Malt Row: Ravenswood to Bowmanville

Best time: Wednesday to Saturday. Demo and Half Acre are closed on Monday and Tuesday and Hop Butcher on Monday. Saturday is easiest: start at Begyle at 11am and finish on Balmoral, where Spiteful pours until 11pm. On Sunday most places close between 7pm and 8pm, so start at noon. Opening hours change, so check each venue before you set off.

The stops

1. 

   Begyle Brewing

   1800 W Cuyler Ave, Chicago, IL 60613 · Brown Line, Irving Park (5 min walk); 80 Irving Park bus

   The first taproom to open on Malt Row, in 2012, and still a neighbourhood fixture. Begyle Blonde and Free Bird pale ale are the year-round staples, and its 'community supported brewery' (CSB) members prepay for growler fills, like a farm-share scheme. Sidewalk patio, regular food trucks, trivia nights. Open daily: noon to 9pm Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 11am to 10pm Saturday and noon to 8pm Sunday; its site lists earlier openings on Tuesday and Friday (until 9pm and 10pm).

   Open in Google Maps

2. 

   Dovetail Brewery

   1800 W Belle Plaine Ave, Chicago, IL 60613

   Specialists in continental European beer who brew continental European styles the traditional way, with open fermenters and a coolship for spontaneous beers; the helles, Vienna lager and rauchbier are the reasons to go. Bring your own food, with pop-ups most Thursdays to Sundays. Open noon to 10pm Monday to Thursday, noon to 11pm Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8pm Sunday.

   Open in Google Maps

3. 

   Demo Brewing Company

   1763 W Berteau Ave, Chicago, IL 60613

   Malt Row's smallest brewery, a garage-door nano brewery opened in 2024 by Jeffrey Borders and Lucas Irvine, with a tap list that rotates constantly (it has brewed more than 60 different beers), house seltzer, board games and regular food pop-ups. Open 4pm to 10pm Wednesday and Thursday, 4pm to 11pm Friday, noon to 11pm Saturday and noon to 7pm Sunday. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

   Open in Google Maps

4. 

   Hop Butcher For The World

   4257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60618 · Brown Line, Montrose (short walk)

   Chicago's cult hazy-IPA brewery, which took over Half Acre's old Lincoln Avenue brewhouse and opened its taproom here in 2022. Expect a long board of double IPAs canned within days (several canned this week), plus pilsners and the odd lager, and a to-go store that draws people in from the suburbs. Open 11am to 10pm Tuesday to Thursday, 11am to 11pm Friday and Saturday and 11am to 7pm Sunday; the store closes two hours earlier (one hour on Sunday). Closed Monday.

   Open in Google Maps

5. 

   Half Acre Beer Company

   2050 W Balmoral Ave, Chicago, IL 60625 · 50 Damen bus to Balmoral; Brown Line, Damen (about 15 min walk)

   The brewery behind Daisy Cutter pale ale, one of Chicago's defining craft beers, at its Balmoral brewery with a taproom, full kitchen and a fenced beer garden behind. Half Acre and Maplewood announced a merger in March 2026 but say both taprooms stay open and the flagships won't change. Taproom and garden open 3pm to 9pm Wednesday and Thursday, 11am to 10pm Friday and Saturday and 11am to 7pm Sunday; the kitchen stops an hour before close. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

   Open in Google Maps

6. 

   Spiteful Brewing

   2024 W Balmoral Ave, Chicago, IL 60625

   Half Acre's scrappier next-door neighbour: 16 taps led by Spiteful IPA and God Damn Pigeon Porter, darts and board games, and Pequod's pizza you can order in with your pint. Dog-friendly inside, with a covered patio open year-round. Open 3pm to 9pm Monday to Thursday, 2pm to 11pm Friday, noon to 11pm Saturday and noon to 8pm Sunday.

   Open in Google Maps

Getting there: take the Brown Line to Irving Park and walk two blocks north to Begyle. Begyle, Dovetail and Demo sit within 300 metres of each other along the Metra tracks, the stretch the breweries call Malt Row.

Demo to Hop Butcher is about 900 metres west along Berteau and Lincoln. The long leg is Hop Butcher to Balmoral (about 2.3 km): walk up Damen Avenue or take the 50 Damen bus north to Balmoral.

Detours on the way north: is/was brewing (saisons, 5121 N Ravenswood Ave, open daily from 2pm, noon Friday to Sunday) and Cultivate by Forbidden Root (brewpub, 4710 N Ravenswood Ave) are both on Ravenswood Avenue, a few minutes east of Damen.

Several taprooms are bring-your-own-food (Begyle, Dovetail, Demo); Half Acre has a full kitchen and Spiteful orders in Pequod's pizza. Street parking is tight at weekends and worse when the Cubs play at Wrigley Field, about a mile east.

The Ravenswood On Tap street festival takes over Ravenswood Avenue at Berteau in mid-July (18–19 July in 2026).

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