There aren’t too many bright spots in the beer industry right now, but I discovered two projects in Chicago that have the capacity to expand the market for craft beer. They involve unusual business models and entrepreneurs targeting communities who haven’t yet discovered good, locally-brewed beer.
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A lawsuit filed last week against Tree House Brewing suggests some pretty dubious behavior. Meanwhile, one of the most interesting breweries in the world is hanging on by a thread.
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On this Thanksgiving week I mention what fills me with gratitude. (Are your ears burning?)
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In the spring, Dan and others from the brewery head off to a forest just west of town. The trees must be a certain height to harvest, and they can’t pick too much of the new growth. “We bring a load of grain bags out with us—it’s beautiful,” he said. “I love it.” It takes more than one visit to collect 200 pounds of tips.
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If you are an average human—I was, it turned out—you will stop dead in your tracks and goggle at the massive abstract harp sculpture that floats over the central bar. It has churchy swoops and rises, recalling a pipe organ, and, like a cathedral, draws the eyes up.
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About six weeks ago, Guinness launched their second brewery/pub, this time in Chicago. This continues a pub- and pint-first approach that other large breweries haven’t adopted. More than that, it acts as a lens on the larger beer world, and how much things have changed since they launched their first American brewery.
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John Harris posted a note this evening announcing he had sold the Ecliptic brand and that the brewery would close in ten days.
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It was barely more than a decade ago that craft beer finally made it to Chicago in a real way, so it’s time to ask some penetrating questions about where it stands today. This one is all you, hive mind.
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Craft beer isn’t only about beer. Leave the brewery and you can find people crafting malt-adjacent objects like the prints Dave Selden makes at 33 Books. I visited his workshop to see our collaborative beer-glasses print go through a 1908 letterpress and was charmed by his steampunk operation.
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