Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶
After a decade of consistent growth, Illinois craft beer sales likely declined in 2023, according to Ray Stout, executive director of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild.
While the final numbers from last year aren’t available, Stout’s analysis aligns with the national trend, according to the Brewers Association trade group.
In today’s newsletter, we look into how one Logan Square brewery is seeking higher ground — and how that could spark a trend.
Plus, we’ve got reporting on the race to fill Mayor Brandon Johnson’s former Cook County commissioner seat, the push to oust a longtime state lawmaker and more community news you need to know. 👇
⏱️: A 7-minute read
— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter (@MattKenMoore)
TODAY’S TOP STORY
The new frontier for Chicago brewers? ‘Mellow’ weed drinks that don’t resemble beer
Reporting by Steve Hendershot | WBEZ
Beginning of a trend?Last week, Logan Square-based Hopewell Brewing released a lemon-lime-flavored drink made with the cannabis ingredient THC, called Choom. With Choom, Hopewell joins McKinley Park-based Marz on the vanguard of Chicago breweries venturing into the THC-infused beverage space.
Betting on high reward: For brewers, the adoption of a new nonbeer product line is both a play for survival and a gamble. As craft beer sales level off, THC drinks are becoming an attractive alternative for brewers — because they’re trendy, easier to produce than beer and — with a different flavor than a lager or ale and a different buzz — appeal to a slightly different audience.
Plenty of unknowns: Brewing hemp-based THC beverages in Illinois comes with plenty of unknowns and legal wrangling. In Illinois, Hopewell is legally prohibited both from pairing THC with beer and from making beverages that incorporate THC derived from marijuana. Instead, the brewer can only make a nonalcoholic drink with THC derived from hemp — a similar plant to marijuana with lower THC levels — that is regulated differently under federal law.
Key context: THC beverages have been legal in Illinois since 2020, but the new brewery-created offerings are much lower octane than the versions sold in dispensaries. For example, Choom, which will be sold in 8-ounce cans, contains 10 milligrams of THC, while most of the THC-infused beverages at Dispensary33 in Andersonville contain 100 milligrams.
Chilling with Choom: The THC in Choom is intended to land “like a nice little mellow shot” rather than a full-on high, according to Samantha Lee, Hopewell’s co-owner. The idea is to introduce THC to an audience interested in a nonalcoholic buzz but wary of dispensary-level potency. “The goal for this one is to have it feel refreshing — and not like bong water,” she says.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
- Temps plunge after storm: Temperatures plunged overnight Tuesday after severe thunderstorms swept through the Chicago area, bringing damaging winds, hail and a few possible tornadoes. Residents reported tornadoes touching down in Sugar Grove, Hinckley and Waterman.
- Storm displaces Mundelein residents: Fifty-nine people are displaced after storms tore through the roof of an apartment complex in Mundelein, public officials said. In all, 21 units were left uninhabitable after a portion of the apartment building’s facade collapsed.
- Chicago’s warmest February: The city is on track to record a monthly average temperature of 39.4 degrees, surpassing the record of 39 degrees set in 1882, according to the National Weather Service.
- The push to oust Rep. Flowers: Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch is leading an effort to direct more than $560,000 to oust Chicago Democratic state Rep. Mary Flowers — the longest-serving African American lawmaker in the General Assembly, whose leadership was stripped last year over allegations of abusive behavior.
- Filling Mayor Johnson’s former seat: Zerlina Smith-Members is challenging incumbent Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps, who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Mayor Brandon Johnson. While Stamps may have less money in her campaign coffers than her challenger, she has some powerful support in trying to keep her seat — the Chicago Teachers Union.
- Piping plover internship: The Chicago Bird Alliance is offering an internship from May till July to help with education efforts and public awareness of piping plovers on Montrose Beach. Find more info here.
- 3 stars for ‘Dune: Part Two’: Amid the warfare, the love story and the possibility of a prophecy fulfilled, we’re reminded at every turn that this is an absolutely bat-bleep crazy story, writes Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper.
OUR CITY IN COLOR 🎨
Historic union mural to be saved from wrecking ball on Near West Side
Reporting by Sun-Times staff
The historic “Solidarity” mural painted inside a Near West Side union hall by venerable Chicago artists John Pitman Weber and the late Jose Guerrero is, if not unique, incredibly unusual.
After all, it illustrates in graphic detail the struggles of working people, the power of organized labor and the ugliness of corporate America. Not a lot of artwork today embraces such themes, and in this manner — with images of a Klansman, menacing National Guard troops and a Southern sheriff, along with factory workers pushing back, literally, against oppressive forces.
And it’s been there — winding up and along a staircase at the United Electrical Workers hall at 37 S. Ashland Ave. — since 1974, making it 50 years old and one of the oldest pieces of public (or semi-public) art in the Chicago area.
Last year, the union announced it was selling the two-story building, which is destined to be ripped apart, expanded and redeveloped into residential units. The mural seemed doomed.
But enough money has been raised, more than $150,000 and counting, to save the mural or a large portion of it.
Indeed, the process of prepping and removing the artwork from the walls by tearing out heavy slabs of wood and plaster with the mural, has already begun and should continue into March.
The union is moving to another Near West Side building, at 1901 W. Carroll Ave., that’s occupied by the Chicago Teachers Union, and the artwork is expected to be displayed there at some point, says Carl Rosen of the Electrical Workers.
BRIGHT ONE ✨
Brookfield Zoo welcomes gray seal pup
Reporting by Phyllis Cha
A gray seal pup was born Feb. 17 at Brookfield Zoo, the zoo announced last week.
This is the first gray seal pup born at the zoo since 2020, and he is expected to make his public debut this spring. The pup will remain behind the scenes for the next month and a half with his 11-year-old mother, Georgie, while he works on his swimming skills.
Born at 35 pounds, the pup is growing quickly, according to Mark Gonka, associate director of marine mammal care and conservation, having gained nearly 15 pounds in his first week. Over the next few weeks, the pup could easily gain about 100 pounds and be more than 500 pounds when fully grown. Once weaned, he’ll be introduced to a diet of fish.
“It’s so crazy how quickly they grow and how wide they grow,” Gonka said. “He just hit 50 pounds this morning and it wouldn’t shock me if we came in tomorrow and he’s around 55 pounds.”
Like any newborn, the pup is “very focused on his mom,” Gonka said.
“He sleeps a lot ... eats a lot, and then every once in a while he’ll flap around the habitat,” he said.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
With craft beer sales slowing in Chicago, what do you think brewers could do to improve sales?
Email us (please include your first and last name). To see the answers to this question, check our Morning Edition newsletter. Not subscribed to Morning Edition? Sign up here so you won’t miss a thing!
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Editor: Satchel Price
Newsletter reporter: Matt Moore
Copy editor: Angie Myers
