Welcome to stop #116 on the Brews and Choos project.
Brewery: Crust Brewing, 5500 Park Pl., Rosemont
Train line: CTA Blue Line, Rosemont
Time from Chicago: 45 minutes
Distance from station: 1.4 km (shuttle bus from El station—don't even try to walk it)
Have you ever heard Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album? It's exactly what it says on the tin. And it's not their best work. (I mean, it's got a few laughs, especially on the first cut, but the boys made it clear they were flipping two fingers to their record company with that one.)
This is my Contractual Obligation Brews & Choos stop.
You see, taking the (soon to be discontinued! Oh no!) 8:20 am flight to London, with its requisite check-in time of 6:20 am, led me to getting a hotel room near O'Hare. Since Crust Brewing is just steps from the Aloft, the trip lent itself to stopping there. I didn't have high hopes going in; I didn't have high regards going out.
Wow! TVs everywhere and lots of stone surfaces to make them all really loud! Exactly my kind of place. At least they let you take the beer outside, to the Parkway Bank Entertainment District in family-owned Rosemont. I mean, who could pass up this view of I-294 when sipping on a beer?
I had a perfectly-serviceable but otherwise unremarkable hazy IPA whose value didn't even approach the $13 with tax and tip that I paid for it.
If you find yourself trapped at a convention or something out in Rosemont and you need to entertain a very junior or very suburban team who don't want anything challenging but do want to say they went to a "craft brewery," Crust will work just fine. If you find yourself at a convention or something in Rosemont but you can get away for three hours, go to Revolution, Piece, or Bungalow instead.
Beer garden? Only technically
Dogs OK? No
Televisions? Yes, unavoidable
Serves food? Full but boring menu
Would hang out with a book? No
Would hang out with friends? Not if I wanted to keep them
Would go back? No