Chicagoland Breweries of the
Past - page 2
yet still visible today to the *trained
eye
Below:
Near the location of the original Goose
Island Brewing Company, a plethora of new construction and
stores has cropped up on the site of the old Peter Hand Brewery,
which closed in 1972. Chicago, a thirsty, blue collar, beer lovin'
town didn't have anyone brewing beer locally from '72 until Goose
Island brought commercially brewed beer back to Chicago in 1988.
Meister Brau and many other brands, including the first incarnation
of Lite Beer, later to become Miller Lite, were brewed near 1700
N. Sheffield. Some of the brewery buildings remain. A nice tribute
to the area's past is preserved, via the Peter-'N-Hand insignia.
It was respectfully included in the building below.
. 
Below: the former White Eagle Brewing
Company at 38th & Racine.
On the day I took the picture above, and those on the previous
page, one of Chicago's historic old breweries was in the act of
being demolished. The picture below is the ugly remains. Not long
ago, a huge "white elephant" of a building stood here.
It was the home of the The White Eagle Brewing Company until operations
ceased here in 1950.
*Phil Pospychala, co-author of the book, The
Great Chicago Beer Cans, narrated a bus tour a few years ago
of 13 locations in Chicago that formerly were the home to brewery
operations. The webmaster revisited some of these sites in February
of 2002, using Phil's book and bus tour notes provided as a reference.
The pictures on this page and on the previous one are examples
of what remains at these sites.