We have been waiting a long time to bring a Tap Room to the pages of BrewsTravelers.com and here it is, The Tribes Alehouse in Mokena, Illinois.
We have been to quite a few places with great taps including The Map Room in Chicago and Hop Cat in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We just have not been ready for a full review on either of those places. Besides, we love to find the hidden jewel and it looks like we found one. And just between you and me, The Tribes Alehouse is closing in on the big boys of craft beer.
Now, I’m not completely familiar with Mokena or the surrounding area, but I do understand that they love their craft beer. Within about 30 minutes from Mokena is Flossmoor Station, Three Floyds and plenty of other beer bars, beer stores and breweries.
We arrived at “The Tribe” (A little slang that I heard while out and about. No disrespect intended.) a bit early, this ended up being a blessing in disguise. We were able to grab some seats at the bar and peruse the tap list. Their list was phenomenal. With 40 taps and many more in bottles, we were able to find a beer for every occasion. The beer menu was organized and easy to understand which is a big plus. I cannot tell you how many places we go that do not know how to organize their beer menu. Actually, I won’t tell you. It’s just not fun.
They started to get pretty crowded later in the evening and it became SRO. The band kicked it into gear, so we followed suit. The haze of good music and great beer did not, I repeat, did not haze my judgment. That’s been hazy since ’91.
From what we have been told, The Tribe had a former location that was much larger. You know, I don’t really like to get into the size matters discussion. (I tend to lose that argument more often than not.) I won’t get into it here either. I love small taprooms or alehouses. They are comfortable, cozy and very personable. The staff at The Tribe was very attentive and I think that owes its quality to training, culture and the personality of the establishment. What? Why do I sound so pretentious lately? Anyway, The Tribe was excellent.
What I really like about The Tribes Alehouse is their commitment to the craft beer community. They are getting creative and really involved. The weekend we were there, they had a full bus going to Dark Lord Day at 3 Floyds. And now, they are having beer bouts. The #1 rated beer on RateBeer.com is going head-to-head against the #1 rated beer on BeerAdvocate.com on July 17 of this year. Click here to check out the poster!
I am happy to welcome The Tribes Alehouse to the community of locations that have been featured on Brews Travelers. Thank you for your hospitality! Here’s to many years of success in the craft beer community. Cheers!
