On Tap

I walked into the dining room the other night and spied my husband with the bike path map spread out on the table, gazing intently at the trails.  “Uh, oh,” I thought to myself, “He must be planning some big trip.” 

“I have a good trip planned out for us,” he said cheerfully.

I, recently indoctrinated into the biking routine, was skeptical.

“We could drive to Wheaton and park the car and go to Warrenville.”

To me, Warrenville sounds like it is on the other side of the earth.  I had never been there, was only slightly familiar with the town because my son played high school football at Lyons Township in La Grange and we played Wheaton-Warrenville High School.  I know where Wheaton is, how far can Warrenville be?

As it turned out, it was pretty far.  But we had a destination in mind:  Two Brothers Brewery located in none other than Warrenville.

We like to drink indigenous beers.  When in Wisconsin, we look for micro-breweries in that state and go to liquor stores that stock those special brews.  In Illinois, the choice is smaller, but interesting nonetheless.  We also like the stories behind these breweries and if we can bike, eat and drink some beer, it’s a perfect day.

We loaded the bikes onto the car and headed out west.  We hopped on the Illinois Prairie Path in Wheaton.  It is well-maintained and easy to navigate.  It was a nice, cool sunny day and we were looking forward to our adventure to Two Brothers.

I have an odometer on my bike and though my husband figured “round trip about 20 miles,” we were not even AT our destination and we had already clocked 14 miles.  I fiddled with the controls on the Cat thinking that maybe I had a different setting – it read 140 – I thought maybe it was the time….but it was the mileage.

Great, I thought – I often yell from behind him – “Where ARE we?”

We were in the Blackwell County Forest Preserve, admittedly very pretty with lakes, quiet trails and lovely vegetation – but definitely on the wrong path.  We had mistakenly taken a branch of the DuPage River Trail.  We backtracked and got onto the original charted course:  The Fermi Lab Trail. 

We crossed Route 59, went about 4 blocks and then headed south on some residential streets through a schoolyard and a park to the edge of a light industrial park.  We had the address of Two Brothers Brewery, but it didn’t appear that there would be a brewery on this street.  Pedaling further down the road, we came upon a truck that indeed said “Two Brothers” – we arrived.

I had read that Chef Tommy at the Tap House was fantastic and I have to say, the fare does not resemble what we think of as bar food in any way. We both had fish tacos that were out of this world.  Draft beers are $4 and $5 and we each enjoyed two beers, different brews.  In addition to their own brews, they carry a very impressive array of other beers and also have a guest draft beer.  We sat outside at an umbrella table in very quiet surroundings.   The beer was cold, the food was yummy, and the breeze was warm…it was so relaxing…

…until we had to climb onto our bikes again.  We chatted with a couple who had also just finished eating – they were driving a red van – and I was hoping they would take pity upon us and drive us back to Wheaton.  No such luck – we began our return journey. 

We made it back to downtown Wheaton.  It was a Friday, and there was a classic car show in town.  We looked around a little, I thought I was going to drop right there in the street, but somehow made it back to the car.  Our 20-miler turned into a little longer than expected – should have had another beer!

Check hours and directions at the website www.twobrotherstaphouse.com/ 

Two Brothers Tap House
30W315 Calumet Ave.
Warrenville, IL  60555
630-393-BEER