Magazines » November/December 2009 » New Suds in the Windy City
In 2007, Chicago had three working breweries -- Goose Island, a regional powerhouse with
distribution to 15 states and the United Kingdom, and two brewpubs. Less than two years later, that number has doubled. So who are Chicago’s new brewery owners? We found out.
Half Acre Beer Company
Gabriel Magliaro, a former magazine advertising director, opened the doors to Half Acre with two friends after surveying Chicago’s meager beer scene. “I used to live in Colorado where there are so many breweries that play a vibrant role in their communities,” he says. “Chicago, for as gargantuan a city it is, didn’t have that. So we thought it would be a really great opportunity to create that here.”
Opened: October 2008 (The brewery is gradually taking over production of its beers from Black River Falls, Wis.-based Sand Creek Brewing).
Flagship beer: Half Acre Lager, a golden lager with citrus-tinged hops and bready malts.
Metropolitan Brewing
After 20 years as a homebrewer and 15 years working in the audio/video industry, Doug Hurst was ready for a change. He left his job and enrolled at Chicago’s Siebel Institute. After studying brewing in Munich, he found his niche -- craft-brewed, flavorful lagers. “Lagers have had a bad name because they’ve been devalued by the macrobreweries,” he says. “But lagers can be incredibly flavorful and are just as diverse as ales.”
Opened: December 2008
Flagship beers: Flywheel Bright Lager, a well-balanced blend of spicy hops and sweet, bready malts, and Dynamo Copper Lager, a reddish beer featuring the distinct spicy aromas of Perle and Hallertau hops.
Revolution Brewing
Josh Deth left Goose Island in 2001 to found his own brewpub. After that project fell through, he opened up a restaurant and served a stint as executive director for his neighborhood chamber of commerce. But he never lost sight of what he calls “every man’s dream,” and in 2007 he found his spot: Located in Chicago’s hipster-filled Logan Square neighborhood, Revolution Brewing took more than two years to become a reality.
Opened: November 2009
Flagship beer: While there’s no flagship beer 
per se, the brewpub always features a mild, pale and golden ale, as well as a Belgian white on tap.
... and one new beer bar
At the Doubletree-owned Wit Hotel, you’ll find Chi-town’s newest gastropub, State and Lake. This English-style pub not only serves up delectable artisanal American cuisine, it displays an impressive array of craft suds at its 16-tap, wrap-around bar like Great Lakes Eliot Ness, Dark Horse Raspberry Ale, and Metropolitan Lager.
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This article originally appeared in the November/December 2009 of DRAFT Magazine
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