A pair of Chicago area breweries inked distribution deals late last week: BuckleDown Brewing signed on with Wirtz for Chicago area only distribution while Penrose Brewing Company went with Windy City.
BuckleDown’s Belt & Suspenders, an American IPA, was a favorite of ours at Beer Under Glass. The brewery, which is still in the planing stages in Lyons, IL, is the brainchild of Ike Orcutt and Sean Mahoney. If those names sound familiar the two were behind Hopothesis Brewing Company, whose beers first started appearing on shelves last summer.
BuckleDown will roll out four beers — all on draft — beginning on November 1st including: Mirth, a Belgian Single, Fiddlesticks, a Belgian IPA, the aforementioned Belt & Suspenders and Shady Aftermath, a porter.
BuckleDown becomes the fifth craft brewery that has signed on with Wirtz since they launched they craft division last fall.
Meanwhile, Penrose Brewing Company, which is in Geneva, IL, also isn’t open yet. They’ll get their beer to market a month earlier than BuckleDown with an October launch. Tom Korder and Eric Hobbs make up the team at Penrose. They both used to work at Goose Island.
Penrose doesn’t have much information out about their beers right now. A promotional, one-sheeter, states: “Penrose will focus on Belgian inspired session ales, oak barrel-aging, and alternative fermentation.”