BRIDGEPORT — If "you lika da juice," you're gonna love the new collaboration between Begyle Brewing and The Duck Inn.
The "You Lika Da Juice" apple ale, which takes its name for an old "Saturday Night Live" skit, has been brewed exclusively for the new Bridgeport retro-style tavern and dining room at 2701 S. Eleanor St.
The brew will be unveiled Tuesday, when the Begyle's brewers will be on-hand to discuss their methods from 5-7 p.m. at the bar. Pours of "You Lika Da Juice" will be half-price all day.
"We wanted to something that was very much like a cider but that was still very much a beer. I think we were really successful. It's definitely a beer that has a hard cider bite, sort of a short, sharp bite on it," said Kevin Hickey, the Bridgeport native and acclaimed chef who helped Rockit Ranch productions open the restaurant near his boyhood home.
No stranger to craft beer, Hickey originally hooked up with Begyle crew about five years ago, when the North Center team was just getting started.
Together with Hickey, Begyle cranked out a series of specialty brews that were sent right to the taps of the bar at Allium, the revered restaurant at the Four Seasons hotel in Chicago where Hickey famously served as executive chef.
The partnership continued through Hickey's latest involvement with Rockit Ranch's Bottlefork Bar and Kitchen on the North Side.
Collaborations have included the Beta Beer brewed with Bangladesh bay leaves, Saigon cinnamon and sugar beets from Michigan, the Coffy Brown Ale, made with Metropolis espresso beans, The Clark Street Tart rhubarb saison and an Anglicus Vetus DCC, an English style dark ale that borrows its name from the liquor store classic Old English 800.
All of them have been brewed with the diner in mind.
"I've really started to think of the beer that we're doing with Begyle as an extension of the food menu," Hickey has said.
While "You Lika Da Juice" is technically a limited release, the Duck Inn has 29 kegs of it and Hickey said "it's not going anywhere anytime soon."
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