I have to say that things are moving forward at a fairly quick pace, I think.
Everyone asks us when we’ll be up and running, and my general response is “as quickly as possible.” It’s vague, but as honest as I can be. There’s a long list of things that have to happen in order for us to be brewing, and many items on that list are directly tied to the hard work of our city, state and federal friends that are aiding, approving, granting, accepting and lifting various things so that we can legally conduct all the forms of business we hope to conduct in this space.
Matt and Tommy were in Colorado all last week brewing on our new brewhouse. They had a great time and were able to acclimate themselves to the nuances of that particular system, and brew with the guys that have been using it for the last handful of years.
We’ll all go out in about a month to load it on numerous tractor-trailers, and then haul it back to its new home on Lincoln Ave. It should be quite a spectacle when the big trucks roll down the street to drop these huge vessels.
We’ve had Kevin, our friend, construction contractor and designer in the space a bunch over the last couple of weeks. He won’t do much in the brewery area other than pour new floors, put in some new drainage and some drywall, but he will be the one to make our retail area look how it needs to. That part of the project is a serious endeavor in and of itself. The above CAD floor plan is how that area is laid out now. We’ll change it completely to suit our needs.
Anyway, check out our events section and be sure to come out for some stuff – we have a bunch planned over the next couple months.
Have a great Labor Day Weekend
Gabriel
Half Acre Beer Co
Chicago, IL
I started writing a beer column for UR Chicago Magazine called:"Beer Classics, Complexities Of A Simple Pleasure"
4257 N. Lincoln will semi-officially be the new home of Half Acre Beer Co. We made it over the community meeting hurdle, so that’s big. This meeting was the opportunity for the community to come out and express concerns, ask questions and learn a bit more about what it is we would like to do with the space. The concerns all fell into basic categories: Are you opening a bar? Will you be blocking streets and alleys with large trucks? Will there be odor that will make my life hell? Will you bring the riff-raff? We had acceptable responses and won the vote. In the end we had only one vote against the project – that was from the one self-pronounced beer advocate. We offered attendants some beer on their way out, and I’m not positive, but I think he grabbed one.
So, off we go to the zoning commission for, we hope, the final zoning approval. All this is very exciting for us. Our new brewhouse arrives at the end of September, so our biggest goal is to have the space prepared enough so that it can receive it and not have to move it later. This stuff is big and heavy.
We’ve been hearing from a lot of people who have offered to lend a hand. Thanks to all of you. It would be great to have all of you helping us achieve our goals, scurrying about the city with blueprints, jack-hammering floors, leveling fermentation vessels, etc. We’ve been thinking of how to accept help, so if we’ve received a note from you, be on notice, the call could come – maybe in the middle of the night.
In the meantime, the summer pushes on. It’s been ungodly hot in our current 4th floor hideout. Our intern looks like Christian Bale in The Machinist, but he continues to get it done four days a week.
And speaking of….. Our intern, Chris, is a tech-savvy student at Columbia. He put a “Widget” on our Myspace page. This widget will make it easier for you to stay in touch with what’s going on with Half Acre Beer Co. You can go grab this widget and easily install it on your IGoole home page, your own Myspace or other places that people do these sorts of things. Frankly it’s over my head, but those of you who are more tech-savvy, are, I’m sure, more familiar with the world of “Widget,” and how they get information closer to your fingertips.
So, there it is, 13,000 sq ft of brewery space and a widget. Isn’t that something?
Gabriel
Half Acre Beer Co
Chicago, IL
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