It's beer heaven at Lombard's Beer House

Plenty of bars focus on craft beers, but few do it as well as Beer House, which opened in Lombard's Yorktown Center in July. With 60 beers on tap and more than 300 sold by the bottle, Beer House is a great place to try some new brews.

Motif: The wooden planked walls are lined with beer signs and big-screen TVs tuned to sports. You can grab a seat at a booth, a table set with stools or the yellow-backed chairs along the bar, which displays Beer House's massive beer cooler. An elevated stage means you'll have a view of the live music from anywhere in the bar. Copper lantern-like lamps and exposed bulbs hang overhead. A small patio overlooks the mall's courtyard.

Food: Beer House doesn't serve any food, but you're welcome to bring your own or order in. Neighboring restaurants within the mall will even bring the food right to your table.

Liquid consumption: The draft list changes so often they print it out daily, and there are 300 more beers available by the bottle. The massive selection includes plenty of oddities that will impress even veteran drinkers such as gluten-free brews, mouth-puckering sour ales and Kisetsu, a Goose Island beer made with sake yeast. Beer House likes to focus on local beers and they regularly bring in brewery representatives to take over the taps and discuss their work with drinkers. Proving taps aren't just for beer, the bar also offers two red and two white wines on draft.

Crowd: The weekends are very busy, with the spot drawing solid crowds even during snowstorms. Beer House has also been bringing out plenty of Bears and Blackhawks fans and hopes to do a brisk business during March Madness.

Music: Beer House hosts live music most Friday and Saturday nights. When we were there, an acoustic guitarist was getting plenty of applause playing a mix of his own songs and covers of tunes from Johnny Cash, Dispatch and Buffalo Springfield.

Service: Our friendly server felt out our preferences and offered great suggestions even with the limited information we provided. While we were leaning toward doing all samplers, he encouraged us to order a full-sized version of one beer just to see the weird glass it's served with, sharing a story about its history and teaching us the proper way to drink it.

Parking: There are plenty of spots in the mall's free lot.

Overall: With friendly servers, the chance to taste a huge variety of beers and mellow music as a backdrop, Beer House is a great place relax and experiment on your taste buds.

Beer House

322 Yorktown Center, Lombard, (630) 268-1111, <a href="http://beerhousechicago.com">beerhousechicago.com</a>

<b>Hours:</b> 2:30 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday; 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday