Piece Brewery (awesome sponsor and home of the world-famous Nerd City podcast) is hosting their “Jam For Haiti” featuring legendary Cheap Trick-er Rick Nielsen Tonight!

Party starts @ 9 p.m.  With beer sales and $5 cover going to an important cause, you can finally use your drinking problem for good (after so much bad).

Direct Youtube Link

Piece Brewery

1927 W. North Ave.

Chicago, Il 60622

It’s almost here! One of the coolest events in Chicago Nerd history, this Saturday March 6th, Chicago Comics and Challengers Comics present their “Strange Tales” signing and party (with beer provided by Nerd City and Piece).

Seriously, this should be so rad it will hurt.

The boys welcome Brad Chmielewski & Ken Hunnemeder from Hop Cast annd they talk about everybody’s favorite topic, beer! They also talk about the dog-eat-dog world of podcasting, road trips, and a bit more about beer.  So, grab a bottle of your favorite and put this one on.  Episode 79 of Nerd City is go!

Pics and links after the jump…

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It’s no secret: we at Nerd City use this forum as a ‘wishlist’ quite often, posting articles on things we want bought for us, shipped to us, and handed to us (for free).  Add the All-in-1 Chair to that list.  Nothing would make me happier than sitting at the beach with some friends, when one suddenly asks “Hey man, can you pass me beer?”, and I say, “Why of course, they’re inside this beach chair!” (guitar solo, mind melt)

BUY ONE (for me) HERE!

This Saturday night at 7 p.m., at the Super 7 store in San Francisco, Arbito will be showing a whole new batch of psychedelic resin figures at the opening of his Far Out West show.  I’ve always liked Arbito’s style, it’s a mix of super clean modern aesthetics with an overall psychedelic theme.  Besides, who doesn’t love resin art toys?

Check out some previews from the show:

From Arbito:

It’s awesome to be showing at Super 7 again, last time was a blast and I think this show will be even better!

My show, ‘Far Out West’ is dedicated to my favorite part of the world… the west coast and to all the crazies who live here.

Below is a preview pic of my exclusive set of Seekers just for Super 7. This special Seeker features psych-style airbrushed paint, imbedded S7 Logo, and glow-in-the-dark skull head… all bundled up in a clear body. All 9 inches for 125.

There will also be premium 1/1 seekers, a few Patty’s and Sammy’s, and maybe a few other surprises!

So swing by and have a beer, say hello. Hope to see you there!

For more on all things Super 7, go to their official site here.

For more from Arbito, check out his official site here.

Recently, myself and Nerd CIty beer correspondent  Bob Egan ventured out to local Illinois brewery Flossmoor Station, and it ruled.

Brewers Bryan and Richard were super cool dudes, and our bartender Annie made sure we got nice and ham-boned. For a small brewery, their output is simply unreal.  Their seasonal, Cupid’s Got a Brand New Bag, was fucking delicious, and their Panama Red Ale is the bomb.

Plus, they have really kickass food, including awesome pie (beer and pie:great alone, better together.) The coolest thing is that you can take the train from downtown Chicago and it drops you off right in front of the brewery. Did you hear what I just said? Right in front. Seriously. Flossmoor has also expanded their state-wide distribution, and so we should be seeing a lot more of their brews in the City.

Definitely a field trip to make when a change of scenery is necessary, you’ve got to check out Flossmoor Station brewery.

Learn all about it here.

Happy Saturday Nerd City! Don’t hate the player hate the game. In 1984 Jim Koch noticed the American beer scene was missing uniquely fresh & flavorful beers that he found over in Europe. Using generations old family recipes he discovered in his parents attic he started brewing beer and created the Boston Beer Company. Some say he fired the first shot that started the craft beer revolution (see what I did there? first shot, Sam Adams, revolution). 26 years later people scoff at Sam Adams like your trying to get them to drink Nati Light. Maybe because they were the first craft brewery to have widespread accolades and success, I don’t know. What I do know is their new spring seasonal is awesome. Sam Adams Noble Pils is made with 5 hop varieties that are known as the “Noble Hops”. 4 come Germany & 1 from the Czech Republic. Out of the some 100 plus hop varieties these 5 are the best, consider them the sticky icky of the hop world. Hops contribute flavor and aroma to beer. Sam Adams Noble Pils is crisp and refreshing perfect for spring time. It’s only 5% ABV so feel free to have more then one. Some people think Sam Adams is this huge dominating beer company when in reality they have a 1% market share in the U.S. beer market. So cheers to Jim Koch for paving the way for the small guy. Till next time, Cheers!

Happy Saturday Nerd City! Don’t hate the player hate the game. In 1984 Jim Koch noticed the American beer scene was missing uniquely fresh & flavorful beers that he found over in Europe. Using generations old family recipes he discovered in his parents attic he started brewing beer and created the Boston Beer Company. Some say he fired the first shot that started the craft beer revolution (see what I did there? first shot, Sam Adams, revolution). 26 years later people scoff at Sam Adams like your trying to get them to drink Nati Light. Maybe because they were the first craft brewery to have widespread accolades and success, I don’t know. What I do know is their new spring seasonal is awesome. Sam Adams Noble Pils is made with 5 hop varieties that are known as the "Noble Hops". 4 come Germany & 1 from the Czech Republic. Out of the some 100 plus hop varieties these 5 are the best, consider them the sticky icky of the hop world. Hops contribute flavor and aroma to beer. Sam Adams Noble Pils is crisp and refreshing perfect for spring time. It’s only 5% ABV so feel free to have more then one. Some people think Sam Adams is this huge dominating beer company when in reality they have a 1% market share in the total U.S. beer market. So cheers to Jim Koch for paving the way for the small guy. Till next time, Cheers!

Wednesday night marked the release of Tim Seeley’s “Colt Noble and the Megalords” from Image Comics. Previously published online right here @ Nerd City, Seeley was cool enough to give us an awesome shout out on the inside front cover (super rad).

In honor of the release, Challengers Comics held a signing and get-together (we brought beer), and all around this was one of the most kick-ass bits of Nerd business yet.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we are giving away an autographed copy of “Colt Noble and the Megalords”, signed by all three contributing artists (Tim Seeley, Steve Seeley, and Sean Dove), to the first person to email max@nerdcityonline.com with subject heading “Colt Noble and The Megalords”.

COLT NOBLE and the MEGALORDS from AndThankYouForFlying on Vimeo.

And for those who don’t win, please go out and support the book by picking up a copy (or 1,000 copies) of Image’s Colt Noble and The Megalords @ your local comic emporium. You know, like Chicago Comics.

Due to a slight delay in the book’s hardcover release, Chicago Comics and Challengers have rescheduled their joint “Strange Tales” party and signing from February 13th to March 6th.

This event should be one of the coolest in recent Nerd history, and will be totally worth the wait. Plus there will be beer. Nerd City will see you there.

Happy Friday Nerd City! I want you guys to know I love the big beers, massive hop monsters, imperial stouts, bourbon barrel aged ales, love them more then my X-box 360. They are great to drink for all their complexities but some times a nice low alcohol beer is a nice change of pace. In Germany they call them “session beers”, meaning you can have more then one with out getting knocked out by the ABV. Session beers are best enjoyed over good conversation with friends, such as who is the best captain of the Enterprise? (Jean-Luc Picard). Bell’s released a beer this past fall called Oarsman. Bell’s using an old German brewing technique that imparts a soft tartness with a low ABV created something unique with Oarsman. Oarsman is 4% ABV and is refreshing and crisp. The tartness does not dominate the beer like a lambic, it’s in the background adding another dimension to the beer. “Oarsman grew out of a desire to explore the tradition of session beers, trading intensity for finesse while still creating a worthwhile experience for the taster” Bell’s website, currently Oarsman is only on draft but look for the bottles this spring. Till next time, Cheers!

Happy Monday Nerd City! I want to talk about a style of beer that people either love or hate, it has polarized more people then the Phantom Menace, I am talking about Double IPA’s or Imperial IPA’s. It’s a full on blitzkrieg of hops in your month that you don’t get with a normal IPA. When brewing beer hops & malt act as the Yin & Yang of beer; malt adds sweetness to beer and hops add bitterness. Most beers are balancing act between the two. Double IPA’s however are full on bitter tongue bruising hop over load. It used to be hard to find a Double IPA because for a short time in the early 00’s there was a hop shortage and hop prices made it hard for a brewery to make a cost effective Double IPA. Now they are becoming increasingly available year round. I will list my top 5 (This is just my opinion and according to my ex-girlfriend it doesn’t matter)

5) Great Lakes Brewery: The Lake Erie Monster. Great Lakes is one of my favorite breweries, the beers they make are always spot on for the style. I got excited to see their interpretation of a Double IPA and it did not disappoint big hop flavor with soft caramel malt flavors.

4) Southern Tier: Unearthly IPA & Inequity . Unearthly has big grassy hop flavors with soft citrus notes that is surprisingly well balanced for the style. I also wanted to mention Inequity because it’s a twist on the style. It’s a Black Double IPA, they use black malt similar to the malt used in stouts to give it a darker color but the citrus hop flavors are not masked by the darker malt.

3) Three Floyd’s: Dreadnaught & Apocalypse Cow. “I love the smell of hops in the morning, it smells like victory” Nick Floyd. Dreadnaught is a slick oily citrus hop assault a well crafted hop bomb from Three Floyd’s. Apocalypse Cow is another twist on the Double IPA, they use lactose sugar that adds a creamy texture to the the onslaught of hop flavor.

2) Lagunitas: A Little Sumpin’ Extra. It’s cool to see a west coast breweries take on a Double IPA, west coast breweries are known for making hoppy pale ales. Big grapefruit citrus hop flavors with a creamy malt. I really enjoyed this beer because it was real easy drinking for a Double IPA, the 8% ABV was well hidden.

1) Bell’s: Hopslam. The Double IPA every hop head dreams of. It comes out once a year and beer geeks squirrel away as many six packs as their fridge will allow. If I could I would dress this beer like Sailor Moon and marry it in Las Vegas. Hopslam is hopped to the gills but has this pleasant creamy finish.

Honerable mentions: Left Hand Brewery Twin Sisters, New Holland Double Hatter, Two Brother’s Heavy Handed, Founders Double Trouble & Dogfish Head 90 & 120 minute.

Till next time, Cheers!

This Tuesday night, December 22nd @ 9 p.m., our sponsor and Nerd City H.Q. Piece Brewery is hosting  live band Christmas Carol Karaoke to benefit animal charity PAWS Chicago.

With $5 Festivus, and $2 red and green jello shots, It should be a Christmas-y, drunken good time. So head on out, eat pizza, drink Piece beer and party and drunkenly sing for a cause.

It should be a festive, drunken good time. So head on out, eat pizza, drink Piece beer and party and drunkenly sing for a cause.

Piece Brewery

1927 W. North Ave.

Chicago, Il 60622

Happy Wednesday, Nerd City. “The craft beer industry is 99% asshole free” -Sam Calagione. The craft beer scene is full of great characters; guys who name their breweries Rogue & Surly, name their beers Hopslam & Lil Sumpin’ Extra. People who work 18 hours a day 7 days a week because they wanted to help change the landscape of craft beer in America. Recently 2 of the biggest names, Sam Calagione & Ken Grossman, got together to make a collaboration beer. In 1980 Ken Grossman, using old dairy equipment and a soft drink bottling line, opened Sierra Nevada brewing company. A daunting task opening a craft brewery in 1980 when 3 company’s (Miller, Bud & Coors) controlled 90% of the market. In 1995, Sam Calagione opened Dogfish Head Brewery and Eats, the smallest commercial brewery in America (at the time), with each batch yielding only 12 gallons of beer. In the beginning, Sam Calagione would brew 3 batches of beer a day 7 days a week just to keep up with the demand at the brew pub. When he was not making beer he slept on a mattress in the basement of the brew pub. Today both men are at the top of craft beer scene, Sam Calagione a young maverick and Ken Grossman one of the founding fathers of the American craft beer. Their passion for craft beer brought them together to brew a beer called Life & Limb. Life & Limb defies styles, it was brewed with syrup from Sam Calagione’s father’s farm and estate barley grown at the Sierra Nevada brewery. The idea was to brew a strong ale that could age over time. A beer that Sam & Ken could share with their children when they reach the proper drinking age. Certain styles of beer age well, Barley wines and Imperial stouts are perfect for aging. These beers are well suited for aging because they are higher in ABV and darker. Keep an eye out for Life & Limb at you local liquor stores and bars and if you can buy a bottle and keep it in cool and dry place then save it for a special occasion. Till next time, Cheers!

Looking for something to do in Chicago this weekend?  Come out to Janiks for an awesome time with live music and the art of a really good friend of Nerd City, Brett Whitacre.

From Brett:

Hi All. Come out to Janik’s (2011 w. Division) this Saturday for a huge art display and live music performances by Word and Number and Tony Sackett (of Warm Ones). This opening is from 6-10ish pm Saturday December 5th. I will be featuring my newest reverse glass paintings as well as some older favorites. Local artist Melinda Cook will display her colorful images with paints on wood panels. And Paula Gramley displays her “found” object jewelry.

The music will be provided by the local avant-electro duo Word and Number as well as a solo performance by Warm Ones frontman Tony Sackett.

Janiks Cafe will be serving Beer, Mixed drinks, and Coffee. Division Street will be hosting their first annual DoDivision Christmas walk this very evening. Should be a great night to get out. And oh yeah, buy some art. Give em as gifts or keep it all to yourselves.

Hope to see you all there!

Brett is an amazingly talented artist with a really unique approach to making his art.  Check out this video of his creative process:

Brett Whitacre: The Product from Milk Products on Vimeo.

For more info on Brett’s work, check out his official site here.