Chicago's new Metropolitan Brewery

Before last week, I’d never heard of Metropolitan Brewery. I was simply looking around to see what show the Neo-Futurists were offering. That show is Beer, a musical about brewing craft beers, while fighting the evil villain Bud Miller. And it’s performed inside Metropolitan Brewery, at the corner of Ravenswood and Winona.

Metropolitan Brewery was started late last year by Doug and Tracy Hurst, who bill themselves as “craft beer’s obsequious minions.” Currently, the brewery’s beers are available at the Hopleaf, Handlebar, Risqué Café, and maybe a few others. Interestingly, unlike most microbrew startups, they aren’t currently making ales – it’s an all-lager operation. The two I tried were Dynamo Copper Lager, which had a nice balance of Munich and Vienna malts with noble German hops, and Flywheel Bright Lager, a very clean-tasting beer that reminded me of a far more complex version of LaCrosse Lager. Doug, the brewmaster, said he plans to add a Kölsch, Altbier, Oktoberfest, and a Doppelbock.

The show is lively, fun, and surprisingly accurate about the process of brewing. And it’s loaded with local beery references – from the all-seeing, all-knowing See-Bull, to the bittering, flavor and aroma hops, each of which happens to be named Floyd. So you can hear a musical number by The Three Floyds. Highly recommended. Runs through March 7.

But more importantly, it was great to learn of, taste and tour a new microbrewery in Chicago, that has identified an interesting niche, and based on early results, seems to be doing a great job filling it. I’ll be seeking out Metropolitan’s beers. (Note, Metropolitan is strictly a brewery, not a brewpub – I’m guessing that the space used for the theatrical performance may be where they ultimately expect to put their bottling line.)

Hopleaf Bar
5148 N Clark St
Chicago

Handlebar Bar & Grill
2311 W North Ave
Chicago

Risqué Café
3419 N Clark St
Chicago

Looking forward to trying some of the new brews. From the looks of it, they're a pretty serious operation. And, as someone who recently rediscovered the simple beauty of a well-crafted lager, I'm glad to see they're focusing on those.

Rushed over to the Hopleaf after work the other day in time to try one of the Metropolitan brews. Though I kinda had to chug it before we left, I got a good impression of the Dynamo Copper Lager. Its notably different from other lagers, either German or American. It has some of the crisp hoppiness of the Brooklyn lager, but has a fuller sweet finish than Victory's Prima Pils. The most prominent flavor seemed to be, oddly enough, peanut butter. Worth a try for $5 - doesn't reinvent the wheel, but will be near the top of the list when I'm looking for a lager.

nr706 wrote:The show is lively, fun, and surprisingly accurate about the process of brewing. And it’s loaded with local beery references – from the all-seeing, all-knowing See-Bull, to the bittering, flavor and aroma hops, each of which happens to be named Floyd. So you can hear a musical number by The Three Floyds. Highly recommended. Runs through March 7.

nr706, thanks for the review. I've been interested in seeing the show (and trying some Metropolian beers) since reading about it, I think, on Gapers Block. The show is now listed on Goldstar, with $7.50 tickets, for anyone else interested.

Beer, the show is very fun and inventive - highly recommended! Really fine performances by very talented performers. If you've been thinking about going, don't hesitate.

They've got the Copper Lager on tap at Prairie Moon, Evanston. Nice crisp lager, but I'll reserve judgement, since my tasting was after some (okay, several) palette busting hop and alcohol powerhouses.

Tiny Lounge on Leavitt also has at least one Metropolitan brew on tap, although I can't remember which one. Their food menu also looked pretty interesting.

4352 N Leavitt St
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 463-0396

I really need to get up there to check out the brewery one of these days.

I've seen Flywheel and Dynamo at the Map Room (corner of Armitage & Hoyne). Their website indicates Flywheel is currently on tap.

I picked up a six-pack of Metropolitan's new Kölsch-style lager, Krank-Shaft. Not being a connoisseur of this style of lager, I didn't have much to compare it to. I tried the first one a few nights ago, and it did really nothing for me. Not bad, but nothing I'd run back for.

Since there were five left in my fridge that needed to be consumed, I grabbed another last night with dinner. After dinner, I opened another. My wife said to me, "I thought you weren't a big fan of that beer?" I replied, "I thought so too, but when I finished the last bottle, I was sad that it was gone."

So, it grew on me. Maybe it took some time to recalibrate my palette to it, but it has a very pleasant bright effervescence and just enough hoppiness to make it interesting. It's not exactly a cool-weather beer, but something I'm enjoying nonetheless.

Side note, for those interested, Tom Keith (aka nr706) wrote a great feature piece on Metropolitan for The Local Beet.

Best,
Michael

From Facebook:

Metropolitan Brewing wrote: We just mashed in our first batch of Generator Doppelbock!

Reissdorf Kölsch travels quite well for the style so would be a fair comparison for the style. I have sampled Metro's interpretation and it is darn close to the mark.

I had a few of these Metropolitan Dynamo Copper Lager's brews on tap last night at the Maple Tree Inn. Great brew, smooth and nice finish with good kick to it. Went great with the piles of shrimp, crawdads and spare ribs we had.

Maple Tree Inn
13301 S. Western
Blue Island IL 60406
(708) 388-3461
http://blueislandbiz.com/mapletree.html
http://www.metrobrewing.com/beers/index.html

Joint'z around town that have the Copper Lager >> http://www.beermenus.com/beers/metropolitan-dynamo-copper-lager?city_id=chicago

Chicagoans have long been drinking Metropolitan Brewing’s beers at bars and in the comfort of their own homes. But now lager fans have a place to go and sip on Metropolitan’s brews, inside the brewery’s just-opened Avondale taproom that overlooks the Chicago River at 3057 N. Rockwell St. every day of the week.

https://chicago.eater.com/2017/10/3/164 ... m-avondale

Dave148 wrote:

Chicagoans have long been drinking Metropolitan Brewing’s beers at bars and in the comfort of their own homes. But now lager fans have a place to go and sip on Metropolitan’s brews, inside the brewery’s just-opened Avondale taproom that overlooks the Chicago River at 3057 N. Rockwell St. every day of the week.

https://chicago.eater.com/2017/10/3/164 ... m-avondale

Stopped in here with my wife over the weekend. Still some work to be done (like the patio and the entrance...walking through a construction site), but a really nice spot to take down a few. No food, but can BYO or get delivery.

The view will only improve as the leaves start changing along the river in the coming weeks.

I was there earlier this month. It is nice they finally have a location where they can brew and host. I am pretty sure you know my favorite beer is Dynamo Copper Lager.
I think the view is picturesque right now. Here are photographs I took. The first one distinguishes the door you are seeking as you crawl through the construction zone. You're close enough to Western Ave. that, as I did, you can go from here to Half Acre's Balmoral Taproom and Spiteful Brwg.'s Taproom. (You have to walk 3 blocks ENE on Bowmanville Ave. from the route #49 {and #X49} Western | Berwyn terminus.)

Metropolitan Brewing, a Chicago canned beer holdout, finally pivots to cans — in part because of coronavirus

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavi ... story.html