- Aquanaut’s three regular-rotation beers will debut in cans, not bombers, so these labels are provisional.
For a beer columnist, I don’t go to all that many beer festivals—I’m missing Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp Across America at Navy Pier to write this, for instance. But I’ve made it to enough to have seen the name “Aquanaut”—and the name “Strange Pelican,” which is what this Chicago operation called itself until March, when it decided to change colors after legal threats by Pelican Pub & Brewery in Pacific City, Oregon.
- Assistant brewer Brian Burgmeier and founder Eric McNeil at the bar that will anchor Aquanaut’s taproom, which they hope to open within six months
McNeil has also brought aboard assistant brewer Brian Burgmeier, 28, a friend since high school. The two of them are Aquanaut’s only staff at present, though like many small brewers they plan to enlist volunteers and interns to help with manual labor once they’re up and running. McNeil, who went to school for graphic design, has been making Aquanaut’s labels himself, but he recently started commissioning work from artist Ennis Martin.
- The Misterioso, aka Aquanaut’s porter
I hesitate to say that the Maiden Voyage Rye India Pale Ale (6.7 percent) was my favorite Aquanaut beer by far, because it might sound like I’m throwing shade on the others—but this was definitely the one that crossed the line from “good” to “extraordinary.” (I suspect McNeil feels the same, because Maiden Voyage was originally called Aquanaut—in a weird way, that makes it the brewery’s flagship.)
Now then! I think my visit to Aquanaut Brewing calls for some vintage stoner metal from Sleep: “Aquarian” appears on the 1992 album Sleep’s Holy Mountain.
