If you were
to look up the location of the Two Brothers Brewery in Warrenville, Illinois,
you’d best search under ‘off the beaten path’ and ‘building with no labels’. A
few miles north of highway 88, tucked into a grim white and chalky gray industrial
park, near turn of the 20th century railroad tracks overgrown with
weeds is a true gem of brewing in northern Illinois. This once small
micro-brewery, started by brothers Jim and Jason Ebel in 1996, is now the
largest micro-brewery in Illinois with their two brew houses producing close to
30,000 barrels of their grand varieties in 2012. In light of the previous
number one micro-brewery, Goose Island in Chicago, being bought out by
conglomerate and producer of urine-flavored cans of beer Anheuser-Busch, Two
Brothers boasts that they are still 100% family owned and operated.
I was first
turned on to the desirable flavors of Two Brothers from my own brother, Ryan.
He had dabbled in micro-brewing, much like the Ebel’s did twenty years back,
after his appetites had been whetted for experimentation, thanks to the various
micro-brews in the Midwest and the rich, deep flavors of beers in his visits to
Ireland and London. Thanks to Ryan’s gentle introductions, I’ve taken a certain
affection for the Two Brothers hoppy red ale Cain and Ebel, the light lager
(Hoegarden-like) Ebel’s Weiss, and their best seller – the French country style
ale Domaine DuPage. You’d be wise to hide your precious bottles of Two Brothers
at a party in a little survival kit for fans like myself cannot stop themselves
from grabbing a cold one of their years of implemented works.
My youngest
brother Eric thought if was to return to Two Brothers with his girlfriend
Julie, he’d be damn sure to invite my brother Ryan, his wife Heather, Ally and
myself for a brewery tour. This past Saturday, after trusting and then scrupulously
questioning the GPS, we were sure the grain silo attached to a building where
patrons clinked condensation dripping pint glasses together on a outdoor patio
was the actual place. After grabbing an affordable four dollar pint at their
bar, tucked into the restaurant, Ally and I joined my family for the 2:30 tour.
This free
tour of the brewing process, bottling and their back rooms didn’t take long to
get interesting. The guide and assistant manager, an mid-twenties something
woman with sleeve tattoos and a short pony tail, wove well told stories of the
origins and processes , answered every question with educated yet approachable ease,
and made the best of a stifling back room on these dog days of summer. It seems
the building was previously used as a Midwestern dance or ballet academy for
the name and design of the previous establishment remained on the back wall.
Workers were happy to leave irreverent signs of comedy with a full size cut-out
of Bruce Lee round housing a beer bottle and a Krishna-esque painting of a
Bengal tiger on the back wall of the bottling room. Ally and Heather couldn’t
help but to grab a small handful of the wasted bottle caps, just to say they
stole something, even though our guide didn’t care about what was waste in the
first place.
After the
tour, each patron for the past 45 minutes was treated to tables in the
restaurant/bar where two free 3 oz samples of every beer were provided for our
sampling. Our waiter, just as well appreciative about the unique business he
worked for, brought us plates of creamy cheese fries and pizza with spicy
pepperoni to pad that liquor that sent our heads into a buzz on that humid day.
Ryan, Eric and I couldn’t resist buying a growler (half-gallon or enough for
four full pints) of their Ebel’s Weiss and the seasonal Northwind Imperial
Stout for what we considered to be a more than fair price of around $14
dollars, especially considering the growler was included.
Two Brothers
can be found at most Chicago land area stores. Not sure what their bottles look
like, well then take a look at their website that looks to be from the late 90’s.
Cheers!
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