Pipeworks Brewing

My favorite brewery by far. Ninja vs unicorn, blood of the unicorn and lizard king are my favorite. Keep up the good work guys!

These guy’s are crushing the local craft brew scene with tallboys and bombers. All their stuff is on point.

Well, no hours listed on Unilocal.No hours easy to find on website, no one answered the phone. Door was locked. Wtf? Wanted to try the beer. Too bad it’s not easy to tell what’s going on.

Finally found a bottle of Ninja vs Unicorn at West Lakeview Liquors the other day and couldn’t wait to try it! I savored every sip. Goddamn that’s some good IPA. I’ll definitely be back for more bottles, and soon!

A Pipeworks Unilocal review is an oddity not for the fact they are brewery but because they do not have a physical location open to the public to review. Most Unilocalers have written reviews on the product alone. There brewery sits on a street not from the hustle and bustle of Milwaukee st. I had the privilege to be given a tour of Pipeworks by the founders with some friends from Denmark. And no I did not sneak in, though they do tend to leave their side door open when they are bottling in the summer. It is a small space with a large amount of beer flowing out of it year round. Pipeworks beer ranges from basic styles to oddly crafted styles with hint of the extraordinary. Overall they provide some of the most unique beers on the Chicago brewing scene. I am excited to see how they will expand in the near future.

Great guys, running the best brewery in Chicago! From their flagship beer of Ninja v Unicorn to the weekly surprise flavors, every batch is top notch. While I’m not a fan of every flavor beer, the variety keeps me looking forward to the next brew. Keep up the good work BJ and Garret. Hopefully the future canning operation just adds to this great operation.

It wasn’t exactly easy to find this place. There were no signs anywhere. Thankfully, when we did, we were greeted by Scott and offered some freshly brewed beer (Ninja vs. Unicorn). I finally found an IPA that I can enjoy! They also rescue kittens on the side and have their very own brew kitty who supervises the brewery operations and has his very own beer. We were given bad ass shirts (that I’ve been wearing as often as I can) and bombers as well. We chatted for several hours with the other brewers and sipped on their delectable beer. All in all, I cannot think of a better brewery experience and everyone needs to drink Pipeworks beer.

Ninja vs. Unicorn was a battle of epic proportions in my mouth. A Very Tasty Double IPA that is very difficult to find. Thank you for creating this amazing battle in a beer bottle. I wish to visit the brewery some day if possible.

Normally if I do a review, it’s because I’ve been somewhere. Seeing how Pipeworks isn’t open to the public yet, I at least feel fine in reviewing it because they are that awesome.
I write this review while sipping (okay, who am I kidding this is going down too fast to consider it sipping) on their killer Citra Ninja. I only note this, because, well, why not?
Anyway, Pipeworks has quickly put their stamp as being THE cult brewery in Chicago. Do you like big souts and IPAs? Well, this is where you need to look. Do you also enjoy experimental beers as well? Yup, Pipeworks kills it here too.
While not all of their brews will always be hits, I love that they reach for the stars on each go. I will gladly take the major hits that come from them and I constantly look forward to seeing them grow in the neighborhood as well. Keep killin it Beejay and Gerrit, you guys make some awesome beer.

A couple of updates on this promising young microbrewery, which has become a Chicago favorite of mine:
1. For package availability, I noted the other day that Fischman’s Liquors at 4776 North Milwaukee carries a large selection of current Pipeworks lines, the most I’ve seen in one place.
2. I tried another of their products at the Map Room yesterday, Orange Truffle Abduction Imperial Stout: a wonderful, rich high-​octane brew. The orange shows up mostly in the nose, with the taste, for me, more reminiscent of chocolate cherries. One 22-​ounce bomber of this stuff goes a long way!
Still no public tap room, unfortunately; but I’m told that if the roll-​up door is open visitors can walk in to say Hi.

The Beer is OUTSTANDING. Clearly leading the way among Chicago Breweries. I agree with the difficulty locating it at times, but it just makes it taste better when you have to hunt for it. Like wild game.

Do you know the hunt we’ve been on for this beer? Seriously. We’ve called every place that supposedly has it in stock and it sells out within minutes, hours, etc. Went to a bar in Chicago that was supposed to have it. Asked for it at the bar and she LAUGHED AT ME! She said come on now, we sold out of that in an hour. Pipeworks is creating a crazy demand and aren’t able to brew fast enough to keep up with it.
We finally found a bottle of Ninja vs Unicorn at our local liquor store. They only had two bottles left when we called this afternoon. My husband begged the guy to save a bottle as we’ve started a state wide search and almost put out an APB. He said he’d hold it for us. We were starting to think that it was easier to find a real unicorn than the Ninja vs Unicorn beer.
One sip and my life was changed. Okay not quite, but this shiz is pretty good. It’s probably the smoothest beer ever, and I believe that non-​beer lovers would even enjoy it. I wish they would open their tap room or that people would stop buying it so we could actually obtain it easily.
This IS one of those things that I would drive state-​wide to get. «Great» doesn’t even begin to describe the sheer deliciousness of this beer.

I had a tasting of their double IPA Ninja Vs. Unicorn and it might have been the best beer I have ever tasted. I have been scouring the city to find more and everyone is plumb out!
Can’t wait for the tap room as I will walk out with 15 growlers of this beer.

I love this business model. Pipeworks is a small batch production brewery that bottles and labels by the batch. The batches are tweaked and re-​brewed occasionally. Everything is packaged in 22 oz. bottles. Basically, they took the ambitious homebrewer approach and have turned it into a brewery. They need to get the taproom open pronto!
I’ve tried a number of their bottles and have never been disappointed, though I also haven’t had any that really blew me away, other than their Imperial Red, ‘Blood of the Unicorn’. As I type this, I’m drinking Jones Dog, batch #65. It is a solid, slightly fruity, chocolate and milk stout.
Keep it coming, guys!

Just tried their beer (hyper dog) and it was quite tasty! Been keeping tabs on this brewery since I moved to Chicago and could not be any happier with the beer I bought! I am excited to see what other brews these dudes brew up!

Awesome beer, even better guys. They are in the process of brewing up their first batches of beer. Soon the whole world will be able to enjoy their delicious brews.
The bottle shop will be located upfront, allowing you to ride up on a bike, get a growler, and be on your way!