Vernon Hills' Biggest & Best Beer Bar Menu

We offer 90 local and global craft beers on tap, including rotating handles for the rare, limited, and seasonal brews. We also have 30+ taps dedicated to local breweries, making us the best beer bar in Vernon Hills. But hey, if you know of a better one, please let us know!

Beer sizes: full pour (size varies), taster pour (6 oz), beer flights. Selections subject to change based on availability.

Local Drafts

Bottlenectar is a light-bodied pale ale with a crisp balance of bitterness that showcases its unique Huell Melon hops. Huell Melon hops are relatively new on the scene, and a compelling choice for brewers. In making Bottlenectar, the hops are used twice—once in the kettle while brewing, and a second time for dry hopping. This lends Bottlenectar a sweet melon aroma and spectacular finish.

Our flagship brew - Krankshaft, a Kölsch style beer - is our homage to the beer originally brewed in Cologne. Kölsch style beer is the world’s best example of an easy-drinking, smooth, accessible brew. Krankshaft is pale straw in color and features a light, but round malt character. Gentle hop spice compliments the fruity flavors kicked off by ale yeast fermentation. As per tradition, we lager this beer for a clean, crisp finish.

The Beach Blonde is our lightest offering. In the glass, it glows golden like the sun and supports a creamy white head. The finest imported malts produce a slightly bready character with a touch of honey-like sweetness, while noble hops provide a clean, crisp, spicy finish. A true blonde that is easy on the eyes-and the palate.

Our flagship IPA is supremely aromatic, crisp, and drinkable. This iconic ale features a blend of Citra, Crystal, Centennial, and Chinook to create a crisp clean bitterness and imparts massive floral and citrus aromas. An American hop assault for all the ambivalent warriors who get the girl in the end. “Look, I ain't in this for your revolution, and I'm not in it for you, Princess.”

Dry-hopped with the gold standard combo of Mosaic and Citra, and an extra oomph of Idaho 7, Ambigram delivers a strong orange and tangerine aroma. Although no actual fruit went into this beer, the brewing method gives it a juicy character. It's got just the right amount of sweetness, while still reminding you that it is in fact an IPA.

Classic pale ale that is quite complex when it comes to aroma and flavor. Fermented with a fruit-forward ale strain to compliment the bevvy of hops used in both the boil and the fermenter. Centennial, Citra, Amarillo, Simcoe and Mosaic team up to give it characteristics of melon, stone-fruits, and lemon. Some may call it Tropical. We call it Hopular Kid.

Brewed with 100% Centennial hops from the Pacific Northwest and named after the Two Hearted River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, this IPA is bursting with hop aromas ranging from pine to grapefruit from massive hop additions in both the kettle and the fermenter. Perfectly balanced with a malt backbone and combined with the signature fruity aromas of Bell's house yeast, this beer is remarkably drinkable and well suited for adventures everywhere.

This is our unique version of an ancient style. A style as old as the ocean trade routes of the last centuries of Great Ships. Not as old as the equator they had to cross twice enroute, nor as old as the 10,000 miles or so of Di-Hydrogen Oxide and Sodium upon which they sailed, but older than the Circulithium-4 Lentoid that binds the Lupulin Quartnate onto your taste buds. Weird. IPA has loads of “C” Hops balanced on a bed of fine English Crystal, Caramel & Munich Malts. Designed to pair well with food and pretty much everything else!

When you brew as much as we do, sometimes we get tired of telling the yeast what to do. For Apex Predator Farmhouse Ale, we pitch the yeast cold, turn off the temperature control, and let the yeast do its thing. To our delight, it spat out the sweet scent of juicy fruit wafting from a frothy, white mane. Brewed only with grain and sugar unencumbered by the heat of the kiln, we create a hazy, golden body. Apex Predator gets its teeth from a generous Crystal dry-hopping that completes the dry finish with a fruity bite. Pounce on the opportunity to let it part your lips and you may find yourself at the top of the food chain.

Irish/American style Red Ale. The name is reference to the often played combination of Grateful Dead song’s Scarlet Begonias and Fire on the Mountain. This beer features a great balance of malt sweetness from caramel malt and subtle toasty notes from roasted barley. Brewed with American Ale yeast, and East Kent Golding hops, it pays tribute to its heritage as an Irish Red Ale.

Independent Lagers

A simple, relaxed Mexican-style lager brewed with flaked maize, noble hops, and a strain of yeast known to ferment a myriad of brews from our friends to the south. A classic spicy nose with a hint of corn mimics driving past your local tortilleria with the windows down. Aged in the foeder for 2 months which will give a small amount of oakiness as the beer warms.

Brewer Ben Sheehan created this beer while working down at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station. Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lager’s inspiration comes from Southern California, which is vibrantly influenced by our neighbors to the South. California's spoiling, warm weather encourages outdoor activity year round - and now the rest of the nation can join in. From surfing our coasts, to snowboarding and biking in the mountains, off-roading through deserted lands, or boating and fishing in our lakes, Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lager is an excellent companion. It’s a thrillingly crisp, clean, refreshing Mexican-style lager that quenches thirsts, while gratifying taste buds via lime and sea salt.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager® is the best example of the fundamental characteristics of a great beer, offering a full, rich flavor that is both balanced and complex. It is brewed using a decoration mash, a time consuming, traditional four vessel brewing process discarded by many contemporary brewers. This process brings forth a rich sweetness from the malt that makes it well worth the effort. Samuel Adams Boston Lager® also uses only the finest of ingredients including two row barley, as well as German Noble aroma hops. The exclusive use of two row barley not only imparts a full, smooth body but also gives the beer a wide spectrum of malt flavor ranging from slightly sweet to caramel to slightly roasted. The Noble hops varieties, Hallertau Mittelfruh and Tettnang Tettnanger, add a wide range of floral, piney and citrus notes, which are present from the aroma, through the flavor, to the lingering smooth finish. We take great pride in the Noble hops used in our beers. They are hand selected by Jim Koch and our other brewers from the world's oldest hops growing area. Among the world's most expensive, they cost twenty times as much as other hops.

Wheats

Let’s just put it this way: If you’re ever going to have an impromptu pool party at a complete stranger’s house, this is the beer you’ll want to be swiggin' when you get caught. Brewed with the perfect balance of wheat and crystal malts, our Tangerine Wheat delivers a perfectly crisp finish for those hot summer days. It’s got that classic Lost Coast wheat flavor, with a kick of citrus to help jump-start the party.

Our golden-yellow wheat beer, with its fine-pored white foam, smells of cloves and impresses consumers with its refreshing banana flavour. It is full bodied and with a smooth yeast taste. To be enjoyed at any time (always a pleasure / enjoyment), goes excellently with fish and seafood, with spicy cheese and especially with the traditional Bavarian veal sausage. Brewed according to our centuries-old brewing tradition on the Weihenstephan hill.

Pale Ales & IPAs

Native to the Basque region of Spain, the game of Jai Alai involves players launching a ball from a curved mitt called a cesta in an attempt to outsmart and outmaneuver their opponents on a court called a fronton. Native to Tampa, Florida, Jai Alai IPA is a bold, citrusy and balanced India Pale Ale that involves six different hop varietals used generously in a 7.5% ABV beer. While the number of frontons in our home state of Florida has dropped since the sport’s peak in the mid-1980s, Cigar City Brewing pays homage to the sport and the dedicated players and patrons who keep this Florida tradition alive with its flagship ale. Look for notes of orange peel, clementine, and light caramel to share the story and sunshine of Florida with beer lovers across the globe.

As brewers, we get the privilege to sample our beers straight from the tanks in all their raw glory. Some beers need a little polishing to get ready to go out into the world, while others—the hop-heavy, rowdy, crowd-pleasers—should just be left alone. We wanted to share this brewery-only treat with you, so we present this Hazy Little Thing, our unfiltered, unprocessed IPA, straight from the tanks and into the can.

Strong & Imperial IPAs

Goldens, Ambers & Browns

Offici-ALE Weather Report: There’s a Citrus Squall moving in! National weather reports confirm there’s a squall (of the delicious kind!) brewing and it’s set to touch down in cities from coast to coast. Our best advice? Grab your ponchos … er, pint glasses and get ready! We’re proud to introduce Citrus Squall … the perfect storm of a double golden ale and a paloma cocktail brewed with grapefruit juice, blue agave nectar, lime peels and a touch of sea salt. At 8.0% ABV, Citrus Squall brings strong gusts of citrusy hop and grapefruit aromas, counterbalanced by a downpouring of bright and tart grapefruit flavor and a blue agave nectar sweetness. Starting on the East Coast, Citrus Squall will quickly billow out and roll its way to taps and shelves across the nation both on draft and in 6pk/12oz cans, expected to hit ground in early spring. Ahead of its arrival, Dogfish suggests the following preparation plan. How to Spot (& Enjoy) a Citrus Squall: 1. Visit your favorite local store, beer distributor, bar or restaurant. 2. Quickly make your way to the craft beer section of the location or menu. 3. Calmly seek out Citrus Squall’s bright magenta-pink packaging or tap handle. 4. Get ready for a delicious storm of tequila-inspired grapefruit flavor!

Maduro is a Northern English-style brown ale with some American affectations. Maduro is higher in alcohol than the common English brown ale and features flaked oats in the malt bill which imparts a silky body and works to mesh the roasted, toasted and chocolate components together in Maduro’s complex malt profile. The end result is a remarkably full-flavored yet approachable and sessionable brown ale that pairs well with mild to medium cigars.

Belgians

The allusion to pink elephants and the choice of names is not due to chance. With a particular character, the unique taste results from triple fermentation and the use of three different yeast strains. Sweet, biscuit malt backbone, supported by pleasant warmth and spice, finishes well rounded, floral, and dry. Color and Sight: Pale blond, the fine and regular sparkle creates a nice, stable foam head. Scent: Slightly malty, heavy touch of alcohol, spicy. Taste: A good shot of alcohol ignites in the mouth, as it were, which really warms the tongue and palate. The taste is also characterized by its roundness. The finish is strong, long and dry bitter.

Stouts & Porters

Throughout the ages, Dragon’s Milk has been used as a term to describe potent ales and elixirs worth of celebration – a reward at the end of the journey. We are proud to be stewards of that ancient tradition today, hand-crafting each batch of Dragon’s Milk Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout in Holland, Michigan. The best liquid in our house is now yours. Roasted malt delivers notes of coffee and chocolate married with sweet undertones of vanilla and oak from a three month stay in bourbon barrels.

Swirling clouds tumble as the storm begins to calm. Settle. Breathe in the moment, then break through the smooth, light head to the bittersweet reward. Unmistakeably GUINNESS, from the first velvet sip to the last, lingering drop. And every deep-dark satisfying mouthful in between. Pure beauty. Pure GUINNESS. Guinness Draught is sold in kegs, widget cans, and bottles. The ABV varies from 4.1 to 4.3%. Guinness Extra Cold is the exact same beer only served through a super cooler at 3.5 °C

POUR HARD! Dark & delicious, America’s milk stout will change your perception about what a stout can be. Pouring hard out of the bottle, Milk Stout Nitro cascades beautifully, building a tight, thick head like hard whipped cream. The aroma is of brown sugar and vanilla cream, with hints of roasted coffee. The pillowy head coats your upper lip and its creaminess entices your palate. Initial roasty, mocha flavors rise up, with slight hop & roast bitterness in the finish. The rest is pure bless of milk chocolate fullness. Famous for their Nitro series, Left Hand Brewing was the first craft brewery to release a bottled nitrogenated beer. For the best experience, pour hard at 180 degrees into a 16oz glass. Different gas, different pour. Cheers! #PourHard

Ciders & Seltzers

Fruited & Sours

This is a rosé - and a gose - by any other name. Goses are Red is a stylish funky, crisp and tart gose ale inspired by the soft sweetness of a rosé wine. The refreshing wheat-based ale begins with some of the qualities you’d expect from a gose, including coriander spicing and a light saltiness to complement the tartness imparted by our house cultures. But the story doesn’t end there - it builds in complexity, thanks to time spent in an oak foeder and the addition of grapes, which impart a refreshing character and color.

Macro Lagers

Our flagship brand, Miller Lite, is the great tasting, less filling beer that defined the American light beer category in 1975. We deliver a clear, simple message to consumers: \Miller Lite is the better beer choice.\" What's our proof? 1) Miller Lite is the original light beer. 2) Miller Lite has real beer taste because it's never watered down. 3) Miller Lite is the only beer to win four gold awards in the World Beer Cup for best American-style light lager. (2006)

Coors Light is Coors Brewing Company's largest-selling brand and the fourth best-selling beer in the U.S. Introduced in 1978, Coors Light has been a favorite in delivering the ultimate in cold refreshment for more than 25 years. The simple, silver-toned can caught people's attention and the brew became nicknamed the \Silver Bullet\" as sales climbed."

Non-Alcoholic Beer

Seasonal

We have taps dedicated to ever-rotating specials. This Limited Beer List can change daily, and rare kegs can be tapped out at great speed, so the best place to see what is on tap right now is our beer board on our wall.

Samuel Adams® Summer Ale is an American wheat ale. This hazy golden unfiltered brew combines crisp wheat with the bright citrus of lemon peel and the subtle spice of Grains of Paradise. This rare African pepper, closely related to cardamom, was first used as a brewing spice in the 13th Century and adds just the right peppery kick. All of these flavors come together to create a thirst quenching and utterly refreshing brew perfect for those warm summer days.

We were just as tired of that same old shandy as everyone else - so we made our own, combining two of our favorite things; 312 and Italian lemon ice. Expect a bright lemon flavor along with slight sweetness, balanced by a crisp lemon acidity. Easy drinking and session-able, 312 Lemonade Shandy is sure to hit the spot, no matter if the stand is open or not.

We often have our head in the clouds – and once again we came back down with an exciting idea: let’s take the low ABV of All Day IPA and bring it to a hazy! That’s just what we did with All Day Haze Hazy IPA. A substantial amount of oats and wheat lend a whimsical fogginess, while Citra, Simcoe and Amarillo hops create an explosion of aroma. A sessionable, cloudy treat that can be enjoyed in any weather, hazy or otherwise.

Backyard Flight

$14.25 for four 6oz pours!

Can't Beat Wheat Flight

$15.75 for four 6oz pours!

Fruit Flight

$15.75 for four 6oz pours!

This is a rosé - and a gose - by any other name. Goses are Red is a stylish match of a funky, crisp and tart gose with the soft sweetness of a rosé wine. The refreshing wheat-based beer begins with some of the qualities you’d expect from a gose, including coriander spicing and a light saltiness to complement the tartness imparted by our house cultures. But the story doesn’t end there - it builds in complexity, thanks to time spent in an oak foeder and the addition of grapes, which impart a refreshing rosé character and color. It’s a charming interpretation that says all the right things, but it’s not as sweet as you.

Hoppy Flight

$14.75 for four 6oz pours!

Vernon Hills' Biggest & Best Beer Bar Menu

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