Welcome to stop #129 on the Brews and Choos project.
Brewery: McHenry Brewing, 3425 Pearl St., McHenry
Train line: Union Pacific Northwest, McHenry (Zone 4)
Time from Chicago: 88 minutes
Distance from station: 1.3 km
It finally happened: I cheated. I couldn't figure any reasonable way to visit McHenry Brewing without taking an expensive and rare Lyft part of the way home, because the UP-NW line only has three daily trains to McHenry in the afternoon with three return trains in the morning. So, not wanting to find myself stranded two counties over, I bundled Cassie into the car and drove up there.
(Spot the happy dog.)
I also had a bit of serendipity as the brewery were celebrating the owner's 50th birthday, which explains the hats. The building has a long history of brewing beer, too: it first opened as Lager Brewery back in 1868.
Because we drove up there, and I didn't get lunch on the way up, I only had one pint of the Pearl Steet Pils (5.5%, 13 IBU). I liked it, especially sitting outside on a sunny (but smoky) first day of summer.
I wouldn't mind another trip up to McHenry, as the area just east of the brewery has a nice, big park and lots of shops and restaurants along the Fox River. The brewery itself was OK and so was the beer I tried. And hey, Cassie got lots of pats, so she'd go back too.
Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Outside only
Televisions? Yes, avoidable
Serves food? BYOF
Would hang out with a book? Maybe
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes