Before I got into craft, the first “good” beers I sought out were European imports, generally German. Back then, many years ago, the greater Lincoln Square neighborhood in Chicago was lousy with German bars. They were small and dark, and usually had some carb-filled snack available to keep you reaching for one more half-liter.
A lot of those places have disappeared. Maybe that’s because of the craft beer boom, maybe waning interest in huge portions of heavy cuisine, or maybe the late-stage gentrification that’s since taken hold in Lincoln Square. Maybe a combination of all three.
For a while, I didn’t really notice. But since I lost interest in over-hopped American beers, I feel their absence. I remember ordering an Alpha King a year or two back, and it burned my tongue. Since then, I have been near-exclusively a Lager guy. I was spoiled by those German bars, and by Metropolitan Brewing, one of the original Chicago craft breweries dedicated to German styles, way before a Lager was an expected part of a brewery’s portfolio. Now almost every brewery has a Lager, and most of them are, at best, forgettable.
Needing a break from relentless averageness, I have found myself feeling excited all over again about finding European imports at a bar.
During the late summer, some friends and I made plans to eat at a Korean spot in North Lincoln Square. Lincoln Square north of Lawrence Avenue is still a bit … weird. Its streets house a mix of mysterious shops, Eastern European football bars, Korean restaurants, and some unfortunate condo construction projects. With COVID numbers spiking again, we changed our plans from a perfect, extraordinarily cozy (and not at all well-ventilated) Korean restaurant, Dancen, to a Serbian spot, 016, that had piqued our interest.
While we decided on some things to share, I made my way to the bottom of a Serbian Lager. It was delicious, cool, and crisp. I felt the buzz of discovering a new beer. As my friend put in the final details of our order with our waitress, I ordered another Lager. I figured I should work on a buzz of a different type. No sense not to.
