RANCH TRIANGLE — One of the original Chicago brewpubs is going under the knife for what the owner calls "a well-deserved facelift" to compete with the new generation of upstart craft beers.
Goose Island Brewpub, 1800 N. Clybourn Ave., will close at the end of business Sunday.
"It’s time we give the Clybourn Pub a well-deserved facelift," said Goose Island President Ken Stout on Wednesday. "We'll be temporarily closing the pub on Jan. 8 so we can install new brewing equipment and add some new features to excite our beer drinkers even more. We look forward to welcoming our customers back in summer 2017!"
With its woody, "Cheers"-style interior and brewing vats on site, Goose Island was state of the art when it opened in 1988. Its popularity led to a separate brewery in 1995, and it has maintained its reputation for quality and innovation even while being bought up by beerhemoth Anheuser-Busch InBev. Its annual release of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout created the usual holiday stir late last year.
Yet the company believes it has to step up its game to compete with relative newcomers like the Revolution Brewing pub at 2323 N. Milwaukee Ave., as well as a new Off Color Brewing taproom expected to open this year near the actual Goose Island at 1460 N. Kingsbury St., to name just a couple of the city's new beers.
Stout urged loyal Goose Island customers to visit the brewery and taproom at 1800 W. Fulton St. during the brewpub's renovation.
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