Beer Lover's Chicago by Karl Klockars

Author:Karl Klockars
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493025114
Publisher: Globe Pequot Press
Published: 2017-10-17T04:00:00+00:00

ZUMBIER

3232 W. Monroe St., Waukegan, IL 60085; (847) 420-7313; zumbier.com; @ZumBierMon

Founded: July 2012 Founder: Larry Bloom Brewers: Larry Bloom, Jim Buche, Kelly Below Flagship beers: Citra-Tasm, Super Chong, Hoppy Time Tours: Yes Taproom Hours: Wed through Thurs, 4 to 9 p.m.; Fri, 3 to 10 p.m.; Sat, 2 to 10 p.m.; Sun, 1 to 6 p.m.

We would have had one less brewery in this book if owner and brewer Larry Bloom had lived closer to Westmont. Bloom was working to set up a brewery with 51st Ward’s Tim Hoerman when the proposed location started moving south. Preferring to keep things closer to home, Bloom split off and started his own small brewery in Waukegan, perhaps depriving western suburbanites of his brewing skills but saving a lot of time on the roads. Today, ZumBier serves up bottles to northern Illinois bars and restaurants as well as the patrons of Bloom’s brewery taproom.

The ZumBier name comes from the German word for “destination” or “to the”—the Bier part should be self-explanatory—to celebrate the exploration of the beer experience and the world culture created by beer. Bloom opened a production facility in February 2014 and a taproom in early 2015 for growler fills and bottle sales. Finally, in July 2015, patrons were able to have a pint poured for them onsite.

Brewing on a 1.5 bbl PsychoBrew system, ZumBier is still a true nanobrewery, churning out under a hundred barrels a year of dozens of small-batch options. True to the Germanic origin of the name, there are kolsch, altbiers, and dunkelweiss, but the American side makes itself known through citra-hopped pale ales, a rye black IPA, and a straightforward IPA named Liberty Call in tribute to the nearby Great Lakes Naval Station.

ZumBier’s philosophy of world citizenship comes through in that mix of international styles. “What we want the beer to be is a meeting point for celebration and bringing people together,” he explains. “We use traditional styles when it’s appropriate for the beer we’re producing, and we’re also unafraid to be experimental and try new things.” Americans traditionally aren’t stifled by rule following, so expect beers to continue to push to the experimental side.

JOHN HALL: THE Q&A

You can look at Chicago craft beer and separate it into two different eras—before Goose Island and after Goose. You can also look at the craft beer business around the nation and separate that even further into two eras—before Goose Island was sold to Anheuser-Busch, and after. To say that John Hall Goose Island’s founder created something that influenced the way the entire nation drinks is not an exaggeration.

Hall sat down with me to talk about what the city’s beer scene looked like as he was opening his brewery, when he finally felt like Goose was safe, and a little bit about that big sale to A-B.

Karl: Before getting Goose Island off the ground, what did your career look like?

John: I spent twenty years with Container Corporation of America, which is a packaging company that when I joined them, was an independent company.

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