I’ve lived in Portage Park neighborhood for about 15 years now and the older I get the more it feels like home and I appreciate more what the neighborhood has to offer to its community. I feel that Portage / Jefferson Park are going through some very positive changes and it feels like they actually started to thrive in recent years (or maybe they were always thriving and I just became more observant with age). The reopening of Patio, Regulus Coffee shop, The Gift Theatre Company in Jefferson Park, some nice new restaurants, and Fischman Liquors and Tavern – best spot in town for some unique and fresh micro brews – are just examples of great things that are going on in Portage / Jefferson Park area.

I believe was that first Fischman introduced me to Lake Effect Brewing Company. As a fan of craft beers I was thrilled to find out that micro brewery opened in my neighborhood. I immediately checked out their website and “like’ed” their Facebook page. When I stumbled across possibility of doing a brewery tour I immediately emailed Lynn to scheduled the brewery tour on Saturday. I knew I had to bring my camera along to document the experience. The guys at Lake Effect brewery are fantastic, down to earth folks that are truly passionate about their craft. The tour was an amazing experience of learning about brewing process, business of micro brewery and little bit about city’s politics. Of course the tour ended with sampling of their delicious beers. Also, during my visit they were in the process of setting up some brand new brew tanks so it felt great to witness that historic moment of brewery expansion 🙂