One of the most curiosity-stoking names in American beer didn’t land on its moniker through any great stroke of inspiration. They grabbed a new name because they had to.
One day in 2016, the artists formerly known as the South Loop Brewing Company realized they had a problem: A pre-existing beer in Chicago was called South Loop Lager. There were no cease-and-desist letters, no legal kerfuffle, says Cofounder Jeremiah Zimmer. It was simply a choice to avoid future trademark disputes and protect what they had already built.
So they went literary. Looking for a unique name with local roots, they turned to the Carl Sandburg poem, “Chicago”:
Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders