Wednesday 21st of September 2011 01:59:57 PM

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This is a really interesting place. They have not followed the trend with many high alcohol and hoppy beers. The brewery also have high alcohol beer but have focused on brewing good medium alcohol (4-6%) beer with interesting flavors. They also have two really good low alcohol beers (3.5-3.9%). Their beers are created by a brewer with passion for beer and not a marketing department. This is a brew pub is defensively worth visiting.

Friday 24th of December 2010 09:41:16 AM

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Limestone Brewing is a significant distance from my house, but I finally made the trip on 12-18-2010 and spent an afternoon there.

It is located in a suburban strip mall. It is a little tricky to get into the lot, but there is plenty of parking.

As you walk into the place it looks like it is not finished or something. The hostess station is in a very sterile hallway and you cannot see the bar right away. Turn the corner though and it is a large open room with a big circular bar on one end and a bunch of tables on the other. There is also a loft, which I assume is for private parties. As usual for these types of places, there were a ton of TVs. Each of them has football or basketball playing. Would it really kill them to play ANYTHING else?
Oh, and due to the time of year we were assaulted with Xmas music the entire time. Is it really necessary to have that playing in EVERY bar?

So getting to the important part... We settled in at the corner of the bar for some beer. I ordered the sampler of the LBC beers, but found that it only included 7 of the 9 beers on tap. After a little coaxing, the bartender gave me all of the beers when I assured her that I was willing to pay for the pleasure of sampling everything.

Electric Park Gold: not a bad light beer with a corny taste. Drink this fast as it does not taste good after it warms up.

Wheatlander (Hefe): drinkable, light on flavor; drink cold

Old Chicago Amber: bitter and flavorful, but not as malty as I was hoping for.

Indian Boundary (India Brown): nice bitterness, drinkable, but not very "brown" in flavor.

Dolomite (oatmeal stout): great creamy dark flavor. This was one of my favorites.

Pilcher (American Pale Ale): nice and bitter, light on the hops, but true to style.

6450 (red): oddly, except for the color this seemed very similar to Pilcher, but slightly less bitter.

Flying Pig (IIPA): this was a delicious hoppy beer. Another favorite worth having a full serving.

Maple Stout: no sign of maple that I could detect. Not in smell or taste. Not a bad tasting beer if I hadn't expected maple.
(I am judging it against Tommyknocker maple nut brown; now that is a good maple beer.)

There was also a very respectable selection of guest taps such as Founders, Bells, Southern Tier, Ska, and Dogfish Head.

As usual, every beer was served very cold. I guess it gives me a reason to take my time as I let the beer warm up to reveal the flavor.

We had a little food... The quesadillas with chicken were pretty standard. The beer cheese soup was very tasty. A stuffed bacon cheddar burger served as the main course. It was tasty but a little dry because I made the mistake of ordering medium well.

The service was hot and cold. Sometimes it was hard to even get the bartender to make eye contact, and other times she was very helpful. The place was not busy at all. I would have to go back again to make a fair determination.

Overall I would say that Limestone Brewing Company is a good place to get some good beers. I wasn't impressed with every beer they make, but I think that there is room for a wide variety of tastes.
The atmosphere is not great. I am not a big fan of the open concrete floored, high ceiling places, but it is not enough to keep me away.
I would definitely go back to LBC if I was in the area, but not sure if it warrants the drive for me.

Tuesday 14th of September 2010 01:58:26 PM

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Nice big place, good sized bar as well, we didn't get any food, but did have the sampler. Overall most of the beers were ok, nothing I can complain about on any of them. They did however have a seasonal Russian Imperial that was fantastic! We would have got a growler of it but they wouldn't sell us a growler of it. They only issue I had was that they served it too cold. But my wife says it was nice to try it cold and see how the flavors develop as it warms up. We ended up getting another glass of that Russian Imperial to split since we were on a time limit. Otherwise we may have stayed quite a bit longer just drinking that.

They do have a great deal on the first mondays of the month. We were there on sunday but still got the monday deal since they were going to be closed on Monday. But you can get a growler and fill it up for just $9. I've paid twice that for a single beer in other places!

Monday 30th of August 2010 08:47:15 AM

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This place does a lot to draw in customers- lots of events (music, trivia, beer release parties, etc). They have tons of space, but on weekends it is still packed (READ: go on a weekday if possible).

The beers are nice. I like their double IPA and a couple others. They have at least two at a time that are "Growler worthy" to me. Others can be hit or miss, porters and stouts sometimes lose the flavor, but still seem popular as I look around.

Food is average... not bad for pub fare. Servers are young (inexperienced) but usually friendly and helpful.

Worth a drive.

Monday 22nd of February 2010 09:43:46 AM

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Stopped in to try the beer flight today, and unfortunately they weren't filling growlers due to a shortage of plastic seals. Otherwise a growler of Flying Pig DIPA would have come home with me.

Atmosphere is ok, you can tell there was lots of attention to surfaces and textures, like rough-hewn rock bricks in the lofty dining area, and dark varnished wood trim everywhere, wall to wall in the restrooms. Brewing equipment was visible in a small room behind the rectangular bar. The entrance was a bit sterile and awkward with a large wooden host station and plain white walls. The main dining area was huge with vaulted ceilings. It was pretty much like an upscale Rock Bottom, with a broad appeal. On a Sunday afternoon there were several families, and sippy cups served along with pints.

Beer quality was solid, favorites were the Flying Pig DIPA and Indian Boundary Ale. Hefe was good, and the Pale was a good novice intro. There were a number of guest taps and quality bottle selections, such as Dreadnaught. Overall the DIPA was a winner, and i'd return again to try new seasonals in the future.

Wednesday 3rd of February 2010 06:37:48 PM

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So i had been waiting for this place to open for it seems like forever... All tho I didn't have high exceptions for it and I'm glad.

There were four on tap when I was there

Wheat - it was a basic American Wheat - think 312 it was not Hefe like at all.
Amber - tried and it was ok
Oatmeal Stout was flat and I had heard that from others that went as well
Brown - decent session beer

the bartender did explain all there beers and had some knowledge of craft beer and was attentive to our needs as we were sitting at the bar

I have not eaten there yet so i can not comment on the food.. They do have some guest taps which we decent and a small bottle list.

the place is huge as mentioned in other reviews, strip mall but no light to get into the lot and if you have to leave and take a left on RT 59 can be tough. It is nice inside a bit of a upscale sports bar theme with a few TV's and such

I'll need to get back up there to eat and review the food. I do hope this place makes it and I am sure they will have some growing pains..

But I have a feeling they will become similar to a chain type place and cater to the upscale Naperville crowd to the north of them and not really put full efforts into be a "brewpub"

Wednesday 3rd of February 2010 06:50:09 AM

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This person needs 3 or more reviews on the site for their scores to start counting.

(This is my first review here)
I had heard much about Limestone and was eagerly awaiting its opening. A friend from work visited before I did and his general impression was that it was "good". He only had the Heffe and said that he liked it a lot.

Last Saturday afternoon I got a chance to check out this place with my brother and a fellow "beer geek" friend. Plainfield seems like it is about a 2 days journey from just about anywhere in the world, and I live in the S/SW burbs. Our first impression was positive; ample parking, attractive storefront, and a beautiful interior.

Beer Selection:
I believe they had about 6 beers on tap. (my memory stinks and I plan on taking notes for future reviews). I had the sampler flight. The Heffe was pleasant and the Double IPA (Flying Pig?) was pretty good, if a bit tame (in ABV and flavor). Our overall consensus was that although none of the beers were terrible, there weren't any that stuck out as memorable. My personal opinion was that all of the beers had underdeveloped flavors and a body that bordered on "watery". I understand that the brewer may have not yet found his sweet spot with his new gear. I'd be interested to see if the beer improves.

Atmosphere: The storefront is nice. A great way to mask the fact that its in a strip mall. The interior is open and moody with lots of rich wood-tones. There were a plethora of flat-screens, which is only good (in my opinion) when the Blackhawks are playing :).

Service: Our waitress (I THINK her name was Lauren) was awesome. She was very attentive and we did not have to wait or ask for anything.

Food: Eh.. The food was OK. To be fair, I thought it was on-par with most other brewpubs in the area (think: Rock Bottom). I had the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich. The bun was a little on the stale side and the Buffalo sauce was kind of whimpy. My friend and brother both had the fish and chips. Their impression was "meh.. it's ok".

In conclusion, I wasn't as impressed as I thought I was going to be (there was much hype). I'd definitely go back and try the beer again, but I would probably stick with appetizers only.

Sunday 27th of December 2009 04:44:47 PM

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I saw a notice on Facebook that Limestone had quietly opened on December 23. It was the 26th and I was avoiding going anywhere for shopping both to avoid the crowds and because it was snowing. Another task took me out of the house so I figured I'd check out the place even if it might be a slow business day due to the weather.

I was wrong; even with the snow the place had a decent amount of customers in the large bar area and what looked like preparations for a birthday party.

The bar is a large rectangle with seating on three sides and three tap towers; two of which looked to at least currently carry the same beers. Numerous flatscreen TVs adorn the walls and a small stage occupies the far corner. There is a closed-off dining room adjacent to the bar and a smaller seating area is over the bar with views to the stage, a TV screen and windows into the brewing area.

At this time, there are only three house beers on tap:
The Wheatlander (Hefeweizen)
Old Chicago Amber
Indian Boundary Ale (India brown ale)

An oatmeal stout was being brewed at the time of my visit.

In addition to the house beers, there are 14 or so guest beers on tap. I don't recall the full list but I do remember offerings from Left Hand, Port Brewing, Bell's, Three Floyds, Goose Island, Green Flash, and Founders. Someone mentioned there was also a fairly extensive bottle collection but I didn't think to ask for a list.

The food menu offers a wide variety of appetizers, salads, sanwiches, entrees and desserts. I sampled the pasta diablo which was deliciously spicy.

Beer prices - except for the Goose Island signature series offering - were in the $5-6.00 (maybe $6.50) range. The standard glass is listed as 14oz but looks to be a standard 16oz brim measure "sleeve". The hefeweizen comes either in a tall pilner-like glass or 22oz. Beers are served with a moderate head.

The only real issues experienced were in house beer clarity and carbonation. All of them - even the hefeweizen - could have used some more settling time or filtration. This could be attributed to some equipment problems a patron mentioned and the place having opened just three days prior so they won't prevent a revisit in the near future.