Arts & Entertainment
Brewing a Batch with the Evanston Homebrew Club
The Evanston Homebrew Club is a local organization of beer brewers and enthusiasts that congregate over their suds infatuation. Evanston Patch recently joined the group for one of their joint brewing sessions.
At 10:30 a.m. Sunday, the Evanston Homebrew Club gathered in an alley by Chicago and Main near the entrance to Few Spirits Distillery, set up shop, threw on the new Beastie Boys Album, and started brewing beer.
The group, which was founded two years ago by Evanstonian Ted Perez, meets to celebrate everything beer related. The club holds group brew sessions, recently participated in the of Chicago Craft Beer Week and gathers for meetings in the back of Prarie Moon on the third Thursday of every month to sample member's various ales, lagers, stouts and bocks.
Sunday, the group brewed two different styles of beer: a Rouge Morimoto Soba Ale clone and an Avery Brewing Company Hog Heaven Barley Wine clone.
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Perez said he is looking to open a combination brewery and restaurant in Evanston, where customers could drink on site and take beer home in growlers. He is currently in the process of seeking out investors.
A bill recently approved by the Illinois House of Representatives could help Perez, as it would allow breweries producing fewer than 15,000 barrels of beer annually to sell directly to local distributors, skipping a middleman “retailer” that previously had to be involved by law. The bill is waiting for approval by Gov. Pat Quinn.
