Tap Handle #351: Chicago Beer Company - Chi Town Pier Pale Ale

12/27/2013 10:15:00 PM

Tap Handle #351: Chicago Beer Company - Chi Town Pier Pale Ale

Tap size: 8"
Rarity: 50 or less seen, hand-made, brewery closed, fragile
Mounting: 3/8" ferrule on 5/16" anchor bolt

Upon receiving this tap, it was smaller than I expected it would be. Despite that, it's a pretty impressive piece with some nice detail. A sea captain is manning the wheel of a ship; behind him on his right is a lantern that is lit to help guide him. Behind him is the Centennial Wheel, a prominent Ferris wheel located on Navy Pier in Chicago (hence the name of the beer). Below that is a signage area where a label bearing the name of the brewery and beer is placed. On the back is a decal that also has the name of the beer. The price for this tap has ranged from a high of $127 to a low of $47, and has run even lower for damaged ones. The last copy in excellent condition sold back in 2022 for $70. If you have the opportunity to obtain it, pay close attention to the spokes of the wheel behind the sailor, as the tips of the spokes can chip off very easily on the front and the back.

(Editor's Note: This post was updated in December 2025)

Chicago Beer Company was a family-owned and operated craft brewery based in Chicago, Illinois. The company positioned itself as a brewery built on Chicago pride, with the goal of producing high-quality craft beers worthy of the city's name. Unlike many craft breweries of its era, Chicago Beer Company operated as a contract brewing operation, with their beers brewed at Stevens Point Brewery in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, rather than maintaining their own brewery. The brewery's flagship beer, Chi-Town Windy City Wheat, launched in bottles and on draft and quickly gained recognition. In October 2009, at the World Beer Championships, Windy City Wheat earned 90 points and a gold medal in the witbier category. Building on this early success, Chicago Beer Company expanded its lineup to include three additional beers: Chi-Town Pier Pale Ale, Chi-Town Lake Shore Lager, and Chi-Town 1871 Black IPA. At the 2009 World Beer Championships, Lake Shore Lager achieved remarkable success, earning 91 points, a gold medal, and the title of Best Pale Lager in the World, while Pier Pale Ale received 88 points and a silver medal.

Chicago Beer Company's product line expanded to include additional varieties beyond their initial four beers. The brewery introduced The Bean IPA, named after the popular nickname for Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park, and Magnificent Mile Pilsner, named after the famous stretch of Michigan Avenue. The brewery also launched Chi-Town Navy Pier Pale Lager as part of their portfolio. Each beer in the Chicago Beer Company lineup carried names that celebrated well-known Chicago landmarks and cultural references, reinforcing the brewery's commitment to local identity. In a notable partnership, Chicago Beer Company collaborated with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and blues legend Buddy Guy to create Buddy Brew, a Belgian-style witbier brewed with coriander, chamomile, and honey. The beer, which celebrated 25 years of blues at Buddy Guy's Legends nightclub, was instantly recognizable by its polka dot guitar tap handle, a reference to Buddy Guy's iconic polka dot guitar. Buddy Brew first went on tap at Legends in January during Buddy Guy's annual residency, where it proved so popular that the kegs were quickly emptied. By 2016, the beer was being distributed in bottled form with polka dot packaging to South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Washington, Minnesota, and Illinois, with additional locations planned. The tagline for Buddy Brew was "I've Got the Brews," a play on the blues legend's musical heritage

Chicago Beer Company beers were available at various locations throughout the Chicago area during their operational years. Chi-Town Pier Pale Ale was notably sold at Navy Pier locations, including at the top of the John Hancock Building and at the Navy Pier Beer Garden, where it served as a local beer option for tourists and residents visiting one of Chicago's premier attractions. The brewery distributed their products to approximately 500 bars and restaurants in the region during their peak years of operation. Reviews of Chicago Beer Company beers were mixed, with some drinkers appreciating the approachable, balanced nature of the beers, while craft beer enthusiasts sometimes found them underwhelming compared to more hop-forward offerings from other Chicago breweries of the era. By the mid-2010s, Chicago's craft beer scene had exploded with new breweries like Half Acre, Revolution, Metropolitan, and Pipeworks establishing themselves as local favorites with their own production facilities and taprooms. Chicago Beer Company, operating as a contract brewery without a physical taproom presence, found it increasingly difficult to compete in this rapidly evolving market. The last documented sightings of Chicago Beer Company beers in distribution appear to be around 2016-2017, with user reviews and check-ins on beer rating websites trailing off during this period. The brewery appears to have quietly ceased operations sometime in the late 2010s, though no official closure announcement or final date can be found.

Chi-Town Pier Pale Ale was brewed with premium two-row malted barley and generous quantities of Cascade hops. This American Pale Ale featured a fragrant hop bouquet with spicy and citrusy notes, balanced by a clean malt backbone. The beer poured a pale yellow to amber color with moderate carbonation and finished with a medium to dry character that made it an approachable beer for casual drinkers while maintaining enough hop presence to appeal to craft beer enthusiasts.