OnTap Magazine

W hen I announced my intentions to spend my summer in the United States drinking beer, the reception around the office was lukewarm at best. “You’re going all that way to drink Bud Light?” I couldn’t blame them. That’s the impression that pop culture has given us of the American beer scene: big brands drunk in big quantities at big events. Thanks to a little research and a lot of advice from friends with more knowhow than me, I’d come to know better. Still, when I arrived in Chicago on the first leg of my tour, I had little idea just how interesting the state of craft beer in the American Midwest would turn out to be. IPA TOWN Firstly, beer is everywhere. Having only ever lived in South Africa and later Qatar, I am used to beer being something you needed to go out of your way to buy. You can’t get it in the grocery store, and you can’t get it on Sundays, and you can’t get it after 6pm. In Chicago you can get it nearly anywhere at nearly any time: grocery stores, gas stations – even the pharmacy. Secondly, craft beer is readily available but the scene is dominated by a few big names. You have Goose Island, a former brewpub dating back to the 1980s, now owned by AB-InBev. Then there is Revolution Brewing, started in 2010 by a former Goose Island brewer. The third most frequent name on the shelves and taps is Heineken-owned Lagunitas, a California-based brewery with a second brewery – and a huge presence – in Chicago. When it comes to style, though, there are three letters to rule them all: IPA. The IPA is everywhere. Every bar and restaurant boasts several on the menu and if you visit a brewery in the city you can expect that at least half of the beers available will be some form of IPA. In South Africa, IPAs seemed like a bit of a luxury to me; something special. In Qatar, there is only one available in the whole country. So these three letters were music to my ears, and I partook in the symphony most willingly. After a few days, however, it seemed that IPA had sort of become the Bud Light of Chicago’s craft scene. Something people were drinking in huge quantities and that was hugely in fashion, but was becoming fairly generic. The popularity of the Lagunitas IPA and big local brews like Revolution’s Anti-Hero had every smaller microbrewery scrambling for a piece of the market share. INSPIRATION FROM TRADITION I found two breweries, however, who have decided to do things a little differently. These establishments have gone back to their roots and are trying to bring traditional European styles to people whose taste buds have been numbed by hops for too long. The first is an old name in the city: Adams Street Brewery. Operating out of the historic Berghoff Restaurant on Adams Street in Chicago’s Central Loop, the brewery had been closed to guests since lockdown, but were serendipitously set for a grand reopening just after my arrival. I was lucky enough to get a spot on opening day and explore their menu. A clever strategy had allowed them to stay in business during the pandemic. They were able to maintain a presence at their O’Hare Airport taproom, and their remaining brewing capacity was converted to make bread. Now that all restrictions on restaurants were lifted, they were back in full swing. Sharing premises with a German- style restaurant, their menu reflects this heritage, offering only one American- style IPA, at least on my visit. Taking prime position on the menu are a Helles Lager, with the very familiar taste of the Saaz hop; a Dunkel with excellent, rich caramel and chocolate notes and crisp bitterness, and a Hefeweizen with subtle fruit notes. Dark Helmut, presumably a homage to the 80s comedy flick Spaceballs, is a Schwarzbier (get it?) that brings together the flavours of a stout and porter, but holds back on the IBUs. The one IPA I sampled was the Blood Orange Bovine Da-Kine, a delicious lactose IPA with fruity hops and added blood orange. The sweet fruits really mask the 65 IBUs, so it feels less like an IPA and more like a style in its own right. The fact that Adams Street has a menu that reflects such traditional German styles (done excellently) is fitting: this is a location steeped in tradition. The Berghoff has been around for more than a century, and earned the first liquor licence in Chicago after Prohibition. One of the only in-house breweries in the Loop, Adams Street is flying the flag high for these styles. OUTSTANDING PINTS Another brewery that’s looking across the pond for new takes on old styles is Off Color Brewing. Founded by former brewers from Goose Island and Two Brothers Breweries, Off Color was launched in 2013 with the intention of bringing back forgotten beer styles. I discovered the brewery by picking up a can of their flagship Apex Predator at a bookstore under Macy’s and was blown away. (And yes, you read that right – a bookstore. I told you beer is available everywhere in Chicago). A farmhouse ale, Apex Predator Three letters to rule them all: IPA Some of the most incredible beers I have ever experienced 32 | Autumn 2022 | ontapmag.co.za