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Une Annee
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  • Une Annee

    Post #1 - May 5th, 2018, 10:42 am
    Post #1 - May 5th, 2018, 10:42 am Post #1 - May 5th, 2018, 10:42 am
    Une Annee [the first e is supposed to have a marking over it, and I'm not going to go figure out what code I need to achieve that, so accept this as a disclaimer....]

    Let's start again.

    Une Annee is a Belgian-style brewery and tap room in Niles. I've driven past it dozens of times and never noticed it was there, it being in a small space in an unassuming strip mall.

    They have many flavors and styles of beers available; mostly Belgian sour and fruit types, but I've also seen porters and IPAs here. They have several styles available on tap and sell bombers.

    I know that I like Belgian styles, but I'm not exceptionally well informed about them. I wanted to put this wonderful place on the LTH radar.

    The tap room serves minimal food [pretzels, cheese & crackers].
    This particular mall has evolved into an 'ethnic specialites' mall over the years... I don't know quite how to describe it. There's a movie theater that specializes in South Asian films, Korean fast food, Korean bar, Chinese-Korean food, Filipino food, South Asian food, some other stuff I forget, and Omega Restaurant and Bakery is in the part of the lot nearest Golf.

    So what I'm saying is, there's good beer and interesting food in this mall. Go. Eat. Drink. In happy moderation, of course.

    Une Annee Brewery
    9082 W Golf Rd, Niles IL 60714
    (847) 635-0655

    http://uneannee.com

    Closed Monday & Tuesday

    Giovanna
    =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

    "Enjoy every sandwich."

    -Warren Zevon
  • Post #2 - May 5th, 2018, 10:57 am
    Post #2 - May 5th, 2018, 10:57 am Post #2 - May 5th, 2018, 10:57 am
    I like Un Anée; I think it's fun that all you can see from Golf Road is a large, all caps sign "BREWERY." Their Belgians and sours are all top-notch, although a few of the sours were a bit too sour for my tastes. Their non-Belgian, non-sour beers go under the name Hubbard's Cave Brewery; I'm not sure if they're co-owned, or Hubbard's Cave just brews their beers at Un Anée. I think Hubbard's Cave was brewed elsewhere before Un Anée opened in Niles.
  • Post #3 - May 5th, 2018, 11:03 am
    Post #3 - May 5th, 2018, 11:03 am Post #3 - May 5th, 2018, 11:03 am
    See, nr706 knows where to find the accent mark.

    Show off :wink: .

    Since you're the beer expert, I'll believe you about the Hubbard's Cave/Une Annee distinction. Only been there twice, and haven't been able to figure it all out yet.

    Giovanna
    =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

    "Enjoy every sandwich."

    -Warren Zevon
  • Post #4 - May 5th, 2018, 11:35 am
    Post #4 - May 5th, 2018, 11:35 am Post #4 - May 5th, 2018, 11:35 am
    It's all the same brewer. As you said it's just a designation for the non-Belgian style brews. Une Anee and Hubbard's Cave were both brewed in Chicago (around Grand & Ashland) prior to the move to Niles.

    I'm also a fan of their beers. Last time I visited the taproom there was a mojito inspired sour that was most excellent. Cucumber, lime, mint, and lemongrass. I think it was the Le Monde 2017-7.
  • Post #5 - July 21st, 2018, 7:31 am
    Post #5 - July 21st, 2018, 7:31 am Post #5 - July 21st, 2018, 7:31 am
    Jerry started Une Annee in a little garage space in the West Loop. He had a distributor whose specialties are spirits and wine and who didn't know how to sell his beer and he damn near pulled all his hair out trying to get them to sell it. They continued to ask him to make IPAs and Stouts despite his identity being Belgian/Sour and him making the best sours in town. So as a "F You" to that distributor he created a second brand, Hubbard's Cave, making only IPAs, DIPAs and stouts, and self-distributed it.

    I know a professional brewer who was in a homebrew club with Jerry years ago. He's told me that when that club would gather everyone would come in thinking "I hope I have the 2nd best beer this time" because going in they knew that Jerry's beer was going to be everyone's favorite.

    He's gotten out of that distribution deal thanks to some kind of miracle, moved to a space with a taproom where he can keep more of the money, and is doing great. I'm really thrilled for him because he's one of the 2-3 best brewers in Chicago and it looked like a very real possibility a few years ago that we could lose Une Annee to bad salesmanship on the part of the distributor.
  • Post #6 - December 21st, 2018, 9:24 am
    Post #6 - December 21st, 2018, 9:24 am Post #6 - December 21st, 2018, 9:24 am
    Une Annee aims to leave wild ride behind with new Niles brewery and pub

    https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/d ... story.html
    Never order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
  • Post #7 - December 21st, 2018, 10:54 am
    Post #7 - December 21st, 2018, 10:54 am Post #7 - December 21st, 2018, 10:54 am
    Brewery's post that avoids any potential Tribune paywall problems. http://www.instagram.com/p/BrqAPXQAPhE/
    Summary: Moving to new building on Gross Point ~1 block east of Caldwell south side of the street, hoping to open summer 2019. "Larger and nicer" taproom, kitchen featuring BBQ.

    I'm no expert on either's business plan, but sounds like a lot of overlap with Wildwood Tavern a couple hundred feet away.
  • Post #8 - June 26th, 2020, 8:00 am
    Post #8 - June 26th, 2020, 8:00 am Post #8 - June 26th, 2020, 8:00 am
    Bumping this because the new Niles brewery/restaurant location is up and running. It's a beer and BBQ destination that I highly recommend visiting. They have a large backyard patio with widely spaced picnic tables each with its own tent. There are very good social distancing policies in place. You can reserve your table on line beforehand or walk up. You place your orders and pay for them on your phone from your picnic table and then you pick up your order at long tables in front of the open brewery garage doors. No table service. Very safe practices. (If you are reading this in ~2022, these things are of high concern in June 2020!)

    The beer is absolutely world class. Yesterday we tried a beer brewed two days ago called "Milk of the Murder Hornet" which is an incredible double IPA of the hazy variety. They also make lots of wild american sour ales featuring various fruits and many stouts featuring adjuncts like coffee, blueberry, maple and mexican spices. They do a monthly beer called Le Grand Monde which this month features watermelon and prickly pear, another month it was a sour ale with peaches, cinnamon sticks and vanilla....sour peach cobbler in a glass. Dont come here looking for pilsner and lager. They feature hazy and clean IPAs, adjunct stouts and wild fruity belgian ales. Non-beer geeks dont be scared off by these, they are delicious!

    The BBQ is very good. We tried the smoked sweet potato halves, sliced brisket, pulled pork, cornbread, mac and cheese and beans. It scratched the itch for missing ol' Jared's BBQ Supply! Probably the only local BBQ that is better than theirs right now (in my limited experience) is Chicago Culinary Kitchen and Smoque.

    Unfortunately, they opened this beautiful new facility like two days before the stay at home order, so its just getting going in the last few weeks. The interior looks beautiful but for now all service is on the backyard patio.

    https://www.toasttab.com/une-annee-brew ... v3#!/order
  • Post #9 - June 26th, 2020, 10:23 am
    Post #9 - June 26th, 2020, 10:23 am Post #9 - June 26th, 2020, 10:23 am
    We've been doing take-out through the lockdown. Food's great, beers are ... many. Not all hits but many good ones in there.
  • Post #10 - February 10th, 2021, 7:42 pm
    Post #10 - February 10th, 2021, 7:42 pm Post #10 - February 10th, 2021, 7:42 pm
    Last summer(July) I went to the new Une Annee location, and really liked their new brewpub space myself! Yes like one poster said above at the time(did see a newer Instagram post that they had begun allowing a limited percent of indoor dining now, but that was after my July 2020 visit, with the exception of during the 2nd November-January indoor dining/drinking ban, not sure if they finally did bring back indoor dining/drinking in 2021), they were only doing outdoor dining under tents that were spaced out pretty well. I really did like the food and beer I got a lot, myself.

    Keep in mind if you go there, that ALL ordering is done via an online site(IIRC it was some page on the site Toast Tab, if you google it you'll find that page), and they don't have servers going up to your table to take your order. They ONLY deliver your food out to your table after you order it via Toast Tab(or whatever the name of that site was), and don't take orders via a customer telling a server what he/she wants to order. Maybe that will come back once COVID ends, but I presume that is a temporary measure due to you know what.
  • Post #11 - February 19th, 2021, 2:05 pm
    Post #11 - February 19th, 2021, 2:05 pm Post #11 - February 19th, 2021, 2:05 pm
    I was there for the soft opening/grand closing (they announced the shut down on the literal )eve of their planned opening and you ordered/paid for food at the food end of the space and then went to your table. The servers were doing beer orders only.
  • Post #12 - October 21st, 2022, 8:27 pm
    Post #12 - October 21st, 2022, 8:27 pm Post #12 - October 21st, 2022, 8:27 pm
    It was a beautiful evening to dine in their outdoor space. We met some friends who had reserved an outdoor table. Ordering is still done via your device and then drinks/food delivered to your table. I find many of their beers skew too sweet for my palate but I did really enjoy their Octoberfest tonight. The food menu has expanded quite a bit from when they first opened and I think the quality has continuously improved. Audrey loves the Mac and cheese with a side of fruit (fresh sliced apple, orange segments and grapes). The rest of the table enjoyed bbq, a smash burger and Octoberfest brats. Well -seasoned, hot & crispy fries. Very family and dog-friendly space with employees who seem to enjoy being there as well. We’re glad to have them nearby.
  • Post #13 - January 16th, 2023, 7:20 pm
    Post #13 - January 16th, 2023, 7:20 pm Post #13 - January 16th, 2023, 7:20 pm
    Just polished off a VERY impressive Brisket Sandwich. Picked it up on a whim on my way home from the nearby Costco. I was skeptical walking in. No smoke aroma within the vicinity of the building is usually a dead giveaway that the meat is not smoked in-house, if it is smoked at all. That was not the case here. The guy at the bar explained they try to have all their smoking wrapped up earlier in the day. A suspect answer in my mind, but based on the sensory information later sent from my taste buds to my brain, evidently true.

    Upon opening the carry out container, the meat and bun were wrapped separately in foil, so the integrity of the bun would not be compromised during the ride home. Unwrapping the Brisket revealed six thick juicy slices with nice fat content, but not too much. Popped the bun in the toaster oven just to give it some color and texture, before piling on the beef in crisscross Lincoln Logs fashion (you're welcome old people) to create a tall 1/2 lb. pile of moist, juicy, well seasoned meat, with more than adequate smoke flavor.

    Couldn't place the sauce. It tasted kinda familiar with a heavy dose of cumin, but not sure if it's house made, or some commercial brand they've doctored up.

    As good as the Brisket was, I'm not a fan of their pickles. They taste the way a Christmas candle smells. They'd be better off with something more acid forward, and less reliant on the spice.

    Not crazy about their cole slaw either. Kinda bland and limp. With Smoque setting a high bar in that arena, they need to aim higher. Shouldn't be too tough to find a recipe that's more complimentary to the excellent quality and flavor of the beef.

    Looking forward to many more stops here to try their Burnt Ends, Pulled Pork, and Ribs. Specialty sandwiches look promising too. When the weather warms up and we can eat the food fresh out of the kitchen in their outside dining area, I might even drop the four bucks for an order of Fries.

    Hoping they work on those pickles and slaw between now and then.

    Buddy
  • Post #14 - January 17th, 2023, 10:59 am
    Post #14 - January 17th, 2023, 10:59 am Post #14 - January 17th, 2023, 10:59 am
    Une Annee is close to home and was in our regular rotation through COVID. The burnt ends are great as is the burnt end chili. Agree on the pickles; they carry the beer thing over a little too far in the beer brine. Just doesn't work for me. I want acid and a maybe a little sweet, the beer adds unfamiliar notes as far as pickles go.
  • Post #15 - January 18th, 2023, 8:46 pm
    Post #15 - January 18th, 2023, 8:46 pm Post #15 - January 18th, 2023, 8:46 pm
    Another visit to Costco, another stop for Barbecue at Une Annee; this time for the Burnt Ends.

    Another winner in my book. A generous portion of Brisket Burnt Ends cut into big chunks, then glazed with sauce and caramelized to bring out the crispy edges. Like with the sliced Brisket, there was a nice fat ratio; just enough to add an appetizing richness to the meat, without being too much. These Burnt Ends would hold their own in Kansas City's very competitive 'Que culture.

    Unlike the Brisket, the Burnt Ends are not served with a bun, but they happily tossed one in when asked.

    My poor assessment of the pickles and slaw remains the same, but so far, the meat is a big enough draw to keep me coming back. Might check out the Fries and Mac & Cheese eventually.

    Looking forward to trying the Pulled Pork and Ribs on future visits.

    Buddy
  • Post #16 - January 20th, 2023, 9:15 am
    Post #16 - January 20th, 2023, 9:15 am Post #16 - January 20th, 2023, 9:15 am
    BuddyRoadhouse wrote:Might check out the Fries and Mac & Cheese eventually.


    If you're looking for sides, the mac & cheese is fine but the smoked sweet potato is a standout.
  • Post #17 - January 20th, 2023, 12:39 pm
    Post #17 - January 20th, 2023, 12:39 pm Post #17 - January 20th, 2023, 12:39 pm
    Unfortunately, I'm not a sweet potato guy. I'll probably pick one up for my wife, though. She loves them.

    Thanks for the tip.

    Buddy

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