Explore the Windy City's History through it's best local brews.Chicago's craft beer scene may be new, but it enthusiastically taps the rich history of the city. Order yourself a pint of Piece's Golden Arm Ale and meet its inspiration - Nelson Algren, poet of the Chicago Slums and author of The Man with the Golden Arm. Or Sample the fine flavors of Crown Brewing, made in the former boiler room of a jail that was the site of a John Dillanger prison break. Slip some rough and tumble stories into your drink at Mickey Finn's or raise a glass of Honkers to Goose Island for bringing back brewing to the city. Through the pages of this amicable bar stool reader, experience some of Chicago's most fascinating stories, from the Great Fire to Wrigley Field.

I saw this in the Chicago/local materials at a local Walgreens and immediately thought of my birthday partner. Since this is something I am sure she will enjoy I am setting it aside into the box I am collecting her birthday bits in for future mailing.

I am not a drinker. However, I do enjoy these quirky history books about places. Especially the city that I grew up in. So I found myself picking this up to read. As it was originally published in 2011, there have been some changes to the area's brew pub scene. I found myself jotting some notes in the pages as I read concerning closures of craft brew sites that I know have closed permanently either through local news, or from friends who live nearby to the closed sites and actively looking up the breweries to see if they have survived the nine years since this was published. This is not something I would have actively picked up due to the subject matter. However, I am enjoying reading it before sending it out to it's intended reader. A lot of the historical facts are stuff I know. But there were some historical facts that were new to me.

This is going out in a birthday package to booksnbeer. Happy reading and a belated happy birthday!

Received this as part of a Birthday Box. Looking at the list of Breweries, I have visited at least 9 of the ones listed. I can't wait to read a little history behind them.