HoppinBreweryTour.com

Tour Stop 82 - Noon Whistle Brewing - 1/25/2019

Experience before you go . . .

As time rolls on Beer Drinking Buddy Brad and I cascade through life individually and collectively with a sense of purpose. As we approach the three year mark on the Hoppin Brewery Tour and with over 80 breweries toured it's time to reflect, reevaluate and ponder the possibilities. Should we take it to the next level....U tube, live stream, History Channel? Or should we continue down this familiar path of blogging, website and where are we going next. Next level sounds like a lot of work, but you know what they say, "anything and everything worth experiencing requires work"! After more than 40 years of work is it humanly possible to get a second wind, an extra burst of energy or a feeling of not wanting to calmly and uneventfully ride into the sunset......

So as we chew on this for awhile and wash it down with beer, I was in Naperville for a week hanging out on North Loomis Street and Brad and I planned our escape to Noon Whistle Brewing to do some pondering and sipping, and not necessarily in that order. During our drive over conversation covered all topics and there's always a feeling of, we're lost and we'll never find this place. But we always do, working through a u-turn or a wrong turn, which is commonplace. In true Midwest style this time of year it was snowing lightly when we arrived, front sign selfie and we entered the Noon Whistle at 1:45 pm. Having missed the whistle, we quickly entered HBT mode and headed straight for the bar. Industrial shabby chic brewery at its best. Tables and comfy chairs then the bar leading off to the right and to the left production going back to bottling, office and restrooms. Right in the middle of the brewery and up high for all to see we have a large projection screen TV playing Tom Hanks and soccer ball buddy Wilson on the island in the movie Cast Away. We commandeer two bar stools and Brent's on us faster than Tom Hanks and a quarter pounder after his rescue. Hoppin Brewery Tour card and the Brad/Clyde's condensed dog and pony and like magic....two flights appear. Freshman @ Life - Kolsch (4.9%) smooth and fresh for the freshman. Shampaggin - Brut IPA (5.2%) dank, dank, dank and then bye bye....enjoyable and a dank head favorite. Marshmallow Schwing - Imperial Stout (12.8%) adventurous and sweet, perfect pancake topping with a buzz...love the creativity! Mosaic Gummy - Northeastern IPA (7.6%) big ol' hazy juice bomb, Citra, Mosaic & Simcoe hops with citrus, passion fruit and pine....ooh la la!! Bernie - Imperial Milk Stout (12.2%) smooth, dark, pack a punch and delicious but only problem....it wasn't free!! Swanky Smack - Red Sour (5%) lip smacking....need I say more! Out of the keg last we have Gummy Vortex - Northeastern IPA (7.5%) starting to dig the gummies and not the ones you get in Colorado, bold, grapefruit, pine and bready....think I'm ready!

In the midst of all this beer tasting a little detour to the restroom yields a self guided mini tour of production with the meeting of Steve and Mike working hard behind the scenes. A lot of moving parts in brewing great beer. Once back at the bar, Brad is working on a Bernie with a smile on his face and I can't help but start up a conversation with Mike sitting one stool down from Brad. HS English teacher and sporting an eerie resemblance to Clark Kent. I was expecting any minute for Mike to duck behind a barrel of beer and come out with cape and all....."Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall fermenting tanks at a single bound", "Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's Superman"! One of my childhood favorites and I could probably binge watch anything Superman today. Mike was a great guy and I'm sure loved by his students. Carry on Mike, keep teaching and be easy on HBT writing skills....no red marker please!!

Brad and I had a great time tooting the Noon Whistle! Creative and adventurous beers with personality, what's not to love!