San Francisco's Speakeasy Ales & Lagers Arrives In Chicago
By Chuck Sudo in Food on May 1, 2013 8:50PM
The already-fierce competition for room on retail shelves and bars across Chicago will get even fiercer with the arrival of Speakeasy Ales & Lagers to the Chicago market. The San Francisco-based brewery is bringing their flagship brews, Prohibition Ale and Big Daddy IPA, along with the seasonal Tallulah Extra Pale Ale. According to Speakeasy Director of Sales and Marketing Brandon Borgel, Chicago is a welcome addition to their growing lineup of markets and the success of Speakeasy in Chicago will help them continue their growth.
“We’re currently at 35,000 barrels a year,” Borgel said. That places Speakeasy ahead of a five-year plan to reach a 50,000 barrel capacity by 2015. “We target major metropolitan areas like Chicago and New York as a strategic measure, so you won’t see our beers in Indiana, for example.”
As for the beers themselves, they’re balanced to cater to any palate. Big Daddy is an India pale ale in the classic California style, with prominent citrus notes on the nose and a nice bitterness on the tongue to go with sweet malts. Prohibition Ale is an amber that actually pours more of a reddish, copper color, with hints of pine, grapefruit and spice on the nose and a creamy effervescence on the palate.
But the standout of the lot is Tallulah. This ale pours a golden in color and is only five bitterness units lighter than Big Daddy. Think of it as Speakeasy’s version Zombie Dust, but with more balance.
Borgel said Speakeasy will send some specialty beers and other seasonal selections to Chicago in the future. You may want to head over to Green Door Tavern, where they’re pouring Old Godfather, Speakeasy’s barleywine, on tap right now.
Jak’s Tap (901 W. Jackson Blvd.) will host a tasting of Speakeasy’s brews 6 p.m. May 2. They’ll be pouring the Double Daddy Imperial IPA in addition to Speakeasy’s other offerings.