Cycling Chicago for a Brewing Internship

A bit of background...

My brother, Rob, bottling up some Froomballhead.

A few years ago my brother and I took our first home brewing class at Beverage Art down on 10000 South Western. Through happenstance I found the class as part of a Groupon, and bought it thinking it would be a good way to spend some time with my brother.

I missed the first class because the brakes in my car went out (!) as I pulled out to go to the class. I contemplated getting on Lake Shore Drive with a mysteriously spongy brake system and realized how idiotic that was. Instead, I pulled over and saw brake fluid leaking out of my undercarriage and called for a tow.

Rob made it to the class and took some notes for me. We met up at second class a few weeks later for the bottling session. Like many first time students of hop, our first beer was an IPA. Unique to ours, we dubbed it "No Brakes IPA".

Over the next two years, we purchased our own basic home brew equipment and made four more five-gallon brews out of his house. At first we used kits, and then the guys at Brew and Grow helped pull recipes and ingredients for us to clone our favorite ales. Nothing too fancy and very beginners stuff if you know what’s what.

We made a clone of 3Floyd’s Gumballhead ("Froomballhead"), Goose Island’s Summer Kolsch ("Summer Solstice"), a Belgian Caramel Wit ("Sarah’s Beer” for Rob’s new wife) and a Rye IPA (“RyPA”).

Agenda

Brew tun

1. Pull a brewing internship
   out of thin air
2. Bike the town
3. Enjoy the weather

I woke up one sunny Monday morning in June and decided to seek out a brewing internship instead of sitting in front of my computer for the day.

It would be nice to learn the ropes of a brew operation larger than my brother's basement - and collecting a few experiences with fellow beer nerds could yield good stories. I had done almost no preparation for this and wanted to see what my chances were basically just walking up to the breweries and asking them if they needed help.

I prepared a short resume to boost my odds, put on my Half Acre Brewing shirt, jumped on my trusty Trek Kaitai hybrid cycle and spun around to half a dozen breweries in my neck of Chicago.

Dry Hop Brewers, Lakeview East

Dry Hop, Source: Facebook

Earlier in the week I had visited the recently opened DryHop BrewPub which was a stone’s throw down the street from me. I’ve lived in the East Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago for over 13 years now and to my knowledge there’s not been a brewery or brewpub in the hood. With the recent craft beer explosion and large concentration of 20-to-30-something-year-olds, the location was prime for one.

They have a gorgeous micro-brewing setup and a great atmosphere for patrons. From all the growlers I’ve seen people walking around with on the streets, and the pub being packed every time I passed by it - it appears to have been a success.

Dry Hop Source: DryHop.com

DryHop's brew lineup includes a very memorable coconut milk stout, Angry Samoan (tastes like those Somoas Girl Scout cookies with chocolate, caramel and coconut), and a cream ale / steam beer, Batch 001.

Inspired, I whimsically wanted to find out if they needed any help on brew days. I drifted down Broadway past Belmont to DryHop. Threading my bike cable through Kaitai’s tires, I secured her around a bike post cemented into the sidewalk.

The head brewer was pulled up at the bar with a plate of food, a stack of papers and a laptop. He politely accepted my resume. Acknowledging he already had apprentice brewers on staff, he’d let me know if they needed any help on brew days. He folded my resume and slid it into the stack of papers. With a slight sigh of pent up tension, he exclaimed he had no choice but to focus all his current energies towards sorting out the brewing operation’s taxes. Ahh yes, we must have the same uncle - Sam? :-)

Good day kind sir, and thank you for your time.

Goose Island, Wrigleyville

Goose Island, Source: EarlIsHungry.yelp.com

Next I rolled past Wrigley Field over to Goose Island on Clark. There must have been a game later in the day - crowd control fences were lined up along the sidewalk. I secured my bike to a CTA bus sign pole.

Goose's Matilda is one of my favorite Belgian Strong Pale Ale, and the Bourbon County, barrel aged, imperial stout has quite the following. Goose also has a nice rotating selection of seasonal brews that they only serve out of the brew pubs - like the Cubby Blueberry, which isn't too sweet, has the aforementioned blueberry taste and is like a pale, wheat ale.

A waitress inside Goose obliged my request to speak to a brewer. A young, bearded man apprehensively peaked around the corner from a hallway. Deciding I wasn't a monster, or a sales person (who can blame him), he came out to meet me. I gave him my elevator pitch asking if they needed any low level support in the brewery. Apparently there’s a huge waiting list from Siebel students.

I later learned from Google (thanks to spelling corrections) that Siebel Institute of Technology is focused on the science of brewing. It is headquartered in Chicago and apparently internationally recognized. I knew there was a formal track somewhere I was intentionally trying to bypass. Also, Goose Island also does not accept unpaid interns, they insist on paying you.

Half Acre, North Center

Half Acre, Source: HalfAcreBeer.com

Up next, Half Acre in North Center. I have a fondness for Half Acre's beers - Gossamer Golden Ale, Daisy Cutter Pale Ale, and many other taps they produce.

I spun west on a sun soaked Addison street to the Metra train underpass where Ravenswood intersects. Ravenswood is one of my favorite streets, especially in the summer. It's actually more of two corridors split by the Metra rail. I recommend reading this write up in the Chicago Tribune on Ravenswood.

I admired lush green foliage, and neighborhood gardens aside the tracks, blurring together on my left. And neighborhood houses, large factories and warehouses whirring past me lazily on the right. A third of the warehouses look empty, another third active for storage or manufacturing, and the last third converted into bustling, start-ups. It is mostly a quiet street - with an occasional suburban bound train barreling along at 50+ mph. The stretch of nature along the tracks in the midst of the urban grid is welcome and takes my mind to far away places. To the west of Ravenswood and Irving, I found a bike stand three shops south of Half Acre and bound Kaitai up.

Half Acre’s oversized brewery / garage doors were wide open. I could see two tiers of fermenters and the silhouettes of a few young chaps bustling about in the back. One younger slender clean shaven fellow was taste testing what looked to be fresh beer, and another slightly larger dude with a half beard was doing the same with an expression of curiosity punctuated with bliss. I caught the attention of the bearded gent and gave him my hello. He optimistically shook my hand and we swapped stories.

Good day kind sir, and thank you for your time.

Metropolitan Brewing, Andersonville

Metro, Source: Instagram @jfroom

Next on my agenda was to head south towards Wicker Park and Bucktown. As I unlocked my bike, saddled up and contemplated how to get down there I instinctively headed back towards Ravenswood. I started to remember there was another brewery nearby on Ravenswood I had heard of, but I forgot the name. I pulled over and started goggling my phone.

Metropolitan Brewing was on north Ravenswood in Andersonville. They focused on lagers. I don’t like lagers. Or do I? I’m not a huge fan - reminds me too much of a weak and fizzy Miller Lite, a Bud Light, or a bug light. But hey - why exclude any options. Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket. And if I get to ride on Ravenswood to get there, bonus.

I've since become familiar with Metro's line of lagers and they are truly fantastic. Their Krankshaft Kölsch is quite popular around Chicago. The seasonal brews are a real treat: Magnetron Schwarzbier, Afterburner Octoberfest, and Generator Doppelbock in particular are amazing. See their Beer Advocate profile.

As I approached the brewery, a huge garage door opened and a bearded man with a shaved head was driving a fork lift towards me. A younger, spry fellow came along side with an oversized squeegee on a shovel stick.

They both stopped and looked at me. I awkwardly adjusted my bike helmet, dug out my halfling resume and gave my pitch which I was quickly getting sick of. The man in the lift nodded before I got more than a few words out and told me I should talk to Logan. He merrily went buzzing around the corner in his pimp ride, re-emerging moments later forking a dumpster.

Logan appeared - young, strappy, energetic, and with amazing pin-up girl tattoos on his arms. We spoke for a good while about how they occasionally invite volunteers in to help out. We traded a story or two about brewing as the bearded gent's forklift went whizzing past with a heavy bin of steaming grains.

Good day kind sir, and thank you for your time.

Revolution Brewing, Logan Square

Revolution bike corrals, Source: Steven Vance

Cycling down Western, I arrived at Revolution’s Brewpub on Milwaukee. This part of Chicago is very biker friendly and there was a long bike corral where car parking spots used to be. I locked her up and headed in.

I love this place. The atmosphere, the brews, the food is tasty, and it even has a fireplace in the front for those frostbite Chicago winter days. Their Cross of Gold Golden ale, Rosa Hibiscus ale and Straight Jacket barrel-aged barleywine are to die for, and they are constantly brewing up some short batches.

Drinking Buddies

Revolution opened for business around the same time my interest in craft beers was bubbling up. I had the unique fanboy opportunity to follow their blog during the startup stages of construction. Reading the stores of the owners and watching short videos of their operation coming together was engaging.

The hostess informed me that for the week, all of the brewers were over at Revolution’s new Kedzie brew house and production facility to get the air conditioning going and make some other adjustments. I later learned that the movie "Drinking Buddies" with Olivia Wilde and Ron Livingston was filmed there a few weeks later.

I didn't want to disturb the busy brewers, so I decided to follow-up later in the week - which I promptly forgot about. The hostess mentioned she noticed Pipeworks was looking for some help on Facebook.

Good day kind ma’am, and thank you for your time.

Pipeworks Brewing, Logan Square

Pipeworks Gear, Source: MyFoxChicago.com

Pipeworks specializes in large format, small batches. Their Ninja vs. Unicorn Double IPA is delicious, I've not had many others, but have heard many good things. Pipeworks wasn’t too far down the street from Revolution.

I found them in what looked to be a very small space in the back of a storefront on the edge of a neighborhood street - at least from what I could see. As I approached, I saw one fellow hunkered over a labeling machine, fastidiously engaged with the finer trappings of the machine. Behind were some brew tuns and fermenter tanks arranged in a tight space.

Still mounted on my bike and with helmet on, I asked for someone I could give my resume to. A petite young woman emerged from the garage door looking a bit sweaty. We shook hands, which quickly became fused together in her sticky, beer wort grip. She accepted my dead tree pulp with ink on it.

One tattooed gent with his shirt off was sitting outside the garage sipping on a wheat ale. We struck up a conversation - he was a brewer at Piece Brewery and Pizzeria. He thought I worked at Half Acre because of my shirt. That reminds me, I need to make it over to Piece one of these days.

Good day, kind sir, kind ma'am and thank you for your time.

Atlas Brewing, Lincoln Park

Atlas aging in Koval barrels, Source: Twitter @AtlasBrewing

I had just enough energy to hit up one more brewery. The skies had also started to mysteriously darken. I found a ‘no parking’ sign to throw my lock around in West Lincoln Park on Lincoln Avenue just outside of Atlas Brewery.

Atlas had opened in the previous month and was run by two brewing brothers. I accidentally interrupted one of the brothers to inquire. I was impressed with their very presentable bar and brewpub. I've been back since then, and I recall their Diversey Pale Ale being a nice citrusy, hoppy ale. As well as a seasonal pumpkin ale hitting the palette just right - not too sweet.

Good day, kind sir and thank you for your time.

...and then the skies opened up...

Source: Flickr, Obscure Allusion

Heading home, a flash-flood summer storm dropped a few dozen gallons of freezing water on me. On my street, freakishly strong wind gusts blew me off my bike and snapped some rather largish branches around me.

Got the call!

A few weeks later, my wife, Masayo, was driving us back from my brother’s wedding party in the southwest suburb of Joliet. I had recently heard about shootings on the highway, so I was busy scanning the lanes for any characters. I got a call as we merged off 55 onto Lake Shore Drive near McCormick Place.

It was Logan from Metropolitan Brewing. It took me a moment to recognize who he was, I had all but forgotten about that day I got blown off my bike and drenched. None of the brewers had called me back, and I was a-okay with that. It was a self-entertaining shot in the dark anyway.

"Logan - yes! What’s up?”

“Hey, can you help us with a brew tomorrow?”