The Beeronaut

Category: Beer Business

What goes on behind the taps? The beer business, planned new place, sudden closings in the Chicago market.

Burnt City, 2 Other Brewers Open District Brew Yards

I’ve gotten some news releases that I need to just pump out here, so here’s one: In February, Burnt City brewing closed its Lincoln Ave, brewpub and bowling alley space, and its packaging brewery in the former Jay’s Potato Chip plant on the South Side, after announcing they needed to refocus their strategy in the... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
April 9, 2019 at 10:12 pm

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Pink Boots Society "Hold My Crown" Hits Taps

You may have seen events in this space, hosted by organizations for women in the beer brewing business, or who simply enjoy beer. One of the business-oriented groups, the Pink Boots Society, has launched a multi-brewer collaboration release this weekend. Hold My Crown is a collaboration among ten Chicago area breweries. It’s also practically a new style of... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
April 4, 2019 at 5:50 pm

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Arcade Brewery Closes, Ale Syndicate on the Bubble

Another shakeup in Chicago’s brewing scene unfolded Monday morning. Chris Tourre of Arcade Brewery sent the following email to their retail accounts: Good Morning Retailers, We wanted to inform you that Arcade Brewery will be closing effective immediately. Given the circumstances in our facility that halted our production and the inability to come to terms... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
December 20, 2016 at 12:14 am

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Tales of Chicago Bars as Fischman's Announces Reopening

I have a rather old piece of news here, but I did want to continue to get it out, since I had contacted people involved who were kind enough to reply. And even my late articles tend to get some look-see’s, so there are people for whom this will be news. Just one week after... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
August 2, 2016 at 11:35 pm

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Meet the Winchester Brewing Folks (Updated)

I have found that if I wait too long to write up a post, it tends to slide off my radar and never get done. That’s why I put this story up as soon as I could, errors and all. I am grateful that the store’s owner, Bob Winchester, wrote me to offer some emendations,... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
February 8, 2016 at 11:36 pm

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Chicago Craft Beer Weekend, October 23-25

Geeky Talk: Google has announced that it is changing the way it serves up data for programmers crunching it into their apps. To throw some non-beer tech stuff that I barely comprehend around, they are dropping support for XML and expecting everyone to start using their API. This may or may not take down my... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
October 22, 2015 at 1:38 pm

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Ya Gotta Be in it to "Win" It: Goose Island's lottery for Bourbon County Rare

Goose Island Beer Co. has joined in one of the more controversial practices involving special beer releases: they have instituted a lottery for the chance to buy a ticket for the chance to buy a rare beer. The beer in question is the 2015 Rare Bourbon County Stout, a batch of their Bourbon County Brand... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
October 5, 2015 at 2:37 pm

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More Craft Beer Mergers with a Chicago Face: Lagunitas & Virtue Cider

Two craft brewers with a Chicago ties have undergone the merger route in the past four days. Tuesday morning, the beer world was hit with an announcement that Lagunitas Brewing Co., the Petaluma, CA-based beer maker with a huge Chicago brewery, had sold a 50% share to Heineken N.V., currently the world’s third largest brewing... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
September 9, 2015 at 10:52 pm

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Upcoming Chicago Beer Events in 2015

Here we re at the start of a new year. With more and more brewers opening, expanding, and whatnot, and more craft beer festivals being put on, I am going to try and run down some of the things we can look forward to. I have previewed some of this info in my Twitter chat... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
January 21, 2015 at 11:08 pm

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Touring Goose Island's Barrel-Aging Warehouse

Back in October, I was among this town’s beer writers who got the privilege of touring Goose Island’s new barrel warehouse at 603 N. Sacramento. I also got, of course, a taste of the 2014 Bourbon County Brand Stout and its variants. I’d like to say I held off on offering you this description to... Read more »

By Mark McDermott,
November 25, 2014 at 11:17 pm

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