Beer in the western suburbs

It has been a very busy weekend so far!  

Last night I made some English muffins - they turned out a little tall (next time I would flatten them out before proofing), but they are tasty! I fried one up with butter this morning for breakfast.

This morning I had a tour at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio in Oak Park.  They opened up the balcony in the studio for tours, so this month contains some of the first tours of this area in years.

I was probably the youngest person on the tour, and I also had come the least far to attend the tour.  The next closest couple was from Indiana, then Wisconsin, then D.C., then North Carolina.  It reminded me how wonderful it is to have these beautiful architectural pieces right in my back yard.  (Or, close enough.)

After the tour, I drove to Naperville / Aurora to meet some friends at tasting rooms for Solemn Oath and Two Brothers.  Here I am at Solemn Oath:

We got two flights of beer to share - enough that we got to try each of their beers on tap at the moment:

• Promiscuou's Apostrophe (Belgian IPA)
• Hexafoos (farmhouse ale)
• Snaggletooth Bandana (American IPA) - one of my favorites of the day, actually - I like a nice citrusy IPA
• Wreckagemaster (American double IPA)
• Death by Vikings (American-style imperial IPA)
• E-Ville (American brown ale) - my other favorite of the day, which is surprising because I'm not normally a brown ale fan
• Whisper Kisses (saison)
• Tickle Fight (American barleywine)

I came away with two bombers and we made our way to our next stop, Taqueria Arandense in Aurora.  The Tribune had favorably reviewed its cochinita pibil tacos, and now I have favorably reviewed them.  Fantastic.

Last stop was the Two Brothers Roundhouse, where we sampled another flight of beer (this time individually chosen):

• Engine No. 1 Kolsch
• Monarch Wit Bier
• Revelry (imperial red ale)
• Night Cat (dark wheat)

I really liked the Night Cat, although not enough to buy a six-pack since I am living by myself these days.  Two Brothers tries to make very pleasing beer, and it is pleasing, but it is not terribly interesting.

I had wanted to do a 5-mile hike in the western suburbs, but I didn't know if I had that kind of distance in me after a long day.  Instead, I came home and walked on the walk path for 3 miles, enough to earn back some calories for a dinner of fancy nachos made out of wild sockeye salmon, black beans, mozzarella, and habanero salsa.  Mmm.

Now I'm done with my calorie consumption for the day, but I'm going to be looking forward to another English muffin tomorrow morning!  And it's the bunny's holiday, so you know he'll be excited for his extra carrot.