Arrowhead Ales Blows Away Manhattan's Pints & Pork Challenge

Provided by Pints & Pork Challenge:

Despite strong competition, Arrowhead Ales emerged the clear winner, claiming seven trophies at Manhattan's Pints & Pork Challenge.

Arrowhead Ales Brewing Co., located next to Berkot’s on Laraway Road in nearby New Lenox, swept both pork and brew categories.

“The competition was very tough because there were so many great foods and brews to chose from,” said Steve Smolinske, event organizer.

The Pints & Pork Challenge teamed up restaurants with craft breweries. The competition categories included best brew, best pork dish, and best pairing. People voted for their favorites, as well as official judges who are industry experts. WJOL’s Scott Slocum was the guest celebrity judge.

Because Arrowhead is both a restaurant and a brewery, they entered both categories.

“Throughout the four-hour event, people raved about Arrowhead’s spicy pork egg roll and Jive Turkey Sweet Potato Ale, so it is no surprise they emerged a clear winner,” Smolinske said.

Arrowhead, which opened its doors earlier this year in April, is offering the Jive Turkey Sweet Potato Ale as a seasonal item, available for only the next few weeks, said Mike Bacon, owner.

“It just makes me feel kind of relieved that my beer is coming out good and people are liking it,” Bacon said.

Bacon, who has been brewing professionally since 2015, and at home for six years, competed against veteran brewers, including Evil Horse’s Steve Kamp, who is highly regarded as one of the leading brewers in the area. Evil Horse Brewing Co., 1338 Main St., Crete, won the highest honor, the Judge’s Choice Best Brew for its Charging Bull Weizenbock.

Kamp has been a member of the American Homebrewers Association since 1984, earned the elite rank of Beer Judge, after passing a lengthy exam administered by the Beer Judge Certification Program. He has also served as president of the Chicago Beer Society.

Bacon said that Kamp’s earning the judge’s choice best brew was “well deserved."
Both of Kamp’s entries from Evil Horse Brewing earned high marks from both the people’s choice and judge’s choice categories.

“That (Paxon the Ponyless) Porter was outstanding, and worth the drive to Crete to have again,” said Muggsy Gallagher, who helped organize the event.

Manhattan’s Roadhouse 52, located on U.S. 52 on the south end of Manhattan, entered two pork dishes, each winning a trophy.

Roadhouse 52’s general manager Brian Eberle said newly-hired executive chef Joel Harris has “completely revamped the menu.”

Their entries included a butternut squash puree topped with smoked pork and apricot thyme BBQ sauce; and pumpkin cornbread with maple glaze topped with smoked pork and crunchy jicama green onion slaw.

The pumpkin cornbread dish was paired with a Guava Gose Smack from Lombard’s Noon Whistle Brewing, 800 E. Roosevelt Rd., earning the team the gold trophy for pairings. Noon Whistle’s Guava Gose Smack also won the highest people’s choice award for best brew.

Competition was very strong, with most of the categories having two or three different competitors within a single vote of each other, Smolinske said.

“Everyone who entered had a very strong showing of votes,” he said. “Clearly, everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed what was offered, because the votes were all over the board."

The other competitors were Granite City in Orland Park, 350 Brewing in Tinley Park, Irish Pig BBQ in New Lenox, All Rise Brewing in Chicago, Oak Park Brewing in Oak Park and Blue Nose Brewery in Hodgkins.

The Pints & Pork Challenge was hosted by St. Joseph Church in Manhattan as a fundraiser supporting the church and school, organizers said. A few hundred people attended the inaugural event, which was moved into the gym due to rain.

“Afterwords, we received so many compliments from people raving about how much fun they had,” said Smolinske. “We got emails, texts, messages from people saying they loved all the food and beer, didn’t have to wait in line, and really enjoyed themselves.”

Organizers are already planning next year’s event, he said.

For more information about the event, with links to the brewers and restuarants, visit www.pintsandpork.com.

submitted photo: Only open since April, New Lenox’s Arrowhead Ales, owned by Mike Bacon, clinched a whopping seven trophies for their spicy pork egg roll paired with Jive Turkey Sweet Potato Ale, a seasonal brew only available for the next few weeks.