Split Personality: Une Année/ Hubbard’s Cave in Niles, IL
The conversation started with “that Hubbard’s Cave Banana Foster is giving Prop 2017 a run for its money and it’s not even barrel aged.” Last time we visited Golf Glen Mart Plaza was opening weekend. Jerry Nelson (Founder + Head Brewer) was nice enough to share gems like Casey’s Montmorency Cherry Fruit Stand. Back then we hadn’t experience the full power of his Hubbard’s Cave lineup.
Very few breweries have multiple personalities like this Une Année/ Hubbard’s Cave project in Niles, IL. The latter’s name probably is related to the original brewhouse, a 15bbl system in Kinzie Industrial Corridor of Chicago near Hubbard St. Where Une Année focuses on Belgian styles mixed culture ales. Hubbard’s Cave was created in part because accounts we’re slow to come around to world class IPA’s and stouts from a crew who gained much of its notoriety from their wild ales. The closest example to what they’re able to accomplish under two monikers would be The Bruery’s Offshoot Brewing in Orange County, CA
Nowadays for $390 you can join the Le Grand De Monde Membership receiving 24 bottles over 12 releases throughout the year from their illustrious barrel aged sour ale program. Rumor has it they are closing on a space near the Leaning Tower of Niles. The stemware for samples here is longer than most breweries. There’s elegance at play in the silhouette when four are set up on the bar.
This is actually batch 2 of the aforementioned Banana Foster. The first version was a keg created for Crafted 1979’s Small Batch / Experimental Fest in Mokena last September. The team used all extracts for that batch, where this latest version goes the extra step to add only fresh ingredients. That batch was the first to kick at the fest and sparked a demand that Hubbard’s Cave tried to say no to..but ultimately decided it made sense to reproduce.
Chocolate Raspberry Pot De Crème and the Vanilla Stout were the 2 that started us down this rabbit hole earlier this year. When summer arrived we’d take their freshie IIPA 4 packs to the beach weekly. Their juicy offering was always a version with reliable beer integrity, wasn’t just hazy for the sake of it. Rather these actually tasted like an 8% contemporary American Double IPA . With Winter staring us in the face we see a Peanut Butter Stout and a their Buffalo Trace Barrel Aged Airing Of Grievances, here just in time to greet us on tap. Hubbard’s Cave / Une Année are perfecting the multiple persona’s thing in Chicagoland beer. We are here for everything they release.
My first stout from Hubbard’s Cave that put them on the map for me.
-Other Notes:
Raise your hand if you knew Une Année distributes to 8 states.
Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Philly, Wisconsin
Une Année / Hubbard’s Cave is located in Golf Glen Mart Plaza at9082 W Golf Rd,