It all started on a train.
When she worked in downtown Chicago, every Friday night The Local Tourist founder Theresa Carter’s mom would get on the 5:04 Metra train. Over time she got to know others that took the same route, and it’s a tradition for commuters to drink beer on that last ride of the week. Well, her mom and crew came up with the idea to bring a beer every week that started with a different letter of the alphabet. More and more people thought this was such a good idea that they went from needing one six pack to three. This group of ale-lovers even had a web site.
Theresa’s mom no longer works downtown and the others have also gone their separate ways, but the story stuck. In 2009 Theresa shared it with a friend while at the Twisted Spoke, a Chicago bar whose beer list is so comprehensive it seemed like you really could taste beers from A to Z.
Thus, AlphaBeer was born. What began as a diversion on the train has become a series of events that invite craft beer aficionados to learn their A-Beer-C’s in a fun, unconventional tasting format. It’s a three-hour tour of hops and barley and lager and ales, led by an expert who truly appreciates fine beer.