Photo: Courtesy of Revolution Brewing
Long live the pop top! No brown bottles here.
This Saturday, make the three-hour drive to Indianapolis and you’ll be sipping pours from Minnesota’s Surly Brewing Co., Brooklyn’s Six Point Brewery, San Francisco’s 21st Amendment Brewery, along with suds from three Illinois breweries: Chicago’s Half Acre Beer Company and Revolution Brewing, and Warrenville’s Two Brothers Brewing Company. Hosted by Sun King Brewery, the second largest brewer in Indiana, the Sun King CANvitational is the Midwest’s first celebration of canned beer; the festival will bring in more than 30 different craft beers representing 16 states—from California to New York—to the city’s recently renovated Pan Am Plaza along Georgia Street.
“Our goal is to showcase the great craft beer that is driving the canned craft beer revolution,” said Clay Robinson, the owner of Sun King, which opened in 2009. He says the canned beer revival is not a play for beer-drinkers’ nostalgia. “Cans are a superior vessel because they protect the beer from two of its greatest enemies—light and oxygen,” Robinson says. Cans are also less expensive to ship and recycle. Between pint can and tall boys, check out Taco Lassi and the other Indy food trucks that will be on the scene.
If you go:
1. Read over Chicago magazine’s list of top brews in “The 62 Best Beers in Chicago”, which includes picks from Half Acre, Revolution, and Two Brothers.
2. Get reacquainted with the can at Wicker Park’s recently opened Revel Room, where more than 30 canned brews await.
3. Book a room right across the street at the recently renovated Omni Severin Indianapolis for the quickest stumble home, post fest.
Brave Lake Geneva’s Family-Friendly Gladiator Challenge
Don your warrior gear and join your tweens and teens in competitive family heats at this weekend’s Junior Gladiator event at Grand Geneva Resort & Spa. Inspired by the resort’s Gladiator Assault Challenge for adults, the four-mile course combines 30 extreme obstacles and runs through the mud; the event takes place on Saturday and Sunday and is open to children ages 10 to 16 (who must be accompanied by an adult). Mention the code “Gladiator” for special room rates starting at $145.
Would You Wear a High-Tech Belt Like This?
The travel technology company Triposo is crowdfunding a new navigation gadget that may shock you—literally. It’s a belt that would plug into your smartphone and “buzz in the front, back, right, or left to tell travelers where they should go’” writes Jaunted’s Omni Ceren. “Like a shock collar that some douchebag would put on a dog, except around a human being who is supposed to be having fun.” Read more at Jaunted.
Do You Travel for Gnarly-Looking Eats?
Scottish Haggis, Oysters, Tripe, and Black Truffles, even the soggy mess of poutine—see it all here in Lonely Planet’s “Delicious World Foods that Won’t Win Beauty Pageants”. If you’re still hungry after that look-see, check out Chicago magazine’s “Five Great Food Vacations for Chicago Travelers with an Appetite”, including picks for poutine-less fare in Montreal.