6119 East Ave. Hodgkins, IL 60525   phone: (708) 905-5198   website: BlueNoseBrewery.com
Taproom Hours: Mon - Thurs: 3pm - Midnight | Fri: Noon - 2am | Saturday : Noon - 2am | Sunday : Noon - 10pm

Time to bring in the new year with a brewery tour stop!! Enough of this sitting around the house and repairing clothes dryers, well pumps and fireplace sensors. Let's saddle up and head to our first stop of 2017!!! "Blue Nose has foosball", I told Brad, "I'm going to kick your butt"! Brad said, "If I had a nickel...." In the mid to late 70's, most of the bars had foosball tables and back in the day Brad and I both thought we were pretty good. So seeing a table always brings back some good memories. So we hopped in the Chevy Cruze and pointed her in the direction of the Blue Nose. Now I can't remember the last time I've been in Hodgkins and neither could Brad and we both agreed, we're on the cusp of another adventure.

Bing, bang boom and some conversation and believe it or not we're pulling into Blue Nose Brewery. Blue Nose is easier to find than some of the brewery stops we've had. Right off East Avenue and it's front and center, kind of hard to miss. Snapped our patented Brad & Clyde out front picture with the local signage and being 10 degrees outside we decided to shuffle on in to the Blue Nose. Now it's 3:30 on a Friday afternoon so we have 4-5 beer lovers hangin at the bar and we're before the after work crowd so you know what......oh, that's the way, uh-huh uh-huh, we like it, uh huh, uh huh, that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh we like it uh-huh, uh-huh!!! Got to love KC and the Sunshine Band....when are they resurrecting themselves and going back on tour? Okay, the Blue Nose Brewery taproom is spacious. The bar lines the back wall for about 20-25 feet, there's 8-10 tables with chairs and in each corner a comfy leather couch and leather chairs. They have a pool table, darts, foosball and of course the home made Jenga Game......this is the second taproom with home made Jenga. I told Brad, "the next 2x4 home made Jenga game we run into, we're playing and I'm going to kick your butt." As always the bar was calling our name.

Tyler was the bartender and as time went on I'm thinking Tyler does more then just serve the brews. We both started out with the Citra Avenue IPA, (6.7%). This is definitely a hopped up, refreshing brew with a steady grapefruit finish. Tyler said they've been brewing their beers for 4 years and they opened the taproom a year and a half ago......7/16/16 was their first anniversary. Happy belated anniversary Blue Nose!! Their brewery name came from a blue nosed pit bull named Simba. To my right, I start talking to Brian. Brian's a CTA mechanic who drinks nothing but dark, stout beer.....the darker the better!! Brian's a hard working nice guy who enjoys his beer. He was drinking the Northerner - English Brown (5.9%) and he was telling Brad and I that Michigan is the place to go for brewery tours......Michigan, here we come!! Out of nowhere appears Wendy, (like she was beamed in by Scottie). Wendy is Brian's wife of 17 years.....got to love the institution of marriage!! Wendy's a Pilsner drinker....the lighter the better!! You know what they say about opposites attract. They were a nice couple. Wendy said it was her second marriage and everyone should try it once?

You know what, Blue Nose has a really good feel to it! Brad and I are settling in and order up our second round. Brad goes with Basic Bitch-wheat ale (5.5%) and I just had to try a 1/2 pint of the Northerner that Brian to my right had been drinking the whole time and he swore at it, I mean swore by it!!

Incoming.....a plate of chips and guacamole from the nice lady to our left. Come to find out her name is Kathy and she's there with her elderly dad Elmer Rude who said "I live up to my name". Elmer's 87 years old and an Army Veteran who served from 1951 to 1953 and he said during that time is when he learned how to drink beer. I went over and took a selfie pic of Elmer and me and we talked. I thanked him for his service and then I returned to my stool to enjoy some more chips and guacamole. After a while Elmer made his way down the bar to where I was sitting and he shared a story with me. He had an older brother and cousins who also served around that time and when it was time for them to report for service Elmer's dad would give them a silver dollar. Elmer dug his out of his wallet to show me......1921 silver dollar and it was a beautiful thing!! His daughter Kathy was very surprised that he showed me that silver dollar because it had been years since she had seen it. This was a very special silver dollar!!! Every one of them got a silver dollar except for one chap named Pookey. It wasn't that Elmer's dad didn't want to give him one, its just he didn't have one the day he reported. Well Pookey was the only one of that group that didn't make it home......God rest your soul Pookey!!!!

Well Brad and I had a great time at The Blue Nose!! We didn't get a chance to pet Simba but we soaked in what makes The Blue Nose Brewery special.....it's the patrons!! It's the Elmers, the Brians, the Kathys, the Wendys and of course the Tylers that keep it all moving. As Brad and I move from tour to tour, each brewery has an overall feel and personality. But it's the individual personalities and of course along with the great beer that makes each one of these brewery stops worth the trip. It's like Forest Grump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." Well the chocolates have been sweet so far and who knows what's around the next corner.

Well until next time, and remember.......

Go get'cha one!!