Hot day, cool beer

The temperature at O'Hare hit 35.6°C (96°F) this afternoon, tying the hottest temperature of the year (July 14th). Cassie has gotten an hour of walks today, but in 20-minute increments outside. I still feel icky.

Fortunately, the forecast calls for a cool front to move in tomorrow night, so even though it'll be 32°C tomorrow, it should coold down to 27°C Friday. Then Saturday night I'm taking off to my Ancestral Homeland and a couple of its neighbors where it looks to be a bit cooler: highs around 25°C and lows around 15°C all week. Except for a spot of rain, it should be perfect.

Closer to home, Crain's reported today on the trend for microbreweries to merge together rather than waiting to be snapped up by InBev or another mega-corp:

For much of the past two decades, craft beer has enjoyed unbridled growth. But after the pandemic, customers did not return to taprooms as expected. Retail beer sales sagged as people turned toward wine, spirits and canned cocktails, or cut back on alcohol consumption. The price of ingredients, like grain and aluminum cans, has skyrocketed. Craft breweries that took out big loans to survive the pandemic could not pay them back. Ten percent of Illinois’ roughly 300 craft breweries closed between 2022 and 2023.

Illinois’ craft brewers evolved to survive, and it is no longer just about the beer. They’ve rolled out non-alcoholic options, food menus and THC-infused beverages. They added food menus, and host regular events like trivia to get customers through the door. As breweries have closed, those that survived have moved into their vacated spots. The real estate sometimes comes with the brewing equipment, cutting down costs. More breweries are sharing spaces, to reduce fixed costs like rent.

Now, add mergers and acquisitions to that growing list of tactics meant to adapt the craft beer to its new economic reality.

Maplewood had production needs, and Half Acre had unused production capabilities. Now, Half Acre brews most of Maplewood’s beer. Maplewood is known for flagship beers such as Son of Juice IPA, Charlatan American pale ale and Pulaski Pils lager. Half Acre’s flagship beer is Daisy Cutter pale ale.

Pollyanna had four locations in the Chicago suburbs, but none in the city. It announced in July it bought Alarmist, which had closed its one location in the Sauganash neighborhood earlier this year. When Pollyanna reopens the Peterson Avenue spot this winter, it will add an event space and kitchen to its repertoire — two new revenue streams it currently does not offer at its other locations.

The Brews & Choos Project will get to a lot of those merged breweries. (Unfortunately the former Alarmist space is nowhere near a train, so I'll just have to visit it without a B&C review.)

I will not be having a cold beer tonight, however, because (a) it's really too hot for alcohol and (b) I'm dragging my body clock back a couple of hours before flying to Europe, to ease the time zone transition. More on that as the trip gets closer.