Rock Bottom Brewery, 28256 Diehl Rd, Warrenville, IL 60555 - phone: 630-836-1380   website: www.rockbottom.com/locations/warrenville
hours: SUN 11:30am - 12am | MON 11am - 12am | TUES 11am - 12am | WED 11am - 12am | THUR 11am - 12am | FRI 11am - 1am | SAT 11:30am - 1am

Experience before you go............

Well you'd think that since I've been to 25 different breweries as far away as Tombstone, Arizona that one that is one mile from the house in Naperville, Illinois would of been one of my first stops. I know, crazy isn't it. So on this beautiful Monday afternoon and since my wife Kat and I are retired we caught a matinee at our local neighborhood Regal Cinema. We saw Wonder Women, wow, fun fabulous movie that I'd recommend and after the movie we shuffled over to the Rock Bottom Brewery.

Rock Bottom started in 1991 way before craft beer became as crazy as it is today. Today, Breweries are popping up everywhere and even though Starbucks has cornered the every corner market, breweries are coming on strong. Now Rock Bottom has over 30 locations and as they like to say, life begins when "You've Hit Rock Bottom!"

Now I've been to Rock Bottom in the past and I've always enjoyed the brews and foods but I've never been here in true Hoppin' Brewery Tour mode so with my own Wonder Woman with me for protection and after our front signage selfie we entered and headed for the bar. The Hoppin' Brewery Tour strikes again and Jamie was on us with a smile and "I'll be right with you". I hand her a card and do the Hoppin' promo and since we were unsure what beers to order, Jamie starts handing us samples. The Magpie Lane - (ESB) English-Style Pale Ale or Extra Special Bitter (5.9%, 30 IBU) floral with spicy hops was on special for $3.00 a pint.....boy howdy!! We share a sample of the magpie but Kat being a lighter beer fan went with a pint of the Kickstand - Cream Ale (4.2%, 10 IBU) nothing creamy here, version of the adjunct lager, drinking light and refreshing and will wash the yard work right off your back type of brew. I tell Jamie I'm an IPA kind of guy and to set me up with a flight. Now a side note......Tuesday's are referred to as Tasting Tuesday's and flights are $4 bucks all day long. So now that you know what you're doing on Tuesdays let me continue. My Flight is a very enjoyable one starting with Summer Teeth - American Rye Ale (5.4%, 20 IBU), next we have the Peashooter - Pale Ale (5.5%, 38 IBU), along with Hoppy American Idle - American IPA (6.7%, 55 IBU), and Hop Bomb - India Pale Ale (6.7%, 65 IBU) and bringing up the rear we have Ragtop Red (5.6%, 30 IBU).

An older guy sits down on my left and Jamie says "Hi Dennis".....a Bottom regular! Come to find out that Dennis is a big wig with Avnet, Senior VP/Dir. of Credit. Dennis says, "Someone's got to be the bad guy!" Well some might refer to Dennis as the bad guy but as far as I'm concerned, he's a good guy! Dennis tells me the story behind the IPA brew which stands for India Pale Ale. The story is in the Eighteenth Century beer brewed in England that was ear marked to be exported to India on sailing ships had to have more hops and higher alcohol content to preserve the brew for the long trip.......thus the IPA was born. Dennis and I both agree that Jamie is one of the better bartenders we've seen as she effortlessly floats from bar order to bar order with top notch precision. Dennis, with take out burger bag in hand says bye bye and I can't help but overhear Kat talking to a younger dude to her right and she introduces me to Matt. Now get this, Matt is one of the Brewers at Lagunitas Brewing on West 17th St in Chicago, which was our 6th stop on the tour. Matt said he likes hitting Rock Bottom after work on his way home. Matt was telling us that the big dog Heineken, bought Lagunitas for a bunch of $$$$ and Matt said one of the reasons was to take Lagunitas international. Cool thing is Matt was continuing his brewing education to become a Master Brewer through the 20 week Chicago based course with the Siebel Institute. The course starts in Chicago and eventually ends up in Germany.......good stuff!! Best of luck to you Matt and keep on brewing!

Well as we finish up the fabulous Nachos and last of our beers, leave Jamie a good tip for a job well done we head to the door. On the way out I can't help but drop a HoppinBreweryTour.com card into the fish bowl for a free lunch. A small handfull of mints and we're out of here. Another tour for the archives!

Where's beer drinking buddy Brad, kind of like where's Waldo. Oh yeah, he's working.......bummer!! "Here's looking at ya kid"!

Until next time and remember.........

Go get'cha one!!