More breweries closing

In the past two weeks, two Brews & Choos Project breweries have closed or announced their closings: Short Fuse closed on Monday, and Illuminated Brew Works announced yesterday that they would close this coming June. Another brewery my Brews & Choos buddy and I visited (but was too far from public transit to make the list), Alarmist, closed January 31st.

It's a tough time to be in the alcohol business. Fully 26 of the breweries and distilleries I've visited have closed, and another 8 that were on the list went out of business before I could get there. That's 17% of the list. Sure, other breweries have taken over: Is/Was opened up in the space Urban Brew Labs previously occupied (and Koval occupied before them). But Chicago just isn't big enough to support 150 breweries, which every one of these businesses know.

Fortunately, Spiteful is killing it (and overdue for a re-visit), and so are Begyle and Burning Bush.

It's always¹ sad when a brewery closes, though. I liked Illuminated Brew Works, and thought Cassie would probably like it too. I hope we can get back there before the end of June.