There are places where aging is considered a good thing, where hairless heads rule, where hops aren’t for bunnies and where there is no such thing as being too robust or too stout.
Prepare to get thirsty.
From Seattle to St. Petersburg, beer is big. Not the mass-produced, one-type-fits-all pale brew of fraternity “kegger” fame. No, sir. Today’s beer of choice is custom brewed in collectors’ quantities. Called craft beer, its heady aroma of fermented hops, malt and secret ingredients is also likely to mingle with the savory smells of good food as both emanate from a bumper crop of charming new brew pubs or microbreweries.
Local proprietors or proprietors-to-be include Dean and Carolyn Armstrong of Flossmoor, the Leto family of Mokena and Dick Van Dyke (not the famous one) of Lockport. The Armstrongs’ Flossmoor Station brew pub opened this summer; the Letos’ World’s End Brewing Co. is set to open in Mokena in April; and Van Dyke’s brew pub, Doppelbockers Brewery and Restaurant, is also planned for next year in the southwest suburbs. Although the pubs’ architecture may vary–Flossmoor Station is located in the village’s landmark 1906 train station, while World’s End will occupy a brand new 27,000-square-foot brewing center in Mokena–they represent the south suburban slice of a national boom.
According to Jim Parker, administrator of the Institute for Brewing Studies (IBS) in Boulder, Colo., there were 47 microbreweries in the United States in 1986; today there are more than a thousand, and new ones are opening at a rate of about six (more precisely, 3.7 brew pubs and 2.3 microbreweries) per week. The IBS, a non-profit informational organization with 2,000 members nationwide, defines a brew pub as an establishment that brews beer on the premises and is also a restaurant. Parker has coined the term “brew-staurants” to describe the more exotic ones he has seen, including a brew pub in Brooklyn, N.Y., that serves Thai food. A microbrewery, according to IBS, is just that, a small brewery, which may or may not include a restaurant.
According to Marty Nachel of Orland Park, certified beer judge and co-author of “Beer for Dummies” (Dummies Press, $19.99), these microbrewed craft beers are a response to the nation’s cry for a return to a unique, high-quality beverage. Nachel explains that prior to the Volstead Act in 1919, microbreweries (represented by taverns and home brewers) produced most beer, and customers toted home their neighborhood-brewed beer in buckets. Once Prohibition ended in 1933, however, refrigeration and mass production took beer brewing out of the local tavern and into the large breweries, which turned out what Parker calls “pale yellow belch propellant.”
Parker says the popularity of craft beers is propelling large breweries into that market. “What used to be a gnat now dominates about 2 percent of the beer market. Craft beer has become a mosquito,” he says, with a buzz that’s attracting large breweries.
Parker adds that even though such large breweries as Coors and restaurant chains are also hopping on the craft beer wagon, most microbreweries are still the domain of the home brewing hobbyist gone professional.
Since 1978, the Leto family has owned Mokena’s Country Food & Liquor store, which sells 800 brands of beer plus beermaking supplies for home brewers, and Dean Leto says the brew pub/microbrewery represents the next logical business progression.
Dean and Carolyn Armstrong, lawyer and legal assistant, represent the exception. They are not home brew hobbyists but have investigated brew pubs nationwide for several years in their search for an investment.
As a business venture, brew pubs and microbreweries enjoy an enviable success rate of 86 percent, Parker says, and Dean Armstrong, who thoroughly researched the subject before embarking on his endeavor, compares that to the 5 percent success rate of new restaurants. Although the owners said they were motivated more by fun than profit in deciding to open brew pubs, all agreed that the success rate helped convince bankers to lend them needed funds. Although brew pubs and microbreweries may make money once they’re up and running, it takes a heap of cash to get them to that point.
First of all, there’s all that stainless steel for brewing equipment, says Van Dyke, 11-year home brewing veteran, certified national beer judge and owner of “a closet full of national brewing awards.”
“You have to use stainless steel (for brewing). It takes a cleaning, and it gets better with use and age. If you don’t clean your brewing equipment properly, you compromise quality,” says Van Dyke, who estimated the cost of brewing equipment alone at $200,000.
Additionally, brew pub owners are really starting up two businesses–a restaurant and a brewery–in one, according to Van Dyke, and must plan for both. After visiting more than 70 brew pubs throughout the United States in the last four years, Van Dyke says his vision began to take form. The former human services executive sees his future brew pub as a cozy haven where he will serve six home brews to patrons who also might graze on a variety of snack items cooked over the pub’s wood fire. “Sort of like a Spanish tapas bar, but with American foods,” he says.
Others dream of more. Dean Leto describes the World’s End Brewing Co. as a “destination entertainment facility.” Located at 191st Street and LaGrange Road, World’s End will offer 10 to 20 of its own beers, a wine list, an international gourmet menu and live entertainment. In addition, Dean Leto says, patrons who wish to make and bottle their own beer will be able to brew on premises.
Both Van Dyke and Dean Leto are backed by a number of small investors. “These kinds of ventures are far too expensive to be able to go it alone,” Van Dyke says.
How expensive? Van Dyke wouldn’t say, but the Armstrongs are seven figures into theirs, and Dean Leto says World’s End will be an $8 million venture by the time the doors open.
Although Dean and Carolyn Armstrong had long been saving for a business investment, they said they were not prepared for all the cost overruns. The easiest part was buying the building from the city of Flossmoor, he says, for $300,000. Once they began planning the renovation of the former train station–which had been a mini-mall since 1977–city government kept lobbing roadblocks in their path in the form of historic and building code restrictions.
After numerous failed attempts to gain approval from the city of Flossmoor, Armstrong credits a Tribune article with tipping the scales in the couple’s favor. “We showed the mayor this article about how few really good restaurants there are in the south suburbs,” he says. The mayor and council acquiesced.
Perhaps fittingly, considering the location, Armstrong fondly refers to his Flossmoor Station as “a runaway train of expenses,” with the zoning and building code compliance just the beginning. With months to go before opening and with the last of the $750,000 they’d set aside for renovation dwindling, the Armstrongs went to the Bank of Homewood for a loan. Ultimately the couple’s investment reached about $1.5 million. Business, Dean says, has been brisk, but it will be a while–if ever–before Flossmoor Station makes the couple wealthy.
No matter. Dean and Carolyn Armstrong are delighted with the outcome of their efforts. The old station house overlooks downtown Flossmoor from atop the highest point in town. Huge photographs of the bygone era in railroading adorn the station’s walls. The ambience definitely says railroad . . . and beer. Brewmaster Todd Ashman of Flossmoor is happy to conduct brewery tours.
At Flossmoor Station patrons can choose from among seven home brews while munching on what Armstrong calls classic American heartland cuisine. Their beers range from a very light golden ale to a dark, robust stout. A seven-glass sampler offers a couple sips of each.
In addition, Flossmoor Station also brews its own root beer. Called Goober Brau, it is named after 3-year-old daughter Ashley’s dog and is part of the pub’s children’s menu. “We wanted to hold onto the European tradition of a pub as the community gathering place, suitable for entire families,” says Dean Armstrong.
Like the beer they brew, microbrewers come in a wide variety of styles, although the Armstrongs, the Letos and Van Dyke all agree on one thing: The best part of their venture, aside from actually owning a microbrewery, was the years of research and taste-testing.
Cheers!
THERE’S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
According to Marty Nachel’s “Beer for Dummies,” brewing beer is a fairly complex process that requires highly specialized equipment, work and skill. Additionally, no two brewers will follow exactly the same process or recipe.
It takes anywhere from two to four weeks from malting, through milling, mashing, boiling, fermenting and aging, to drinking. At a brew pub such as Flossmoor Station, says owner Dean Armstrong, several beers must be in various stages of production at one time to keep up with the demand. They offer seven regular beers, plus one that changes seasonally. They serve only their own privately brewed beers, which at $3.25 a pint are a little higher than the corner bar.
Armstrong says Flossmoor Station’s most popular brew is the Station Master Wheat Ale, which he describes as close to American lagers in color and body. The menu describes it as a “golden, flavorful and crisp light ale brewed with 50 percent wheat malt . . . distinguished by a hoppy yet smooth taste with a malty body and a subtly spicy aroma.”
Not the most popular but certainly one of the most interesting beers is Flossmoor Station’s Chessie Cherry Wheat Ale. It’s “fermented with fresh Michigan red cherries to create a cool and refreshing fruit beer,” says the menu.
Dick Van Dyke plans to serve two of his award-winning beers at Doppelbockers. Van Dyke describes a first-place national award winner called Rose’s Imperial Stout as full, rich, dark, almost espresso-like. “It’s an after-dinner drink with a high alcohol content (8 percent) when a short one is just enough,” he says.
He describes amber-colored Carolyn’s Kolsch as the opposite end of the flavor and color spectrum.
“It’s light, fruity, lively and fermented at a cooler temperature, which gives it a summerlike flavor,” Van Dyke says.
