THE BREWERY
At some point John and Dave were born. They did other stuff for a while and then they figured out they were better at making beer than at the other stuff. So that's what they do now. They met while both studied at the oldest and most respected brewing school (of the two...and by the brewers that went to the one) in the US, the Siebel Institute, in 2008 and the brewery was envisioned while they both interned at Metropolitan Brewing afterwards. Most of Off Color's business plan is based off of Doug and Tracy at Metro knowing what they're doing, so you should go buy some of their beer too. After cutting their teeth at larger breweries, the two somehow convinced enough otherwise-very-smart-people to invest enough money for them to buy some big shiny things to make their own beer in. So that's what they do now.
EQUIPMENT
Dickens Production Brewery
Brewhouse:
20 bbl Newlands two vessel brewhouse
Tanks:
1 x 60 bbl Acer fermentor
2 x 60 bbl ABT fermentors
1 x 20 bbl GW Kent fermentor
3 x 60 bbl GW Kent fermentors
2 x 40 bbl GW Kent fermentors
1 x 60 bbl GW Kent brite tank
1 x 60 bbl ABT brite tank
2 x 12 bbl farmboy rigged acid tanks
1 x 30 bbl POS tank that we put bacteria in
1 x 25 bbl dairy rigged HLT
Kegging:
KHS Kegboy two head keg cleaner/filler - it's like the nicest thing we have
DMT Manual Keg Washer
Filter:
A plate and frame filter with 3 attached wheels and one detachable wheel
Bottling:
6-head Meheen 12 ounce bottle filler from the year 2000
4-head Meheen 750 mL bottle filler from the year 2016 (we like this one better because it knows metric... EDIT: we do not like this one better... EDIT: I guess it is okay)
Mousetrap Equipment
Same as Dickens Equipment but instead of a bunch of stainless steel tank, we have a bunch of wood ones.
THE PACK OF STRAYS
John Laffler
Once upon a time, a particularly insightful ex-girlfriend pointed out that perhaps them moving to Portland for John to get a doctorate in something that made him cranky most of the time may not be the best idea. Since he was happier looking at all the little brewpubs and breweries there than the school itself, John enrolled in Siebel instead. After interning at Metropolitan Brewing, he was hired at Goose Island to scrub floors. A while later they let him fiddle with the barrel program and do research and development brewing. Tom Korder (now at Penrose) was charged with getting him to actually get stuff done as opposed to wandering off to the farmers market or talking with beekeepers all day. Remember that bit from Cat's Cradle? Yeah, kinda like that. Now it's Dave's job. Dave has Tom's number.
Dave Bleitner
In 2008 we all learned what a subprime mortgage is, and then Dave found out that he didn’t have a job trading options anymore. Unemployed and very drunk on his 25th birthday, Dave decided to enroll at the Siebel Institute, thinking worst-case scenario, it would be a cool vacation. After a quick detox and a bottle of liver supplements, he started interning at Metropolitan Brewing, where he and John began the plans for Off Color Brewing. Afterwards, the Institute of Brewing & Distilling awarded him the 2009 Worshipful Company of Brewers GCB award. After investigating whether or not this was some kind of scam, Dave flew to England to accept the award and was jealous that the Lord Mayor of London got a firkin and all he got was a tankard (and some English money he didn’t understand the value of). Dave, then, got a job at Two Brothers Brewing in Warrenville which was 40 miles from his house, one way. After commuting 52,000 miles, he stopped driving to Warrenville and now drives to Logan Square which is 5 miles from his house, a vast improvement.
Shane
Learning from our mistake of not reading Clay's resume, we actually read Shane's. It was good, like German brewing school good. But he was new to brewery floor work when he started. Then after he wasn't new anymore, nicknaming him Greenhorn didn't make sense. So then his nickname became GQ, then just Q. No one knows why. But he works hard and does a lot of the work so I can focus on doing stupid things, like updating a bio for Shane, because that is what is really happening right now.
Tader
Tader used to have a job selling our beer, now he has a job selling our beer (and dressing up like a giant rat humanoid or dinosaur). If you ask him a question he'll give you an answer. Whether it's the right answer is up to you to decide.
Jess
Jess was bitten by the Off Color bug long before there was an Off Color bug... or at least before the bug was called Off Color. She started as one of the original interns at Metropolitan Brewing with John and Dave only to outlast them (or strategically plan their demise). From there she went big time, selling a lot more beer than we will ever make. That was until she lost some cups, or something. I was only half paying attention to the long, boring story she told us while we were trying to hire her. Then we hired her. And now she runs our retail operation and helps prevent Dave from losing his mind.
Sean
Sean came to us from the sunny state of San Francisco after forcing his way in the brewing industry with patience and we can only assume drunken proclamations. Seeking shittier weather, Sean moved to the state of Chicago and, after wandering around aimlessly for a bit, ended up at our doorstep looking for a job. He thought we weren't going to hire him, but then we did. After serving a term as "the new guy", he now does a bunch of important stuff... like throw the frisbee to the brewery dogs.
Damian
Like a year ago from one year after Damian moved to Chicago, Damian moved to Chicago from Kansas (not sure if it is the Missouri or Kansas one) and showed up at our door with a resume. We didn't hire him on the spot, because that would be crazy. Once we expanded a little more, we needed another brewery hand. He was such a good prospect that Bocce quit so Damian could take his job. So yeah, he's pretty good.
Human Goose (Has no Picture)
The worst part about Human Goose when he was getting hired was how we were going to address him. His realy name is Sean, but we already had a Sean, his last name is Goosley but he told us to call him Goose, but we already had a brewery dog named Goose. We settled on Human Goose, because we didn't know what else to do and naming people who already have names is hard. That's the only real complaint we've had about him.
Kirk
Kirk was an Off Color super fan before he started working the streets pushing our beer to the masses. He was always one of the first few people in line at every one of our releases. When we added a position to our sales force, he was the first in line for that too. He reasoned with us that since he came to all the events and stuff anyway, we wouldn't have to spend too much time training him. Listening to the pitch made us realize that he was good at sales pitches, an important attribute for salespeople.
Hops The Puppy
Hops’ duties are multifaceted. She makes sure no brewery mice go un-barked at and spends a lot of time ensuring that the brewers don't trip over anything other than her. During her breaks, she enjoys pruning the plant life in the beer garden and chewing on our pallets rendering them unusable.
Nikki | Illustrator
Nikki draws all the pretty things for us which is easy for her because she's good at drawing. In her other time, she teaches little children to draw pretty things which is easy because no one expects much from little children's drawings. Still, it's pretty damned important. Her work tends to focus on a macabre sense of humanity and tenderness depicted through vicious animal themes juxtaposing the softness of embroidery. Obviously she grew up in Northern Wisconsin which, if you ask her, is the best part of the best state. Who are we to disagree? I mean their state bird is the Brandy Old Fashioned.
Tim | Graphic Designer
Tim makes design and art for people in Chicago who drink too much of whatever they are drinking. Not surprisingly, Tim is much better at knowing how to make things look good than John or Dave and told them they can't put dinosaurs on EVERYTHING.
Kristin | Graphic Designer
Kristin is a graphic designer who has her own studio which she named after herself because when you own your own studio you can name it whatever the hell you damn well please. Her dog is named “Abby” so we'll probably make some sort of abbey beer named after her at some point. Kristin, to her credit, has a much better, much more sophisticated sense of humor than such poor puns.
Brad & Dave | Website
These two punks made this excellent website. Brad made it pretty and Dave turned it clicky. By day, Brad is an Art Director at a scotch sipping ad agency while Dave writes copious amount of software and eats a lot of lunch. Together, they are conquering the Internet in Chicago. You can occasionally get their very limited attention with motorcycle noises.
FAQ
How many different type of bourbon are on John's desk?
11
Whats your favorite beer?
I don't like this question.
What's that thing called?
It's a science tube
Why did you do [insert thing here]?
We were probably drunk
Are you going to apologize?
No. Well, yes.
Why a grain mouse?
It's the only mammal that's at the brewery more than us
So you like mice?
Hell no. They try and eat our grain
Why do you use the metric system?
Because it makes sense dammit
What is the metric system?
Public school!!
What are the hours of your taproom?
Sunday-Thursday 11am-11pm; Friday and Saturday 11am-Midnight. Make sure you're heading towards 1460 N Kingsbury. You'll be sorely disappointed if you show up at 3925 W Dickens on a Sunday. Or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, et al.