Jared Rouben Bringing Beer For Moody Tongues This Winter

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Aug 7, 2013 3:30PM

Jared Rouben

“’Moody Tongue’ is a moniker for people with a discerning palate,” Jared Rouben said when asked why he chose that as the name for his upcoming brewery in Pilsen. Rouben, the former brewer at Goose Island Clybourn who earned a reputation for brewing beers with unique flavor combinations and using tricks honed in some of the kitchens of Thomas Keller and Todd Humphries as part of his brewing process, announced the location for Moody Tongue Brewing at 2136 S. Peoria St. Wednesday.

"We chose Pilsen because we wanted to be part of a vibrant community," Rouben told Chicagoist in a phone interview. "We were very lucky to find a great location that makes sense for a brewery."

Rouben has been working on bringing Moody Tongue to life even before he left Goose Island in January. It wasn’t until speaking with his business partner and cousin, Jeremy Cohn, last Thanksgiving that the business plan began to take shape. “Every time I sat down to write the business plan I would stop because I was stuck,” Rouben told Chicagoist. “Jeremy called and said, ‘let's talk this through.’ We kept calling each other and talked about what kind of brewery we wanted and things just started to snowball from there.”

Rouben said he and Cohn are readying construction of the 9,300 square-foot space and, barring any unforeseen complications, expect the brewery to be operating sometime this winter. “We looked at over 60 places before we found this space,” Rouben said. “The space has tons of natural light, 14-foot high ceilings and huge sliding doors to bring in supplies, kegs, and equipment.”

Rouben said Moody Tongue will have a tap room, the popular conceit among many of the new breweries opening in Chicago. He’ll also focus on “culinary brewing,” an extension of the brewing philosophies he developed at Goose Island.

“We’re going to be experimenting with different flavors, fresh ingredients to add to the brewing process and barrel aging, and using kitchen techniques to make the beers we want to make,” Rouben said. He added he’ll be bringing back some beer flavors and styles he originally worked on at the brewpub, like bubblegum blonde ale, brandied blackberry and gingerbread chocolate stout.