Hopleaf

Tonight carrot special!
nailed it!
Herbed yogurt, pepper puree, house zatar, pepitas and apricot.
Come get it while it last!

He's back! Pinky is back at Hopleaf today and he's on a mission of charity. During World Elephant day, for every Deliria beer sold the Hopleaf and Huyghe will donate $1 each to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. As well, you can donate through the QR code below and Huyghe will match your donation! Come take your picture with Pinky!

RIP Mary Ann Smith, a model public servant and friend. She was the alderwoman for the 48th ward when when both our home and business were in the ward. Hopleaf has since been remapped into the 40th Ward. During her tenure, Hopleaf expanded three times, first to add our dining room, second floor and first kitchen, then to add a patio and lastly when we purchased the building next door and added more bar, dining and kitchen space. Each one of those endeavors required permits, zoning amendments, aldermanic approvals and financing. Mary Ann always championed our business's growth. She attended our Board of Zoning Commissioners hearings and testified in our behalf. At one, she said. "Let's make this unanimous". They did. She also endorsed the SBA loans we needed to finance our growth. Every time that we needed help with city services or navigating bureaucracy, she was there for us.
She made our ward a better place to live by calming traffic, adding greenery, supporting p***c schools, protecting historic buildings and and improving public services. She put together a responsive and effective team.
After retiring, she stopped by frequently for lunch with friends at Hopleaf frequently and quite recently. I was very surprised to learn of her passing since she seemed so vibrant.
I will always are grateful for her service to the community where we live and where we do business. It is a better place because of her

Mary Ann Smith, former 48th Ward alderperson who 'led a renaissance' in the community, dies at 77 Mrs. Smith, a dog lover, looked to dog walkers as her community's eyes and ears.

New addition to Michael’s special cooler #,
Rodenbach Vintage 2018
Aged in oak foeders!
Just a few available at Hopleaf.

Keith Davis RIP 1948-2024 Memorial Announcement

Hopleaf has been around for over 32 years and we have had a few customers along for the entire ride. Sadly, after 32 years, some of our founding customers and friends are departing this good life we share on Earth. Keith Davis was one of those who took a shine to Hopleaf in its early days. There is a barstool in the back corner of the original north bar room he favored for decades.

Keith was the kind of regular patron that every genuine neighborhood pub requires. He was a font of information about just about everything. You'd be hard pressed to think of a topic that he couldn't weigh in on with some authority, excepting perhaps fashion or contemporary pop culture icons. Politics, history, all things Chicago, sports, health and wellness, news of the day, science, and books were his special interests. Once engaged, he could seize the opportunity to pontificate on the chosen topic almost endlessly......especially over a few pints.

As a regular at several establishments, he knew how not to wear out his welcome. He was well aware of his limit and always left before he reached it. After his last car died, he traveled on his bike, on foot and on public transportation for the rest of his life. Because if that, we saw a bit less of him in the winter in recent years.

He made a living variously over his life. He talked about being a building engineer at the Brewster Apartments before becoming a chiropractor with his own practice. His clients included several he met at adjoining bar stools and those they recommended him to. He still saw patients right up to his end.

In recent years he had some mobility struggles and we saw only him once a week, typically on Mondays. The social circle he cultivated over the years shrunk as people retired and moved away, quit drinking, aged out or passed away. Fortunately, he was not shy about engaging strangers and making new friends. He was exactly the type of barstool tenant that is in short supply in these less social times. We'll miss him.

Keith Davis died in his sleep five weeks ago at the age of 76. There will be a memorial for him tomorrow , Monday July 29th from 5PM until 8PM, an appropriate time because that is the time we'd expect him to stop by every week.

Join the Hopleaf and Delirium as we celebrate World Elephant day Monday August 12, with a giant inflatable pink elephant! The elephant will be outside and picture ready all day! There will be a couple of special draft offerings and enjoy $4 off all Delirium Tremens bottles. Swag giveaway will start at 5pm while supplies last.

New Cocktails alert!
We 3 new cocktails on the menu, perfect for the summertime ☀️✨🍹
Suze Spritz, Frambougie and F Squad, come try them out!

Our second weekend special!

Charred Eggplant, Red pepper, and sunflower seed hummus

W/ herb marinated tomatoes, charred corn, pickled peppers, micro greens, and fried garlic.
Served w/ Grilled bread.

Tonight’s special!

Straciatella
W/ grilled peaches, balsamic gastrique, charred corn, toasted pine nuts, micro greens, and grilled bread

De Koninck Bolleke is back on tap at Hopleaf just in time to celebrate Belgian National Day this weekend 🇧🇪🍻☀️

10 years ago today I was shoveling hops in Chico, California at the Sierra Nevada Brewery's Brew Camp.

Seven years ago today, Hopleaf celebrated its first Canada Day event. We've made it an annual event and today is the day!

Mark your calendars! Monday July 1st is Canada Day, the national holiday of our friendly neighbor to the north.

This is the sixth time we have celebrated the day at Hopleaf. This year we’ll be featuring 10 Canadian beers on draft.

1. Unibroue La Fin du Monde
2. Unibroue Blanche de Chambly
3. Les Trois Mousquetaires Porter Baltique
4. Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! Limonade Poivrée
5. Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! Solstice D’Été 3 Fruits
6. Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! Solstice D’Été Mangue
7. Messorem Bracitorium Hydrate Déshydrate
8. Messorem Bracitorium Hyperthermie
9. Messorem Bracitorium Get Wavy
10. Messorem Bracitorium Fracturation

We will have, as always, our Prince Edward Island Mussels, our special poutine and we’ll be serving the National drink of Canada The Caesar.

Come join us as we salute our Canadian friends.

Mark your calendars! Next Monday is Canada Day, the national holiday of our friendly neighbor to the north. This is the sixth time we have celebrated the day at Hopleaf. This year we'll be featuring at least 10 craft beers from Canada. See the list below.

1. Unibroue La Fin du Monde
2. Unibroue Blanche de Chambly
3. Les Trois Mousquetaires Porter Baltique
4. Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! Limonade Poivrée
5. Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! Solstice D'Été 3 Fruits
6. Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! Solstice D'Été Mangue
7. Messorem Bracitorium Hydrate Déshydrate
8. Messorem Bracitorium Hyperthermie
9. Messorem Bracitorium Get Wavy
10. Messorem Bracitorium Fracturation

We will have, as always, our Prince Edward Island Mussels, our special poutine and we'll be serving the classic Canadian cocktail, The Caesar.

Come join us as we salute our Canadian friends.

It's Friday and the upstairs "Seeberg Room" is open. Come on in and spin a few discs, have some drinks and relax. Our 1959 Seeberg Jukebox is on free play all night.

Our upstairs "Seeburg Room" is open every Friday and Saturday night. The 1959 Seeburg jukebox is on free play, there is a curated list of beer, wines and spirits and a museum worthy collection of breweriana on the walls. Come on up!

Thursday June 13, 5-7PM
Join us for the MAPLEWOOD 10th anniversary beer release preview party!

Special tapping!
- AZACCA MORRIS
- CREEPY GINGER
- HUSKY PANTS
- CHARLATAN

Tonight Special!
Straciatella
W/ toasted bread, blueberry-balsamic gastrique, toasted pine nuts, olive oil, and micro greens.

The beautiful red beer with a pink head is Scratch Brewing's Beet Weiss. Brewed in the style of a Berliner Weiss and mildly tart with earthy vegetal notes and bright color from the beets. I suspect that some of the many health benefits of beets are retained so you can feel good about every sip. 4.1% On tap now!

A thoughtful customer left this poster for us. It is a collection of Belgian beer bottle labels from 1982. It is a very interesting historical record. It predates Hopleaf by a decade but also predates all but a few Belgian beers entering the North American marketplace. Many of these beers no longer exist. Most that do have updated their graphics. Some are brands that were never exported. A few are very familiar to us. One of the most recognizable labels are the St Sixtus beers that are now sold as St Bernardus.

Some of the historic breweries that have not survived might be familiar to Hopleaf customers who've seen their logos among our large collection of Belgian enamel signs. Among the labels seen on this poster, there are about 70 that we either offer now or have been on or draft or bottled beer menu in the past.

The poster does not include every beer available at that time and it also also reveals that there are many new or revived brands that have entered the marketplace in the last 42 years. As was the case in the USA, there was a great deal of consolidation among Belgian breweries in the 1970's and when this poster as printed, it was actually a low point for the number of breweries and beers there. In the 1990's an export boom to North America, the rest of Europe and to Asia, revived and grew the Belgian brewing industry. Opening in 1992, we at Hopleaf were delighted tp ride that wave.

There was a time when Half Acre was “The new kid in town”. Their early entries were contract brewed elsewhere and had not won many hearts. However, not long after opening their own brewery on Lincoln Avenue, Daisy Cutter was born and Chicago embraced it…..big time! Hopleaf staff and customers quickly joined the party and have tapped most of Half Acre’s brews that followed in the years since Daisy Cutter’s debut. Daisy Cutter opened a lot of doors for Half Acre and continues to be a Chicago “go to” classic beer.
Michael Roper.

June 6th! Come celebrate with us and the 15 years Daisy Cutter anniversary!

Some highlights of the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest in Paso Robles last weekend.

At the Firestone Walker Invitational Fest last weekend, Michael and Louise had the pleasure of a reunion meeting with the 4th generation head of Duvel Moortgat, Michel Moortgat. Under his reign, the classic family owned Belgian brewing company has acquired Chouffe, Liefman's, DeKoninck, Maredsous, Brouwerij 't ij, Ommegang, Birrificio Delcato, Brasserie Mont Blanc, Boulevard and Firestone Walker. Unlike many breweries that are absorbed into larger corporate entities where they suffer loss of their individual strengths, brewers acquired by Moortgat gain from the history, skills and knowledge of their partner breweries. They have found themselves in the best of company! The opportunities for collaboration are seized and the results are that these breweries are better than ever.
I have considered Michel Moortgat to be a brewing business savant for forging a future for his family's business in the way he has. Some of the breweries he has acquired he saved from vanishing altogether. We are grateful for that!
While I missed the gathering of Belgian brewers at Hopleaf last weekend, I was delighted that Michel attended the event in Paso Robles and we had a chance to see one another again.

Verdejo Month is here!
Come celebrating with us at Hopleaf with our Verdejo wines offers!

Tonight Special!
Grilled Asparagus
W/ charred onion and mustard sauce, ramp and radish relish, maitake conserva, and a petite herb and arugula salad.
Also the return of the white wine mussels is here! Ask your server.

Kick off Belgian Beer week at the Hopleaf on Saturday June 1 at 12pm. We will be welcoming over 40 Belgian brewery owners, brewers and export staff to celebrate the diverse and unique beers of Belgium.

Since opening in 1992, Hopleaf has been proud to offer a huge array of Belgian beers on draft and in bottles, served in its proper glassware. Michael’s frequent visits to Belgium continue to inspire him and continue to marry the Hopleaf to the beer and food culture of Belgium.

To bolster enthusiasm for the beers of Belgium, Michael makes a point of visiting as many Belgian breweries as he can. Just this past May, he visited nine lambic breweries and blenders, including some exciting newcomers.

We take pride in offering the best and most diverse beers of Belgium to our customers!

We invite you to join the Hopleaf in welcoming our Belgian friends to Chicago.

*W

Hey folks, we found 2 bottles of Old Potrero in our stash!!!

Anchor distilling opened in 1993, and is one of San Francisco’s earliest craft distilleries. In 2019 when Anchor was sold off to Sapporo, Anchor Distilling merged with Preiss Imports and was renamed Hotaling & Co.

Old Potrero is still made by Hotaling, but the bottles we have are genuine Anchor distilling company.

We still miss Anchor brewing but this whiskey is a small reminder of the many years that Anchor made great liquids.

Stephanie and Alex hanging with Zombie Dust at DarkLordDay, Zombie Dust available all year round at Hopleaf. Thank you