great time! Was a great social get together and all of us strangers had a great time after a few beers! read more