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New Location Near Wrigley Field to Spin Off Logan Square Mainstay
It isn't easy for startups to break into the crowded craft beer market. That is why Pilot Project Brewing — an incubator for new and emerging brands — is such an asset to the Chicago region's beer scene. Labels it has helped launch include Funkytown, a buzz-worthy black-owned brewery.
So, as an early, early adopter of craft beer, I was pleased to learn that Pilot Project is planning to add another brewpub to their lineup of their original location in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood and their much larger production facility in Milwaukee.
And the most exciting part is that the new location, expected to open this spring, will be walking distance away from where we live in Lakeview — specifically 3473 N. Clark St., just a couple of blocks south from Wrigley Field, the historic home of the Chicago Cubs.
According to the Block Club Chicago publication, the new site "will bring a mix of craft beer, cocktails and a lively game-day atmosphere to Clark Street. The main floor will feature the signature Pilot Project experience with a Wrigleyville twist, alongside a 3,500-square-foot patio and eventually a rooftop deck. The space will also include a downstairs cocktail lounge dedicated to the brewery’s ready-to-drink cocktail brand, Devious."
Last April, I visited the existing brewpub at 2140 N. Milwaukee Ave. to interview Co-Founder/CEO Dan Abel (he also happens to be a member of the Associate Board at Naturally Chicago, the natural products association for which I do contract work). Copied below is the resulting article, which was published in the Local Food Forum Substack newsletter prior to the May 2024 launch of the website
Pilot Project Brewing: Steering Startups to Success
How the Chicago-based beer incubator is making a difference
Dan Abel (in the above photo) is CEO of Pilot Project Brewing, which serves as one of the nation’s few incubators of startup breweries. When we met for an interview at its brewery and taproom in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, Dan explained that he took a roundabout way to applying his creative instincts to helping grow the craft beer sector.
“My background was in music and music tech,” Dan related. “What's funny is that when I was 22, playing music, I actually didn't drink alcohol. My focus was my music, maintaining my vocal cords.”
While still in his 20s, Dan gave up performing and moved to San Francisco to work on Google’s YouTube Music division. “What do you do when you move to San Francisco? Well, you start to drink wine...,” Dan said. “So I built a very romantic relationship with the idea of fermentation, the idea of agriculture and everything that goes into products.”
He and business partner Jordan Radke started out home brewing beer, and their original thought was to start their own brewery. But after learning about the complications and expenses that startup breweries face, they altered their concept: They would build a brewery as a business incubator for other startups, enabling them to get off the ground until they became financially and logistically positioned to build their own breweries.
Dan said their thinking was, “What happens if we give power to creatives and industry, lower the barriers as far as we can to allow them to actually grow and build their own brands and dreams?”
They launched Pilot Project in its 6,000 square foot Chicago location in 2019, then in 2022 added a much larger (70,000 square foot) brewery in Milwaukee, where it occupies a building that formerly was part of the huge Pabst brewing complex. This is a quantum leap in capacity for Pilot Project’s partner-brewers: Dan said the maximum production run in Chicago is 20 barrels, equivalent to 5,000 pints of beer, whereas in Milwaukee it is 240 barrels or 60,000 pints.
The Milwaukee facility was a homecoming of sorts for Dan and Jordan, who serves as Pilot Project’s chief operating officer: Both graduated from University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Applications to set up shop with Pilot Project far exceed the available space. There are currently four brewery partners. The one that has developed the highest profile is Black-owned Funkytown Brewery, whose three owners — lifelong friends from the Chicago suburb of Oak Park who attended Louisiana’s Grambling State University together — are breaking through in an industry in which fewer than 1 percent of producers are Black.
Rich Bloomfield, Funkytown’s CEO; Zack Day, director of brewing operations; and Greg Williams, sales director were named together to Crain’s Chicago Business’ 40 Under 40 achievers list in 2023.
Also last year, they won the national Brewing and Business Experienceship contest staged by Boston Beer Co. (better known as Samuel Adams), which enabled the Funkytown team to work side-by-side with a team of mentors, collaborate on a specialty beer with Samuel Adams, and attend the Great American Beer Festival in Denver to shadow and experience alongside Samuel Adams.
The other three Pilot Project residents, three beer makers and one kombucha producer, are described as follows on the company’s website:
Azadi: Azadi Brewing is making a fast imprint in the local beer scene. Born in Chicago, but Indian at heart, their rotating beer selections are inspired by the fruits, spices & flavors of India. A crisp cardamom golden ale, a bold Kesar Mango IPA, and a tantalizing stout made with Cutting Chai sourced from Mumbai, their beers are sure to surprise and impress.
Brewer’s Kitchen: Food inspired beer, beer inspired people. Brewer's Kitchen was created to pay tribute to the people, places, and stories enjoyed over meals that have enriched our lives. With the level of creativity and nuance shared in kitchens across the world, we share our stories through our beer.
Donna’s Pickle Beer: Introducing Donna's Pickle Beer, along with co-founders Scott Baird and Joshua Jancewicz, who are brewing a classic yet unique pickle beer made with Donna’s original brine recipe. Donna's finest homemade brine with big, bright herbal and floral notes is integrated beautifully with an all-American Lager and accentuated by Saaz and Hallertau Mittelfruh hops. You'll relish every sip.
ROVM Hard Kombucha: ROVM (pronounced roam) was created to celebrate our love of the outdoors and brewed for the person who wants a healthier cold one to enjoy as part of their adventures. ROVM has been crafted to be free from gluten, additives, artificial flavors, preservatives, and brewed with the highest quality tea sourced locally in Chicago. Woman owned. ROVM wild, ROVM free, ROVM hard.
Pilot Project clearly has an eye for diversity, in terms of demographics and brewing styles (there are still only a handful of pickle beers on the market). While India Pale Ale, or IPA, styles continue their long run of dominance in the craft beer market, consumers are increasingly seeking a wider variety.
I was an early adopter of craft beer back in the late 1970s, and I developed a taste for hoppy beer with elevated alcohol content. But, as I noted to Dan, I arrived in Chicago in 2011 in the midst of the IPA wars, as a number of craft brewers played can-you-top-this with super-bitter, high-octane beers.
The problem was that these beers had limited (or no) appeal to many beer drinkers, and they were not “sessionable,” a term for less-strong brews that enable you to spend a relaxed time at a brewpub drinking a couple or three beers without falling off your barstool. The beer menus at most establishments today feature a wide range of styles and ABV, with the radical improvement in the quality of non-alcoholic beers drawing a bigger consumer base.
As I sipped on a Cranberry Berliner Weisse — a slightly sour beer with just 3.7 percent alcohol by volume produced as a collaboration between Pilot Project and New York’s Momentum Brewery — Dan shared his perspective on shifting consumer preferences:
I do think that lower ABV just in general is becoming more trendy. There is an art form to making a really compelling beer without being able to cover up mistakes with a lot of sugar. You have 4% (ABV) Italian Pilsner, the execution is really important there, that's paramount.
What is funny is that even though we prioritize beer, we get a ton of ready-to-drink cocktail submissions. I think the pickle beer was a fascinating submission... People are feeling a little bit more flexible, that you don't have to follow trends just to build a viable business, you can actually try and even defy trends. Because of the direction of this industry, if you can find your niche, people might listen.
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