That’s the spirit: Bill Sugars, co-owner of Mickey Finn’s Brewery in Libertyville, believes that the wheat ale produced by the brew-pub’s offshoot, Libertyville Brewing Co., has a gusto worthy of Chicago’s “big shoulders” image. And he wanted to say so on the labels. (The beer has just been released to about 120 grocery and liquor stores and about 50 restaurants and bars in Lake and McHenry Counties.)
But the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which approves such labels, had a problem with allusions to Chicago, according to Sugars. Though the beer’s formula was developed in Libertyville, it is being produced in Stevens Point, Wis., until LBC moves into a new facility to be built in Libertyville next year. Beer brewed at Mickey Finn’s just meets the pub’s demands.
“They weren’t comfortable with the Chicago reference since the beer is made in Wisconsin. So we worked out a compromise,” Sugars said. “We can have one reference to Chicago, not three. They agreed to let me use `Spirit of Chicago’ on the label’s front but not on the side or the neck. Eventually, that won’t be an issue because it will be made in Illinois.”
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