Barrel Aged Mini Putting

In addition to being 'build up ridiculous hype about NATO' week last week here in Chicago, it was also the start of Craft Beer Week. As a result there were many different events over the weekend involving, well, craft beer. Adam obviously has a role in all this, as does Goose Island, and part of their contribution was to hold a weekend event at the brewery. To mix things up a bit (how may nights can one sit in a bar before it gets old? wait, don't answer that) the brewers got creative and decided to create a 9 hole mini-putt course in the barrel warehouse of the brewery.

Course under construction

Goose Island is one of the first breweries to be involved in barrel aging beer. Perhaps their most famous barrel aged beer is their Bourbon County Stout, aged in Bourbon barrels. They also have many beers aged in wine barrels such as Sofie, Juliet, Madame Rose and Lolita. This is still a pretty unique concept in beer making, though is certainly being adopted more frequently because it results in such delicious, rich flavors full of depth and surprises. So showcasing their barrel aging with a fun event such as beer tasting and mini-putting was a great idea.

Adam going for par.

Friday night was family and friends night (the main event that folks paid to attend was Sunday) so I joined Adam in a round. The course was really neat. It was all handmade by the brewing staff with materials in the brewery- barrels, malt, PVC piping, you name it, they used it. There were water traps and sand (malt) traps. And, to increase the chances of good putting, there were plenty of barrels on which to place your beer as you putt:)

Score cards were made for the occasion.

Malt traps in the corners.

Tough green.