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True story. Last summer, I took a day trip with my son to visit Sparta, Illinois, home of White Rooster Farmhouse Brewery. We arrived at lunchtime, and found a delicious side-of-the-road barbeque joint, and then proceeded to White Rooster.

We entered the brewery, and took a seat at one of the tables, and waited for someone to come to the front of the house. It was early in the afternoon, so it was no surprise that we were the only people in the place. After about 10 minutes, I began to get “that feeling” that something wasn’t right. And I was correct. You see, it was a Monday, and in my eagerness to do a beertrip on a rare day off, I did not even check to see if they were open. They were not.

Mistakenly the doors were left unlocked, and luckily a good beer person and his son were all that entered. A few minutes after my realization, an employee did walk in and was as surprised to see me as I was happy to see him.

In the end, we did get to take home some growlers of The Common, their California Common Lager (amber lager with cascade hops) – 4.5%ABV and a handful of stickers for the beer fridge. Although it was a short trip, it was well worth it.

Perhaps another trip to Sparta is warranted this week, as White Rooster is releasing a new beer, Omerta on Friday.



Omerta is an Imperial Stout and will debut on Friday when the taproom opens at 4 pm. This version has been aged in whiskey barrels with notes of maple syrup and coffee. Omerta will be going for $28 a bottle with a 2 per person limit.