Mickey Finn’s Brewery

The new location is a definite upgrade from the previous spot across the street. A more wide open, beer-hall feel to it; they could totally pull off a neat oktoberfest setting with an oompah band overwhelming the join, or a haunted farm themed Halloween celebration. The service was ok. The waitress serving us was very friendly and quite good looking, but just didn’t seem to want to be bothered by beer specific questions ("I just work here"?). They had five of their beers available, plus an okay selection of other beers available. Their spinach artichoke dip is very good; although unhealthy, I recommend it everytime!

Visited 10/11/2010 on Columbus Day. 9 house taps including both versions (nitro/CO2) of Big Head APA and a couple of casks (Q-Dog and left over Summer Ale).

This place is in another nice looking quiet country side town. The bar is across the street from a park so parking was easy. The restaurant is kind of stretched out into an L shape. It was sort of dark inside and a bit warm but over all nice. Not many people inside at 11 am on a holiday.

I tried the sampler, although I’m still not sure if they normally offer this. The sampler included the regular beers but when I asked to include the nitro Big Head, the seasonal (Oktoberfest), and the 2 casks the bartender happily obliged. After leaving me with my drinks he went to hang out with one of the waitresses. Fine with me as I was only making a quick stop on the way back to Chicago and I was paying cash so I didnt need him around.

The beer wasn’t bad with the standout being the 847 APWA and the variations of the Big Head Pale (nitro, CO2, and Q-Dog which is cask Big Head with some extra dry hops).

Not even sure if they offer food but at a friendly neighborhood bar like this I wouldn’t mind hanging out a bit.

This is a good spot, some of these ratings may no longer represent this place. I was in Libertyville for an interview and came on on a Sunday evening. The place was packed, 15 minute wait to be seated. The decor is good, brick and woody, dark but not too dark. Bar is long with lots of seats. More importantly, the beer was all well made. Had all the beers on tap and absolutely no flaws. The selection was good, had the basic wheat and amber but also a solidly made czech pils. The Scotch Ale was good and the Rye stout was also well made. Even had a Belgian Strong and it was decent for a brewpub. Another nice aspect were the guest taps, 3 that included Old Chub, Timmermans Fram, and something else decent. The food was average brewpub fair, about 1-2 bucks more than I want to pay for it thought. The service was appropriate. There is also a good bar across the street but I did not get a chance to visit. If you are visiting the Naval Academy or want to take a 15 minute detour off of 94 I highly recommend the place.

Stopped in when I met my girlfriend in Libertyville (between Chicago and Milwaukee). A large bar area that has a few TVs. There are a number of taps that had some decent to good beers. Service was fine, but nothing special. Didn’t sample the food on my visit.

Good selection of beers brewed in house- great staff- great rotation of beers with seasons

First, this doesn’t feel like a brewery. It is more of a hip bar instead of people hanging out and appreciating beer. That is not a bad thing at all, but you just need to know what to expect. I think the biggest problem is that the main bar area is very small and narrow. It has been around for 100 years, and the downstairs is crammed into the original bar. For this reason, it becomes almost impossible to move at times given at how popular the pace is. The beer garden is ok. The overflow of people, which is quite a lot, streams out into the dining room/restaurant area. And it feels like you are drinking in a restaurant, not a bar or brewery. Upstairs there are very loud bands that play on a stage and what is more or less a lounge area with a dance floor. Now the beer itself is good. There are always a fairly good amount on tap as well, with seasonal beers thrown in depending on the time of year. I have always found the waitresses and bartenders to be very friendly. But given how busy they get you can get neglected at times. The food is very good. Now altogether, I really like this place and I have been coming here for a long time. I always have a good time. There is good beer and everyone is having fun. You just need to know what you are walking into and that it is very crowded.

stumbled on this place while leaving Firkin... big out door patio, bar area and some seating... they have 6 of their own drafts, one guest draft and 2 casks... service was fine but the guy wasn’t super friendly or able to chat about the beers that much... the beers were solid... good experience

Good place, nice folks. Good place to grab a bite, average place to grab a beer. I put them as average perhaps because I have the good fortune to live in an area where there is an abundance of brew pubs. In the context of the options avalible in the area it’s and average to good brew pub. If it were to stand alone with fewer alternatives within 20 min. Drive I would rate it better than you are liable to find elsewhere and place rate it as good to very good. Unfortunately for Finn’s their food is on par with many other places around and their beer (IMO) is average and does not stand out from the BMC’s beyond additional styles they brew and offer.

Mickey Finn’s is a pretty standard brew pub restaurant in downtown Libertyville. The atmosphere is nice except on weekends when it can get pretty loud. Food and beer can be hit or miss. I"ve had some good beers and some not-so-good beers here. Food selection can also be an adventure - but the burgers here are usually a safe bet. In an area that doesn’t boast many brew pub options, this is certainly worth a visit. But, it in no way can stack up to the kind of pubs you’d find in Chicago proper.

This is a decent place on it’s own, but it’s quite lacking in several aspects and could definitely improve a bit. We were there to grab a bite of food and try some of the beers. They had one stout on tap which rivaled Guinness in taste and quality - not much to say there. Being there to see the transition from dinner crowd to night crowd really gave me a good feel of the clientele of this joint. The dinner crowd was all stuck-up moms who would proudly mount their designer purses on the table in front of them and husbands who were trying to look like the 20 year olds they definitely were not. The night crowd was nothing but young kids and 30-somethings who tried to dress up a bit too much and wore too much cologne. The beer selection and food menu helped support this feel in that they were nothing much more interesting than a TGI Fridays. It appears that they hire waitstaff only on the merit of how attractive they are. Our waitress was not helpful or attentive at all, and when glancing around the rest of the tables it appeared this was very common. When asking about beers our waitress had to walk away and ask someone else which took nearly 10 minutes. This is the kind of place you might go if you think the idea of a brewpub was ’cute’ or if you met up with some friends to watch a local band and drink some Miller or Bud beers. I cannot suggest Mickey’s for anyone who has an actual interest in beers or a good pub. I am not a fan of Durty Nellies either, but would have to recommend it over Mickey Finn’s since they at least have a decent beer selection. Sorry Mickeys! I have lived in the area for a long time, and I really wanted to love your place... until I went there. - Woody