The Daily Parker

Politics, Weather, Photography, and the Dog

First significant snowfall of winter

We've gotten about 4 cm of snow so far today, with more coming down until this evening. Cassie loves it; I have mixed feelings. At least the temperature has gone up a bit, getting up to -0.6°C for the first time since around this time on Monday.

Elsewhere:

  • Federal Judge Aileen Cannon (R-SDFL) got overruled again, this time after her corrupt effort to block Special Counsel Jack Smith from releasing his report on January 6th.
  • George Will bemoans Congress ceding so much of its authority to the office of the President, especially given who will take that office in ten days.
  • Just three corrupt Chicago cops will cost the city almost $34 million in settlements, making me wonder why we don't pay those settlements out of the police pension fund.
  • Pamela Paul objects to historians opining about politics, which is actually one of the things they've always done.
  • Five years after the pandemic began, we still haven't gotten back in the habit of being out in public, according to Derek Thompson at The Atlantic.

Finally, Maplewood Brewing has started expanding its Logan Square taproom into the other half of the building it occupies. I don't get there often, but I enjoy going back. Can't wait to see what their restaurant looks like when it's done. I also need to get to Cherry Circle Room or the CAA Drawing Room soon, as it looks like the management transition from Land & Sea to Boka may change some things.

28 Mile Vodka, Highwood (revisited)

Welcome to a revisit to #5 on the Brews and Choos project.

Distillery: 28 Mile Vodka, 454 Sheridan Rd., Highwood, Ill.
Train line: Metra Union Pacific North, Highwood
Time from Chicago (Ogilvie): 52 minutes, zone 4
Distance from station: 300 m

After Amtrak effectively cancelled our day trip to Milwaukee on Friday and meeting a third friend up there, my Brews & Choos buddy and I met the other friend in Highwood instead. We ultimately met up at Broken Tee Brewing, but we had an hour to kill while the third friend drove down from Wisconsin, so we went to 28 Mile Vodka.

I'm happy to report that Brews & Choos stop #5 is still going strong, with some innovative drinks and new spirits. I had a flight of two gins and two bourbons; my B&CB had a smoky Old Fashioned that we both thought was dangerously delicious.

Also of note was the manager's kindness letting us in an hour before opening to get out of the gloomy drizzle. He admitted that the distillery's website shows a 3pm opening time, but for the winter they actually open at 4pm.

The kitchen opened right as we were leaving to meet our third friend, so we didn't try anything on the menu. We wanted to. And perhaps we will in the near future.

28 Mile Vodka remains a "Would Go Back" Brews & Choos stop.

Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? No
Televisions? None
Serves food? Yes, elevated
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes

Trip cancelled while on the train

I had planned to go to Milwaukee for a quick day trip yesterday to further the Brews & Choos Project. Two friends were going to meet me at the Public Market, then go to two breweries and a distillery in the five hours between trains.

Alas, after everyone had boarded the 1:05 Hiawatha, Amtrak got all of us off the train and cancelled it because of—no kidding—a flat wheel. We could have gone on the (now-overcrowded) 3:05, but we just decided to forget it and meet one of the friends up in Highwood.

So I'll have a revisited Brews & Choos review of 28 Mile Vodka later this weekend, but no reviews of Milwaukee breweries until next year.

Boxing Day links

Because Christmas came on a Wednesday*, and my entire UK-based team have buggered off until Monday in some cases and January 6th in others, I'm off for the long weekend. Tomorrow my Brews & Choos buddy and I will hit three places in Milwaukee, which turns out to be closer to downtown Chicago by train than a few stations on the Union Pacific North and Northwest lines.

Meanwhile, read some of these:

Enjoy the weekend. I'll have three Brews & Choos Reviews up before the end of the year, plus the 2025 sunrise chart for Chicago.

* That was also The Daily Parker's 9,500th post since the "modern" blog began in November 2005.

Ugly Chicago street could get much better

The Chicago Department of Planning and Development has proposed changing the zoning rules along a stretch of Broadway between Montrose and Devon to increase its density while simultaneously reducing its car-oriented ugliness:

The move could jumpstart housing construction, support local businesses and create a streamlined and consistent process for development in a part of town that has seen increased developer attention, city officials have said.

A driving factor in the rezoning is the CTA’s Red Line overhaul between the Bryn Mawr and Lawrence stations, city planner Danielle Crider said. The project is expected to be completed on time in 2025, at which point the CTA will have four properties along Broadway it acquired for construction and will no longer need, making it prime land for redevelopment.

Normally, things like a drive-thru, gas stations or other auto-related businesses could also be developed under a C1-5 zoning, but the planning department would also create a “pedestrian street designation” on the areas with this zoning to prevent certain car-oriented businesses, according to materials from the meeting.

A pedestrian street designation means curb cutouts for driveways are prohibited, parking must be from the alley and the building’s exterior must be on the sidewalk — effectively barring strip malls — according to the department. It’s intended to “preserve and enhance pedestrian oriented shopping districts,” but won’t affect strip malls along Broadway that already exist, materials show.

Naturally, people living in less-dense areas near Broadway like Lakewood-Balmoral are yelling NIMBY. That said, this sounds like an excellent proposal, and a good way to use the Red/Purple El reconstruction to the city's benefit.

I also love that Block Club Chicago pays attention to these things. I've let my Chicago Tribune subscription lapse because the hedge fund that owns it couldn't give two shakes about the neighborhoods near mine.

March comes early

We have warm (10°C) windy (24 knot gusts) weather in Chicago right now, and even have some sun peeking out from the clouds, making it feel a lot more like late March than mid-December. Winds are blowing elsewhere in the world, too:

Finally, the Washington Post says I read 628 stories this year on 22 different topics. That's less than 2 a day. I really need to step up my game.

Finally above freezing again

The temperature dropped below freezing Tuesday evening and stayed there until about half an hour ago. The forecast predicts it'll stay there until Wednesday night. And since we've got until about 3pm before the rain starts, it looks like Cassie will get a trip to the dog park at lunchtime.

Once it starts raining, I'll spend some time reading these:

Finally, a friend recently sent me a book I've wanted to read for a while: The Coddling of the American Mind, which civil-liberties lawyer Greg Lukianoff and psychologist Jonathan Haidt expanded from their September 2015 Atlantic article. I have noticed that people born after 1995 don't seem to have the same resilience or tolerance for nuance that even people born a few years earlier have. Lukianoff and Haidt make an interesting case for why this is. I'm sure I'll have more to say about it when I finish.

Ravinia Brewing Chicago Taproom closing

I was just there this past weekend, and I really think they could have mentioned something:

Ravinia Brewing Company — now Steep Ravine Brewing Company — will host a farewell party Dec. 14 at its Logan Square taproom, 2601 W. Diversey Ave., though it will still use the space to brew beer, according to a press release.

Steep Ravine Brewing Company will retain the brewery’s signature “Tree Guy” mascot and award-winning beer portfolio, the company said in the release.

The Logan Square taproom closing party will feature special beer releases, a “curated menu” and a chance for the brewery’s fans “to reminisce about the incredible stories that shaped the taproom’s journey,” the release said.

This is the 19th place I visited on the Brews & Choos Project to close.

Ravinia Brewing, Chicago

Welcome to stop #118 on the Brews and Choos project, which announced its bloody closure just three days after I visited.

Brewery: Ravinia Brewing, 2601 W Diversey Ave., Chicago
Train line: CTA Blue Line, Logan Square
Time from Chicago: 16 minutes
Distance from station: 1.4 km

I reviewed the original Ravinia Brewing location in the historic Ravinia neighborhood of Highland Park so early in the Brews & Choos Project that Covid-19 had only just started entering most people's awareness. Almost by accident two of the beers my Brews Buddy and I tried were the same as the first Ravinia beers I tried in February 2020.

The Steep Ravine IPA (7.2%, 22 IBU) and the Baldwin barrel-aged porter (6.5%, 35 IBU) tasted just as good as they did 4½ years ago. We liked the new ones, too, with a big caveat. The Ludwig barrel-aged Oktoberfest (6.9%) "taste[d] like an Oktoberfest, but more so: more intense, syrupy flavor," she said, with which I completely agree. The Diversey Station juicy session pale ale (4.0%) had a good fruit-hop balance and will come up again next time I visit.

We differed a bit on two other tastes. Of the Infusion of the Week (see above, bottom right), she said "It's growing on me. Once I got accustomed to the rosemary, I could adjust my palate, and it just works." I said, "this beer is not for me." And of the Casa de Guava Berliner Weißbier, with its cloying, sweet, overwhelming guava flavor, she said it was "clean and refreshing, tart but not too tart, nice finish." I gagged involuntarily and, after recovering, said "no, oh no, oh no no no." (This is why we make a good team.)

Since we had just completely failed to finish the outsized pretzel at Pilot Project, and despite the 2 km walk between the two, we simply had no appetite for tacos. But the tacos at their Highland Park taproom are excellent, and we've had them several times before Ravinia Festival concerts.

Finally, in a couple of months, Ravinia Brewing will rebrand as Steep Ravine Brewing because of the SLAPP suit brought by Ravinia Festival. No one wanted this, except probably Ravinia Festival's legal department. And if Illinois' anti-SLAPP law had broader protections that included trademark disputes, Ravinia Brewing probably would have won a countersuit. Alas. I'll update the Brews & Choos reviews once the re-brand becomes official.

Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Outside only
Televisions? Many, difficult to avoid
Serves food? Yes
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes

Pilot Project Brewing, Chicago

Welcome to stop #117 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Pilot Project Brewing, 2140 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Train line: CTA Blue Line, California
Time from Chicago: 14 minutes
Distance from station: 500 m

Pilot Project has an unusual business model. They partner with fledgling breweries, work with them on their beer recipes and styles, help them with marketing and distribution, then gently fling them from the nest once they're established and can fly on their own. And they're pretty good at it.

After a 6-km meander through Logan Square to work up an appetite, my Brews & Choos buddy and I sat down at the Pilot Project bar and had an extended conversation with bartender Rebecca about the beers and their stories. Including our flights and sip-sized tastes of a couple other beers, we tried a lot of them. We also had a ginormous pretzel (seriously, it'll feed four people), and a pitcher of water.

My flight had Funkytown 1984 pale lager (5%, complex for a lager, long finish, not too sweet), Pilot Project's own Mountains Calling hazy IPA (6.3%, kind of malty for a hazy, really drinkable, beer buddy said "Ooo! I like that a lot"), their Tree Talker West Coast Pale (5.3%, very west coast, very hoppy, not my favorite), and their Brushfire Imperial stout (8%, lots of chocolate, coffee, and vanilla).

My friend had the Two Falls Hazy (6.5%, lovely apricot and apple notes, good balance), Azadi Brewing's Manali Hazy IPA (6.8%, balanced, not strongly fruity, good), and Azadi's Doorsa basmati rice lager (4.6%, effervescent, very light, interesting flavor).

She also tried a thing called Donna's Pickle Beer (4.4%), about which we had a mild difference of taste. I gagged, swished some water, and grabbed a hunk of pretzel. She said she "would absolutely love this after a hot run in the summer" and wants to run to the brewery with a bunch of other athletes as soon as it gets warm again.

We will absolutely go back, but only one of us will drink beer brewed with pickle juice.

Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Outside only
Televisions? One, avoidable
Serves food? Pub menu
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes