Some Chicagoans have always taken Sunday drinking seriously, especially our city’s hardworking ancestors. April 21 marks the 160th anniversary of the Lager Beer Riot of 1855, when police clashed with protesters, unhappy over a reinstated ordinance prohibiting Sunday drinking in taverns. The Bridgeport community will commemorate the event—known as Chicago’s first act of civil disturbance—with a beer and dodgeball fundraiser.
The Lager Beer Riot Fundraiser, hosted by Marz Community Brewing Company and Pocket Guide to Hell artist collective, is a beer tasting and historically themed dodgeball battle scheduled for April 25. It will take place at Benton House (3052 S. Gratten Ave. 773-927-6420), a nonprofit community center in Bridgeport that some proceeds from the night will benefit.
“The Lager Beer Riot [is] a significant event in that it marks these communities getting involved…in the city, but beyond that, it also provides an opportunity to celebrate Chicago’s contemporary beer-brewing culture and also to raise money for a good organization,” said Paul Durica, owner of Pocket Guide to Hell artist collective.
At the event, Marz will release Double Jungle Boogie, an American wheat ale with rooibos tea with an ABV (9 percent) that’s almost twice that of the original Jungle Boogie, said Ed Marszewski, Marz head brewer.
Breweries signed up to serve lagers, pilsners or other styles of beers at the event include Revolution Brewing, Haymarket Pub & Brewery, Ale Syndicate, Goose Island Brewery, Middle Brow Beer Co., Urban Legend Brewing Company, Spiteful Brewing, Ten Ninety, Cademon Brewing Co., Temperance Beer Company, Anarchist Brewing Collective, Motor Row Brewing and Half Acre Beer Company.
To understand the historic inspiration of the fundraiser’s dodgeball battle, a little history lesson is in order. The Lager Beer Riot of 1855 was the result of several political moves by Mayor Levi Boone, an anti-immigrant advocate, Durica said. In an attempt to ostracize Irish and German immigrants, Boone ordered taverns to close on Sundays, a popular day for drinking after the six-day workweek, and raised liquor license fees. Many tavern owners resisted and were arrested. On April 21, an armed group of rioters set off to rescue the prisoners, but Boone raised the Clark Street drawbridge to hold them off. When the bridge was lowered, shooting began and led to one death, several injuries and more arrests.
The dodgeball battle will kick off in the Benton House gymnasium at 7 p.m. Not only will players be dressed in period garb, but a model of the Clark Street Bridge will shoot the dodgeballs from the middle line, Durica said. One team (called Law & Order, the name of the coalition formed by anti-immigrant advocates of which Levi Boone was part of) will be made up of 10 representatives from Chicago breweries. The other team—representing revolting Irish and German bar owners—will feature 10 representatives from the Bridgeport community and businesses, such as Jackalope Coffee and Tea House and Bernice’s Tavern, Durica said.
“Originally, it was the American party, the Know Nothings, led by Levi Boone who were kind of the anti-immigrant, anti-booze, anti-Catholic political entity, so we thought it would be fun to have the brewers [be] their nemesis, and then we also wanted it to be very community- and neighborhood-focused,” Durica said.
The game, which will follow The National Amateur Dodgeball Association rules, will be broken into ten 3-minute matches with a halftime performance by Brass Inferno Productions, which will play 1850s German beer garden music.
The event is part of Version Fest 15, an annual Bridgeport fest that highlights projects that address local social issues and community use of public spaces. This year, the festival is focused on launching a community-based radio station, WLPN Lumpen Radio. At the Lager Beer Riot, Strange Brews podcast hosts Alison Cuddy and Andrew Gill will give play-by-play coverage with color commentary from Randy Mosher, beer author and partner at 5 Rabbit, and Tim Samuelson, Chicago cultural historian.
For the highest ticket price ($50), attendees will have the chance to play in one of the dodgeball matches. General admission ($30) includes 10 beer tickets and a special issue of Mash Tun craft beer journal. The $40 option includes an event poster by Kathleen Judge. The beer tasting lasts from 6–9 p.m. Tickets are available online at eventbrite.com
Immediately following the Lager Beer Riot Fundraiser is another Version Fest event to celebrate the release of a “mixtape beer” collaboration between Marz and Lumpen arts publication at Co-Prosperity Sphere (3219 S. Morgan St. 773-837-0145), a few blocks from Benton House. The event will be held from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. and will promote WLPN radio, Marszewski said. For a $10 admission fee, attendees with receive a bottle of the limited-release Palace Gates Ale brown IPA with a code to download a mixtape with music from local artists. The beer will be on shelves across the city the following week.
Read more about Version Fest 15 and WLPN radio at versionfest.org More Top Picks Best Motion Control Shoes With Arch Support
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