Roaring Table kicks off beer week
- Roaring Table Brewery in Lake Zurich used an ABC7 Chicago appearance on May 10 to launch its American Craft Beer Week push for May 11–17. - The brewery is run by husband-and-wife owners Lane Fearing and Beth May, and its taproom is leaning on small-batch beer, food, and onsite events. - The bigger backdrop is local beer week fragmentation — Chicago Beer Week has shrunk, so individual taprooms are carrying more of the action.
Beer week is one of those retail-calendar moments that matters more for small breweries than it might look at first glance. It is not just a celebration. It is a traffic play. Roaring Table Brewery in Lake Zurich went on ABC7 Chicago on Sunday, May 10, to kick off its American Craft Beer Week plans for May 11 through May 17. That matters because the modern version of “beer week” in Chicagoland is less about one giant citywide program and more about individual taprooms creating their own reasons for people to show up. ### What is Roaring Table, exactly? Roaring Table is a brewery and taproom in Lake Zurich, and it is still very much an owner-driven place. Husband-and-wife team Lane Fearing and Beth May run it, which helps explain why the pitch is so specific — small batches, a broad beer list, and a taproom-and-kitchen setup rather than a mass-market production model. The brewery’s own site leans hard into variety, from lagers and cask ales to hazy IPA, saison, wild ale, barrel-aged stout, and even pizza styles as part of the visit. (abc7chicago.com) ### Why does American Craft Beer Week matter? Because it gives small breweries a national marketing hook without requiring a giant ad budget. The Brewers Association sets American Craft Beer Week for May 11–17 in 2026 and frames it as a push to rally support for small and independent U.S. breweries. Basically, it is a ready-made excuse for taprooms to package special pours, events, and limited releases into one concentrated week. (abc7chicago.com) ### What actually happened this weekend? The concrete news is the ABC7 segment. Roaring Table appeared on the station’s Sunday morning food-and-drink coverage on May 10, one day before the week officially started. The segment itself was short, but the key point was clear — Roaring Table wanted to use the start of beer week as a local draw and put its brewery in front of Chicago-area viewers right as the promotion window opened. (brewersassociation.org) ### Why go on local TV for this? Because beer week is really about getting people into the room now, not vaguely building brand awareness for later. A neighborhood or suburban brewery does not need national attention. It needs a full taproom on a Tuesday, better can sales, and a reason for regulars to come back twice in one week instead of once. Local TV is useful here because it reaches exactly the kind of casual customer who might decide, same day, to make the drive. (abc7chicago.com) That is especially true for a destination-style taproom with food. ### What is Roaring Table selling people on? Variety, mostly. The brewery’s public menu shows a spread that covers classic lager drinkers, IPA drinkers, stout drinkers, and people who want something funkier or more experimental. That matters because beer-week promotions work best when a group can come in and everybody finds a lane. The food side helps too — Roaring Table is not asking people to stop in for one pint and leave, but to treat the place like an evening out. (abc7chicago.com) ### Why is the Chicago context important? Because the old “Chicago Beer Week” model is not what it used to be. One local beer-events tracker said this week that Chicago Beer Week has effectively folded into a thinner Illinois Craft Beer Week setup centered on one marquee event and a passport promotion. So the energy has shifted outward. Instead of one giant umbrella pulling everyone along, breweries now have to manufacture their own moment. (roaringtable.com) ### Is this bigger than one brewery? Yes — but in a very local way. Roaring Table’s TV hit is a small example of how independent breweries are adapting. They are not waiting for a massive citywide festival to do the work. They are building mini-campaigns around taproom identity, event programming, and direct community turnout during a nationally branded week. ### Bottom line? Roaring Table did not just announce a fun week of beer. (beeronaut.com) It showed what beer week looks like now — less centralized, more local, and much more dependent on each brewery’s ability to turn attention into foot traffic. (abc7chicago.com)
