In the days leading up to our “South of 80” event at The Green Lady, we wanted to make you a little more familiar with the attending breweries, most of which are being made available in Chicago for the first time. Today we take a look at Murphysboro’s Big Muddy Brewing:
The beers being created by Chuck Stuhrenberg first came on our radar as we learned more about self-distribution rights in Illinois and the breweries that wouldn’t exist without it. One of those is Murphysboro’s Big Muddy Brewing.
The outspoken Stuhrenberg was in regular contact with us during the Save The Craft campaign and often attended meetings involving high-powered lobbyists during the self-distro battle. His tenacity and stable of flavorful, low ABV beers made Big Muddy the poster-child in the fight for the small brewers right to self-distribute. Because that is exactly what Chuck is. His brewery was pumping out about 500 barrels of beer and year, and that beer was being delivered to bars, restaurants and liquor stores in the back of Chuck’s pickup truck.
Now, Chuck works with a distributor to get his brews in to the Chicago area. Often seen in bombers but rarely on tap, we’re excited to offer the following:
- Saluki Dunkeldog: The headliner of Big Muddy’s lineup, the Dunkeldog is named after and sports the image of nearby Southern Illinois University of Carbondale’s mascot – the Saluki. With a nose of floral hops and biscuit malts and flavors to match, the Dunkeldog is a smooth, easy drinking amber ale.
- Big Muddy Monster: It looks like an imperial stout, smells like a pine forest and tastes somewhere in between. This beast of an India brown ale looks big and drinks bigger than its 6.5% ABV. Huge hops on the nose and even bigger hops on the palate are beat into submission by earthy chocolate flavors midway through your sip before the hops make a resurgence on the finish. The monster was Stuhrenberg’s first foray in to a higher ABV beer and we hope it’s not his last.
Sadly, Chuck won’t be joining us for the event. He’ll be in southern Illinois with a family commitment. That doesn’t mean you can’t tell him what you think of his beers, though. Sip away on a Dunkeldog or a Big Muddy Monster and head over to the brewery’s Facebook page to say hi.