10/5/2017 Alter Brewing Company, 2300 Wisconsin Ave. #213, Downers Grove, IL 60515 phone: 630-541-9558   website: www.AlterBrewing.com
Hours: Mon-Thu 3-10 | Fri & Sat 12-11 | Sun 12-7

Where's beer drinking buddy Brad? I talk to him on the phone, we text, he updates the hoppinbrewerytour.com website every 10th, 20th and 30th of the month, he likes to wear plaid. But yet his brewery tour absences continue, oh yeah he's still working. I got it....I'm going to set up a GoFundMe account for Brad's retirement......brilliant!!

Now that I have that solved, let's get into our next brewery. Alter Brewing Company is located in beautiful Downers Grove, IL, where the people are friendly, and friendly are the people! Of course a round of golf close by was my first stop, where I had my fair share of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly golf shots. I call it my Clint Eastwood round of golf.....go ahead punk, make my day. So I finished up, loaded my clubs in the trunk, downloaded the directions to Wisconsin Ave and hit the road. Alter is pretty easy to find, a multi tenant industrial park setting, end unit with more parking in the back, which I took advantage of. As I come around the corner I notice next to the front door there is an open air design which leads right into the taproom. It's a beautiful day with a cool breeze so life is good. I execute the front sign selfie and head through the door. High ceilings, rafters, high tops with chairs to the left, behind that we have production, along the back wall we have a fabulous bar with stools and folks drinking, laughing and carrying on....my kinda place! I laser in on an empty bar stool, commandeer the space, place HBT card on the bar with a $20 bill and Bing, Bang, Boom.....Hoppin Brewery Tour strikes again!! Got to love it!!

Two girls to my left talking about old boyfriends, to my right a big guy working his iPhone who together with beer drinking buddy Brad could be starting as defensive linemen for the Chicago Bears. I start the beer tasting with a small sample of their flagship Alteriormotive - Midwest IPA (6.5%, 68 IBU) dry hoppin with Citra & Simcoe creates intense tropical and citrus aromas, strong malt bill produce an excellent balance for a smooth and minimally bitter finish. I also sip on a sample of Mosaic Motive - West Coast Style IPA (6.8%, 60 IBU) dry hopped with Mosaic for a tropical, floral and fruity west coast style beer. Finally I taste their Center Line - Golden Ale (5.0%, 35 IBU) malt notes of biscuit and honey with delicate floral and citrus aromas make this an easy drinking ale friendly to all palates. Executive decision goes with a pint of Alteriormotive - Midwest IPA and I sit back and enjoy.

"Looks like you're solving all the worlds problems on that phone of yours". "No, I just like to keep current on the job board". Come to find out Kevin to my right is an IT Security Consultant who I get the feeling that he is what they call, currently under employed. I give him the HBT elevator talk and Kevin being a craft beer connoisseur likes the concept a lot. We effortlessly move from one subject to another as smooth as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich like we've known each other forever. Craft beer, mutual respect and a thirst for compelling conversation is why I love sitting at the bar while on the Hoppin Brewery Tour. Kevin gives me his contact info which I'll pass on to Brad for some IT networking. As we both stand up to leave, an Alter Brewing beer koozie and a very cool logo sticker are passed over to us and Kevin says, "You get all the cool stuff, I need to hang with you more often". Best of luck to you my friend and I hope our paths cross again.

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

Go get'cha one!!