Touring our lil' Brewery

Greetings, all!

Due to the large number of emails, Facebook posts, and Tweets requesting info about tours, I thought it might be wise of me to put a post here to explain ourselves; to explain just why the hell we haven't scheduled any public tours lately.

Let me cut to the chase here: it's all your fault! You wonderful, craft-beer drinking folks are out-pacing not only us, but every other small brewery who supplies the goods to our lovely city. We are brewing brewing brewing to keep up. We literally work every day to produce as much beer as we can. Not that we're complaining. We love our jobs. But this workload doesn't leave us much time for offering tours.

The value of offering tours to our devoted drinkers is immeasurable, we're not missing that point. But our main focus is - and always will be - brewing the best damn lagers we possibly can. All four people on our staff are devoted to this singular goal. All of our resources and money are dedicated this singular goal. Everything else comes after this singular goal is met.

Allow me to propose a solution to this (awesome) problem. For our part, we'll continue to focus on our brews, that's why we're all here, after all. And we cross-our-hearts-hope-to-die promise that we will schedule some public tours as soon as we can (we'll post them on on Twitter and Facebook). For your part, please continue to buy and drink craft beer. The more beer we sell -> the more people we can hire -> the more resources we'll have -> more public tours!

our walk to work today

Nothing will stop us from brewing beer. Not even a historical midwestern snowstorm that has pretty much the entire city of Chicago shut down. Behold, I documented for you what it was like to walk to the brewery today. Before we even left the back gate...


At first we tried to walk down the sidewalks. The winds caused incredible drifting and the sidewalks were nigh unpassable.


Phelps took to leaping through the drifts, which probably wouldn't have lasted long before his tiny heart gave out. So we moved out into the street. We didn't see any cars ourselves, but we were able to walk in tire tracks, so someone managed to get where they were going this morning.


Neighbors were out all over the place, starting to dig out.


We worked long and hard for many years to have this privilege of living just a few blocks from work. We almost never drive our car. And today, no one else is driving their car either.


This is the west side of our building. Huge drifts. Fortunately, the snow had drifted off of the sidewalks on the north side of the building (our side).



Phelps once again engages his leaping skillz to get into the brewery door.


See the joy on this face? Beer does that.


Our first mash-in for the day. No snowstorm can keep us from puttin' some Krank in the tank!

When good friends join powers, listen for the BOOM!

When Doug and I moved to Chicago in 1999, our first priority was to seek out the beer crowds. As you may know, Chicago is loaded with beer legends, authors, aficionados, and of course, geeks. We had no trouble finding a wealth of new friends who shared our obsession. Counted among them is Pete Crowley. At the time, he was the well-known brewer at Rock Bottom (State/Grand). His hospitality at Mug Club meetings and at beer events was unmatched. His friendship and support while we were starting up our brewery easily makes up for all the times he's pissed me off.

Around the same time, we also became friends with Steve Mosqueda and Sean Benjamin. Doug homebrewed with both of them, and we became staunch fans of The Neo-Futurists, the Northside theater in which they both performed. They are also the founders of The Drinking and Writing Brewery, a mash-up of theater, thought, writing, and drinking. For a while the D/W Brewery made its home in various beer bars for it's on-location performances. They even staged a show that ran for 8 weeks right in our own brewery! Oh, the (loss of) memories...

Steve, Sean, and Pete have been working together for a long time, but now, they've officially set up house together at Haymarket Pub & Brewery! Last Saturday, we finally hauled our sorry butts all the way down to Randolph and Halsted to check the place out and watch Steve and Sean perform Drinking and Writing Volume III: To Cure a Hangover.

So, full disclosure: Steve, Sean, and Pete are dear friends of ours and Haymarket has already poured many, many kegs of Krankshaft. Now that that's out of the way, if you haven't visited the brewpub and seen the show, what are you waiting for?!? The atmosphere is classy, yet cozy. The staff is friendly and thoughtful. The beer list is amazing (Pete's beers are fermenting right now and will be available soon). The menu features not one, but several vegan dishes - including one for kids! (swoon) And as usual, the D/W show was hilarious.

If you're looking for something fun to do on a Saturday afternoon - and you need to know how to manage the stinky, painful results of a night of voracious drinking, check out Drinking and Writing Volume III: To Cure a Hangover. The show runs from January 1 through February 5, 2011; Saturdays at 4pm. Buy tickets here.

Krankshaft! Flywheel!

Summer is here, if our beer sales have anything to do with it. Krankshaft and Flywheel more than doubled in sales over the past 2 months. Whoo HOO! You drink it, we'll brew it. We promise.

For a short time, we had a Spring seasonal available, I-beam, an Alt-style beer. We loved this beer and we were sorry to see it go. But, our tanks are churning away with Krankshaft, Flywheel, and Dynamo right now. We'll let it ride. Don't give up on I-beam, though. You'll probably see it again.

Doug was allowed to flex his creative muscles recently. The Craft Brewers Conference (held here in Chicago) in April and Chicago Craft Beer Week in May both were great reasons to try brewing some unique beers and give birth to our Urban Evolution Series. Stay tuned for more. He's just getting started.

generosity and the joy of Oktoberfest season

This past week our filter failed on us. Hard. Thankfully, we have a friend whose superheroism never ceases to amaze. Our good pal and reliable drinking buddy Pete Crowley down at Rock Bottom State/Grand was kind enough to loan us his filter *again* as a stand in for ours as we made repairs. We were able to filter our first batch of Krankshaft and make an 11th hour delivery to our distributor. Whoo hoo! We win! So, when you're out drinking Krankshaft (available only in kegs right now; bottles will be available later this month), surely you'll taste the effort, the dedication, the utter triumph infused within. I said TASTE IT...

So after several weeks of balls-out, punk rock, non-stop days of hard production labor, we enjoyed a day of domestic chores yesterday and are enjoying day of quiet domestic projects today. Of course, the beer fridge and liquor cabinet have been wide open throughout.

This may not come as a surprise, but nothing brings tears of joy to a lager brewer's eyes like the onset of Oktoberfest season. In celebration of our days of relaxation and the launch of the best beer-drinking season ever, this morning I sautéd up a dish inspired by a Polish meal my paternal grandfather used to make. Mine uses a meat substitute, olive oil instead of butter, and as I recall his dish... I think I use more fresh peppers. And we paired it with Hacker-Pschorr Original Oktoberfest.

- cut 2 red potatoes into thick slices
- chop 2 bell peppers (any color) into 1" sq pieces
- chop 1 medium onion into 1" sq pieces
- finely dice a few cloves of garlic (7? 8?)
- finely dice a Serrano pepper (I ditch the seeds because this dish doesn't need to be really hot, but the pepper spice is awesome)
- for the protein, I used a package of Morningstar Farms Italian Sausage

Start the sauté with the fauxage and potatoes. Use just less than a tablespoon of olive oil to start, but keep it nearby. You may need to add a splash of oil here and there. When the fauxage softens up and the potatoes start to brown lightly, add the onion. Today I had a revelation: no matter what it is you're cooking, stuff doesn't start really happening until you add onion. Anyway, once the onion softens, add the garlic, the Serrano pepper, and some spices. I used basil, oregano, a dash of celery salt, and a little lemon peel. Since the potatoes and peppers will gladly take on any flavor, I try to match my spices to whatever I use as the protein. Keep stirring everything up with a spatula - the fauxage may break up into a few pieces.

Once it looks like the dish is almost done, cover everything with the bell peppers. I like them warm and crisp, so I just try to steam them over the fauxage, potato, onion, spice mix. Serve it up with toast; and I like using ketchup with horseradish as a dip.

Ultimately, this dish is all about the peppers. The light Italian herbal spices, ratcheted up a notch with the Serrano pepper, topped with the bright flavors of the steamed fresh peppers... it's a pepper-lover's bliss-out.

So then, the beer. The strong malt aroma really leaps out at you after you've had your nose hanging around the peppery food. The dry maltiness of the Oktoberfest + the savory comfort food = yes. As you eat, the Serrano pepper spice will collect on your lips. The toasted malt flavors soothe the burn. And then you'll enter that delicious cycle: "mmm, spicy peppers... oooh, malty beer... mmm, spicy peppers... oooh, malty beer..." Enjoy. We'll leave you alone now.

spit shine

In my everlasting ambition to pull my crap together, streamline my workload, and spend more time frisbee golfing, I've finally managed to make some pretty fancy updates to the blog. So here, I will blog about the blog. Bring on the metameme.

Glance to the right. With many thanks to the Mighty Anhalt, we now have a map of all the bars, restaurants, and retail stores who carry Metro. As more folks put us on tap and stock us in the coolers (hopefully), we'll add them to the map. And! Right below that link is calendar of Metro events. If you use Google calendars or iCal, you can simplify your life by adding our calendar to your list.

We've been Tweeting like Twitter is the newest, coolest thing evar. Follow us.

Now that I've rekindled my affair with the Metro blog, I might take better care of it. As always, no promises. Meanwhile, I'm going to go Tweet about the blog updates. Am I going to end up meeting myself somewhere in a parallel universe?

update on whereabouts and whatnot

Wednesday night, April 8th, we'll be drinking Metro at Northside Bar and Grill, 1635 N Damen, Chicago. As usual, we'll be giving out free beer so... you know... duh.

We've resurrected our Facebook page. Log into your Facebook account, search on "Metropolitan Brewing," and then choose the profile with the little flag next to it. That's the page we post updates, upload photos, and engage in the usual level of snark.

Also, we've been loading up our Picasa account with photos of hoisting a couple of chillers to the brewery roof, the post-party after the final performance of BEER!, and various other beer porn. Enjoy.

Tappings and Tastings, oh my!

Two weeks ago, we had our second tapping at Bottom Lounge. As always, much fun was had by all. Check out the photos here.

This week, we have two tastings scheduled...

Friday, March 20th, from 4pm until 7pm we'll be serving up free samples of Metro at Sam's at 1720 N Marcey St. I'm not going to lie, we spend a lot of time and money at this glorious flagship store. And now, as if it were a dream come true, we're going to actually legitimately hang out there for 3 full hours talking about beer!

Saturday, March 21st from 3pm until 5pm, we'll be again handing out free samples of beer at Binny's - South Loop, 1132 S. Jefferson Street. This completely awesome Binny's location has a tap room and everything!

So, hey. You know you'll be needing a beer run on Friday and Saturday this week anyway. You'll be the model of efficiency and impress all of your friends if you time it so you can drop in and talk beer with us.

LunaR TappinG was FuN!

If you didn't join us for our very first tapping and launch party at LunaR Brewing Co. in Villa Park, well... you better have a good excuse. Many laughs, much fun, and pints of delicious beers were had by all. We saw some longtime friends and made some new ones. Beer does that. Anyway, view the revelry for yourself by clicking here.

But wait! You can join us at our second ever tapping event a week from now, at Bottom Lounge. From 7pm until 9pm, join us for Dynamo Copper Lager, Flywheel Bright Lager, and a dazzling selection from one of the finest beer lists in town. So that's Wednesday, March 4th at Bottom Lounge, 1375 W Lake Street. Be there! Win free beer!

Listen... to what the beer people say

Last week, Karl Klockars from Chicagoist interviewed me about opening our brewery in Chicago, lagers, and how many awesome bars we have here. The first 19 or so minutes of the podcast is the completely unedited interview (glad I didn't drop any f-bombs). Enjoy!

Metro Launch Party at LunaR

Hey Villa Park Suburbanites! Come join us for our first official launch party at LunaR Brewing Co., 54 E. St. Charles Rd., Villa Park. The date is February 25th, the day is Wednesday, the time is 7pm, the forcast calls for large gusts of Metrosexiness! Both Dynamo and Flywheel will be on tap. LunaR's awesome brews will be on tap as well, so let's line'em up and try'em all! Whoop!

If this doesn't brighten your day, you're nuts.

Lego Beer Song!

Don't bitch, we call this "lagering weather"

First, we're on tap! Find Metro beer at...

Hopleaf Bar, 5148 N Clark St, Chicago
Handlebar Bar & Grill, 2311 W North Ave, Chicago
Risqué Café, 3419 N Clark St, Chicago
Rodan, 1530 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Hackney's, 733 S. Dearborn, Chicago
Beer Bistro, 1061 W. Madison St., Chicago
Marion St. Cheese Market, 100 S. Marion Street, Oak Park
Binny's - South Loop, 1132 S. Jefferson Street, Chicago
Tavern in the Town, 519 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville
Barley House, 1520 Randall Rd, Algonquin
Lunar Brewing Co., 54 E. St. Charles Rd., Villa Park
Bar on Buena, 910 W. Buena Ave., Chicago


Next, come check out for yourself what happens when a brewery has no rules. Metro Brewing plays host to the Neo-Futurist vision: BEER! This weekend was the first in a run of 6, so go to the Neo-Futurist's website and buy tickets for an upcoming performance. Just do it now. You're killing time anyway.

"When 10 year-old Boon pukes and passes out after drinking his stepfather's crappy beer, he awakens to find himself lost in a mysterious brewery. Together with his only friend, the puppet Puke, Boon must learn the brewing trade in order to go home. Through puppetry, animation, and a live band, learn about the world of BEER."


Finally, we've updated the website. Looky. And Facebook took down our page because it wasn't set up in the format they require. Stand by for a new Facebook page in the near future. As always, though... no promises.

Brewing cherry, consider yourself broken.

Yesterday was our first brew day, people! We offered a play-by-play account on Twitter and Facebook all evening, so some of you were sorta there. Hilarious mishaps were also in attendance, see the photo to the right for how not to open a 2008 lb super-sack of grain.

We have more photos to share, but they are presently in the queue for a major update to our website, Facebook, etc. We'll get to the web updates as soon as the tanks are full of beer. Believe us, the beer (!) and the website will be worth the wait.

Our good pal Rob was at the brewery for a while yesterday, helping out and shooting photos and video. He loaded the videos to YouTube. Short video 1. Short video 2. Short video 3. Enjoy!

Beer will save the world. For real.

While in Germany studying the most holy craft of brewing beer, the Dugg attended Brau Beviale - one of the largest beverage industry trade shows in the world. He noted that the event was held on the site which had once been the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg. This led us to suppose that if a beer-related event was held at other sites of disagreeable/violent historical significance, we could in essence, heal humanity's wounds. You know, reversal of energy and all that hoo hah.

Well, the Buddhists always seem to have a finger on that particular pulse. In Thailand's Sisaket province, Buddhists have built the Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple entirely of Heineken and Chang beer bottles.

By the way, if anyone in the Chicagoland area gets a similar idea into their head, please let it be known that the staff of Metropolitan Brewing summarily volunteers for the project. We're well-practiced at emptying beer bottles...

Lovin' the Lager Life

More press, people. Marty Nutley at MetromixTV in Chicago did us an incredible service by making us look good. And he did it on TV.

Behold.

Beer, rock, and nerds. Life couldn't be better.

If you don't like beer, have a problem with music that is best played loud, get queasy at the site of gratuitous vomiting, and hate Monty Pyton, by all means: do not watch this video.

On the other hand, if you'd like to witness for yourself "the single greatest video in the history of ever," click away.

Holy Moly

Our website and blog are two casualties of the speed and ferociousness of a business start-up. Oh, how we fantasize about processing photos, writing, and updating everyone on our whereabouts right now. Stand by, we're on it. In short, over the past month...

1. Doug went to China to dismantle and load our brewhouse.
2. We prepared our space for equipment installation, including but not limited to breaking into the concrete floor and repouring it.
3. We built (and by this I really mean *we*) three rooms in the brewery to accommodate various equipment.
4. We received our federal Brewer's Notice number from the TTB.
5. We've begun the street-pounding to hawk our beer-wares.
6. We bought big toys like a forklift, 128 1/2 barrel kegs, a glycol chiller, and more.
7. After a 2-day delay, our equipment finally arrived from China.
8. We rigged our equipment into place. (Teaser photo above.)
9. AND, we found out that our next-door neighbor... inside our very own building... is a new distillery!! Can we get a triple-dog whoop, Whoop, WHOOP!

You want more photos, don't you!? Well, we're only too happy to meet your demands. Just give us a little time. It may be a day or two, it may be a week.* But we'll get you the goods as fast as we can.

*With a righteous middle-finger held aloft to our present workload, we're escaping to Denver this week to attend the Great American Beer Festival. It's our version of what some folks call a "vacation." We're not bringing Metro beer this year. We've paid admission as proper beer-enjoying folks and will take this first and last trip to GABF as grinning drinkers. Next year we'll be there as grinning drinkers and vendors.

More to come. Hang onto your pants.

Dr. Suess lives.

Ever since this came out, our email accounts have been overflowing with kind wishes, congratulations, and anticipatory messages from thirsty people all over Chicagoland.  We feel the love, people!  Whoop!  One message, however, was so good, we wanted to share it here.  There's nothing like a witty turn of phrase - not to mention some clever rhyming - to make our day. Enjoy.

"Dear Metro,

I am anxious to try out your beer, but there is none near, here, I fear.  Not that your beer is one that I would pound, to savor slowly would be more profound - yet, where can it be found??  SAMS, Binny's, definitely not some corner ninny.  Is a brewery stop in the picture, to tug on a sample of your golden elixir??  Do a favor for a brother??  Tell me, where's your local vendor."

Tools + Beer = Awesome Happy Fun Time

We're nearing the end of the 2008 beer fest season. Our best beer fest season, for sure! Okay, this was our first season, but still... whoo hoo!

If you've attended any of the fests we have, you've had the chance to see our super-swank jockey box made of a converted Craftsman toolbox. Pouring beer has never been so fun. Folks seem to like it almost as much as we do. One AleFest Chicago attendee referred to it as "beer porn." Agreed!

Click here to see a website of photos taken on the afternoon we turned an everyday, kick ass tool box (I've nearly always been a Craftsman tools gal), into a kick ass jockey box. I did forward this website onto Craftsman (Sears), but so far, no word. We expect to either 1. receive a cease and desist letter or 2. receive funding to build more.

How do you pour your beer?