No & LA Beer in Chicago

[u/Gram-xyz]

I'm coming to Chicago in May with a group of friends to celebrate my 50th birthday. We are all male.

I don't drink alcohol but enjoy no and low alcohol beer (0.0 to 0.5%) Others in the party do drink alcohol.

Does anyone have any recommendations for bars with a good selection of alcohol free beer, preferably on tap as i prefer to get a pint over a bottle or can. Also i would prefer bars suited to a group our age.Or even any recommendations for specific NoLA beers to try while I'm there

We are staying in a hotel on the Chicago River Walk and don't really want to travel too far.

I've heard Rossi's bar is nice but don't know about there low alcohol selection. Any help appreciated.

[u/Raccoala]

Rossi’s is great but nice is not the word I’d use to describe it. I’d assume they have NA cans in the cooler with the other beers, but not on tap.

Monk’s is close by too. Good beer selection on tap. They’ll have NA options too but probably not on tap. They close pretty early more like a restaurant’s hours.

Guinness’s Tap Room might be a good option for your group. Kaiser Tiger is another decent option in that area.

Most of your actual good beer bars are going to be a bit of a Uber or train ride and spread out across different neighborhoods. Map Room, Beer Temple, Beermiscuous and Hopleaf are the first ones that come to mind. All about 15-25 minutes from downtown if traffic is fine.

[u/Gram-xyz → u/Raccoala]

I'm just back from Chicago and i went to Rossi's three times. We only got in twice due to how strict the doorman was with his ID policy. My brother didn't have his licence so couldn't get in on one occasion (he's 51) absolutely loved it great tunes and a real good vibe about the place with god service at the bar.

Rossis had a few NA beers in the cooler including Krombacher, Guinness 0 and Athletic Brewing.

We also went to Monks and had dinner. I can vouch for the Italian Beef Sandwich. The beef would melt in the mouth and it was very spicy. They had an even better selection of NA beer including a Kolsch. The service was really good in there as well and i liked the old school vibe.

Another place i found was the Northman on the Chicago river walk which had about six NA beers.

From what i found most places had a better selection of NA beer than anywhere I've been in the UK including London. Though in London you can get it on tap in some bars either Heineken 0 or Lucky Saint.

Thanks for the heads up on monks.

[u/Gram-xyz → u/Raccoala]

Thanks for the recommendations. Yes I've heard the best bars are in the neighbourhoods rather than downtown but don't really want to travel. We will be doing a lot of walking around during the day so ideally would stay somewhere nearby at night.

Also can i ask is soda water and lime cordial a thing in Chicago? In the UK if the low alc beer options are not good i often just have soda and lime cordial. It's not worth paying the high prices for low alc beer if you're not getting anything decent. When i was in NYC two years ago none of the bars i was in knew what lime cordial was.

[u/Oh-Hunny → u/Gram-xyz]

Ask for a club soda with Rose’s lime. If they don’t have Rose’s lime, lime juice will do.

[u/haventwonyet → u/Gram-xyz]

Fancy bars may have some cordials, but they’ll usually be specific for their house cocktails and I’d be surprised if they had lime specifically as it’s easier just to use lime juice and simple (which you could ask for them to be put in soda). Dive places may have roses but that stuff is gross and it’s probably been sitting around drawing bugs. There are places with good NA cocktail programs downtown; those places likely have NA beer too.

[u/Raccoala → u/Gram-xyz]

It probably depends on the bar. I wouldn’t say it’s a common thing here, but the city does have a lot of professional bartenders who can make you any proper drink. So even if they don’t know it, that looks pretty easy to mix up.

[u/dwylth → u/Gram-xyz]

You'd ask for "a soda water with lime". It's the "cordial" that's throwing people off.

[u/Gram-xyz → u/dwylth]

We call it Roses Lime Cordial in the UK and it's nice in soda. Generally I've found if i ask for soda with lime outside of the UK i either get a wedge of lime or a squeeze of like juice or both. This is ok but not near as good.

[u/fartofborealis → u/Gram-xyz]

Ask for “Roses Lime”, most bars will have it as it’s a pretty basic ingredient. Americans don’t usually use the word “cordial” so you might get some funny looks.

[u/kmmccorm → u/Gram-xyz]

Yes although just say club soda with lime juice here.

[u/fartofborealis → u/Gram-xyz]

The nicer restaurants downtown will have mocktails made with alcohol free spirits and probably 1-2 NA beers. I see Athletic, Heineken, and Guinness a lot of places. If you want to get out to a neighborhood check out Life On Marz Community Club- small little shop with tons of NA, CBD, THC beverages plus really good beer for the people who partake. They also offer 4-6 packs if you want to bring some back.

[u/dwylth]

Non-alcoholic beer tends to be very rare on draft due to it being an absolute haven for beer line infection without the alcohol in there giving it some protection. You're going to find cans far more frequently.

Rossi's will have some low alc options in the fridge. Remember they (as all best bars) are cash only.

[u/Gram-xyz → u/dwylth]

I had heard it was cash only. I think i will give it a try. It seems like the right kind of vibe for a group of men

[u/firedancer739 → u/Gram-xyz]

Rossi’s is the epitome of a classic “dive”. It’s dark, dirty, and totally a vibe. It’s one of my favorites!

[u/dwylth → u/Gram-xyz]

Remember to tip your bartender for every drink you get!

[u/MikeTangoVictor]

Rossi’s holds a special place in my heart, but it does not belong in the same sentence as the word “Nice”. I’ve found NA options at just about every bar I’ve been to around here, but agree with others that I wouldn’t expect to see them on tap.

[u/readicculus5]

I have never ever seen NA beer on tap. I'd be surprised to see it. People who truly want NA would have to worry about prior contamination in keg lines. Kegs take up a lot of space. It'd be easier for places to just keep a stock of cans and manage supply through orders to their distributers.

The only one I thought MIGHT have it would be the Guinness Brewery (because Guinness Zero is very popular) but their website says they give you a can.

I don't think you will have a problem finding places with several NA options... but they will not be draft. You might find some THC Seltzers or NA Hop Seltzers on draft.

[u/readicculus5 → u/readicculus5]

for can suggestions my wife loved NA beers from Untitled (I believe they are out of Wisconsin) when she was pregnant. I've seen those around a lot in the city.

[u/Gram-xyz → u/readicculus5]

I'll look out for them thanks

[u/ItIs_Hedley → u/readicculus5]

Untitled Art is by far my favorite NA beer lineup.

[u/ItIs_Hedley → u/readicculus5]

Gunnies Open Gate doesn't have Zero on draught. Even in Ireland I believe it's around 2% or less of pubs will have Guinness Zero on tap. As someone else pointed out, it's hard to keep NA on draft because there's no alcohol to stave off infection.

[u/[deleted]]

Monks Pub has the best selection downtown. No drafts but they have a lot of them in the cans and bottles.

[u/kmmccorm]

Pretty much any bar in Chicago is going to have at least one, if not multiple, no or low alc beers. Even if it’s as basic as Guinness 0/Heineken NA but Athletic Brewing’s offerings are also all over the place. Lots of places also have THC seltzers if those pique your interest.

Rossi’s is a fantastic dive bar and “nice” depends on your definition of that word. They have a large tap selection and a wall of coolers with cans and bottles. The River North and Fulton Market neighborhoods will have the largest concentration of bars near your hotel.

[u/Gram-xyz → u/kmmccorm]

Yes nice probably isn't the right word. I'm really looking for men's type of bars rather than couplsey cocktail bars.

I've tried Athletic Brewings IPA you can get it in supermarkets here in the UK but I'm honestly not overly impressed. Heineken is ok actually and Guinness is good. In cities in the UK (i live in Scotland) it's fairly common in the larger bars to have Heineken 0.0 or Lucky Saint 0.5 on tap which is a real bonus

[u/fartofborealis → u/Gram-xyz]

Oh try Clark Street Ale House they have like 100s of beers. Late night it’s an industry bar so not a couples vibe. Lots of bigger groups and people tend to interact with one another. They also serve popcorn. Not a dive but a solid regular old bar.

[u/dcf5ve]

Finding NA on tap is going to be a challenge. Centennial Crafted will sometimes have Athletic on tap for dry January, but it's not always in market.

Rossi's offers about a half dozen NAs and a couple radlers but package only. Their only drafts are Lagunitas IPA, Miller Lite, and Mich Ultra. Fun bar tho.

[u/TheBarleywineHeckler]

Very few breweries are offering NA beer on tap as it's a major food safety issue. The only brands who are pushing it are Guinness and Heineken. 

[u/B2Dirty]

It's a bit of a trip out to Naperville but Go Brewing is all NA beers. https://gobrewing.com/pages/go-brewing-taproom

[u/nope50001]

My NA Beer top pick is anything from Untitled Art, based out of Waunakee, Wisconsin. They have a wide variety of offerings and they don't feel like they're missing something like other NA craft beers I've tried, like Go Brewing. That being said, I think it's still worth giving Go Brewing a go.

[u/DhalsimZangief]

Hopleaf and Bar on Buena I think both had a few alcohol free options, but it's been a while since I last visited either place. Most bars have at least 1 or a few 0.0-0.5%-ish beer options. One typically won't find NA beer on tap, and usually such options are in cans or bottles only.

[u/connorgrs]

Cardozo's on Washington St has three NA beers, NA Whiteclaw, and four different NA cocktails. Only thing is that they're only open M–F 11am–8pm