Haymarket Pub & Brewery

1. The food is below average. There was way too much cheese in the grilled cheese and it barely melted. There was not enough tomato compote.
2. The sweet potato tots were salty and gross.
3. Bypass the Brussels sprouts.
4. The chicken sandwich left more to be desired.
5. My boyfriend said the beer was average (since I don’t drink beer but people come here for it).
6. The server barely checked on us as my boyfriend wanted to order more beer.
All in all, I won’t be back. I do not recommend.

Revisited December 12; I tried a number of taster-​size servings (available for all of Haymarket’s drafts) of house and guest beers.
— Haymarket Equal Opportunity Wit. Cloudy gold, medium head. Citrus and peppery nose – and no wonder; it’s brewed with black, white, pink, and green peppercorns, as well as sage, lavender, and orange peel. There’s a distinct taste of peppercorns and citrus; a bit of a phenolic «Band Aid» taste shows up at the finish.
— Haymarket Big Daddy HyLowe. 7.5%. Cloudy copper, heavy but fast-​fading dead. Described as an imperial rye ale. Good balance of sweet malt and piney Chinook, Cascade, and Amarillo hops, applied both in the boil and dry. Quite nice stuff.
— Haymarket My First Rodeo (Sexy Quads) Belgian Quadruple. 7.5%. (That seems a little low for a quad.) Near-​opaque dark brown, halo head. Smoked sausage or gouda nose. Brewed with Caramunich, Dark Crystal, and Chocolate malts and Belgian candi sugar, and Hallertau Blanc hops. Intensely sweet, with a hint of sarsaparilla or cream soda, and ethanol rising to a borderline flavor element.
— Haymarket Acrimonious Imperial Stout. 8.5%. Based on Haymarket’s Indignant, but without the bourbon-​barrel aging. Opaque very dark brown, halo head. Not much nose. Intense taste of sweet roast malt and cocoa. Brewed with Crystal and Dark Chocolate malts; lightly hopped with Cascade and Centennial.
— Maplewood Brewing Co., Chicago, IL
— The Charlatan Pale Ale. 8%. Slightly cloudy brass, light head. Hoppy nose. Hop-​forward taste, not intensely bitter. Smooth mouth feel, with something a little soapy.
— Penrose Brewing Co., Geneva, IL
— Penrose Tripel. 8.5%. Clear brass, light head going to halo. Mild nose with distinct ethanol presence. Taste is sweet malt, ethanol, antihistamine, yeast, and something a bit perfumey.
— Miskatonic Brewing Co, Darien, IL,
— Chapter 2 Red IPA. 6.2%. Clear reddish copper, heavy head. Weak hop nose. Taste is well-​balanced malt and bittering hops, perhaps not rising to the usual IPA level.