Chicago's Craft Beer Scene
The small brewery scene is now big business
In the beginning, there was Goose Island Brewpub. Since Chicago’s iconic craft brewery opened their doors over 20 years ago, the craft beer scene has flourished, with dozens of homegrown breweries ushering in a craft beer renaissance. Today, the presence of a local beer on any respectable watering hole’s list is nearly an expectation rather than an exception.
After the craft beer concept first emerged in Chicago in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, growing local business support ignited the craft beer craze, which has become a sustainable trade of small, traditional, independent brewers. Such breweries create a limited annual beer production (no more than 2 million barrels of beer) instead of mass amounts generated by worldwide corporations.
“Anything of good quality is popular here,” says Tracy Hurst, co-founder of Metropolitan Two Brewing. “As Chicagoans, we have good taste and appreciate quality in music, sports and food. Craft beer needed a change to take hold.”
And craft beer hubs have transformed what was once viewed as a basement hobby to delicious feats, one being restaurant/brewery hybrids. Flossmoor Station Brewing Company, for example, pours over 10 national award-winning lagers and seasonal ales paired with pub eats. Likewise, Piece Brewery & Pizzeria brought a new concept to the city by marrying New Haven-style thin crust pizza with their own World Beer Cup-winning brews.
5 Rabbit Cerveceria, the only Latin brewery in the nation, is also raising the bar. “We wanted to make a beer that was influenced by our culture and make beers that no one had made before,” says co-founder Isaac Showaki. The downtown company has four beers with bite on the market, infused with Latin ingredients including dulce de leche, hoja santa and ancho chile.
Resident favorite Half Acre Beer Company was the first Chicago brewery to can its beers in 2009. And Munster, Indiana’s Three Floyds Brewing hosts the pinnacle for beer aficionados’ passion: Dark Lord Day. The annual festival is dedicated to the brewery’s Dark Lord Russian Imperial stout, available for purchase only during the celebration. The event has sold out two years in a row, garnering the brew ultimate cult status.
Chicago brewers are confident their creations will merit our city as the next craft beer destination. “Chicago has always been a great place to drink, since we import brews from all over the country,” says Ms. Hurst. “Now, we are opening it up so that we’re producing quality craft beers locally. I don’t see craft brewing going anywhere.”
By Debra Lipson
Tagged as: beer, drinking, craft beer and brewery
