Jolly Pumpkin Brewery, Hyde Park

 

 

I went to the original Jolly Pumpkin Brew Pub in Ann Arbor, Michigan earlier this year.  I decided recently to check out the recently opened branch in Hyde Park (Chicago), to see how they compare.  Located in 7 places, Jolly Pumpkin is a brewery that specializes in sours.  This is so much the case that when they wanted to make something other than sours, they started another brewery (North Peak) to market the non-sour beers.  They have been popular enough that they have been able to grow to 7 locations.  The Dexter Tap Room, the original original place, is simply a tap room and serves no food.  Every other place has a food menu.  Three of the locations, including the first brew pub in Ann Arbor are sit down locations.  The other three are counter service where you order food and beer, and then find a place to sit with your beer and your food will be delivered to you.  The outside of the Hyde Park location looks like a large modern retail or office location.  It doesn't really look like a brewery or restaurant from the outside, though it does look like a nice building and does have a Jolly Pumpkin sign.  Inside there is a line for the counter where you order your food and drink and then find a place to sit at one of the large picnic tables throughout the very large dining room or at the long two-sided bar.  There is also a round table that sits six inside a very large barrel in the dining room.  The dining room is very large, seating probably 200 people at the picnic tables and the bar.  Two of the walls are floor to ceiling windows looking at the street outside.  The other two sides of the dining room are the bar.  The kitchen is next to the bar one the side opposite the order counter behind a 3/4 wall.  The ceiling is unfinished with barrel lights and there are flat screen TVs throughout the room.  On the afternoon that I went, we were watching the World Cup.  There is a hall off to one side with a continuation of the window wall on one side with framed, poster-sized label art which is very cool and at the end of the hall there was a Game of Thrones-esque Throne of Barrel Staves.  It looked very worn, but it also looked kind of comfortable.

When I went to the Ann Arbor location, I ordered a flight, mostly of sours, but because they have so many interesting sours, when I came to Hyde Park, I again ordered a flight mostly of sours, with a token North IPA.  Most of the beers for the company are brewed at their production brewery in Traverse City, Michigan, though each place does have a small brewing operation of it's own for that location.  Most of the beers did come from the production facility, but I did get one that was brewed there.  Flights were four 5 ounce beers of your choice served on a barrel stave serving "platter" with space for five beers.  The beers also have an a la carte price for all sizes, so someone could augment their flight, if they so desired, so I guess that explains the extra space.  For my flight, I had the Biere de Mars Biere de Garde, Ale Absurd Sour Rye Tripel, Bath-O-Mat & Washeteria Sour Saison, a collaboration with Tired Hands Brewing of Ardmore, Pa, and my token North Peak Beer, Collaterale IPA.  The three sours were all pretty sour, but they all had different flavors.  The Biere de Mars was richer and had kind of a caramel finish, Ale Absurd was being brewed there though mine came from the production brewery.  All of the beers have some significant barrel aging time, so while they had brewed some Ale Absurd there, it was still barrel aging (in Chardonnay Barrels).  The Bath-O-Mat & Washeteria had a significant lemon flavor and aroma, and the North Peak IPA was an IPA.  It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't exceptional.

While I had to bring my beer to my seat, I was given a number for my food and it was brought to me.  While there were snacks, salads, and sandwiches, on the menu, what has gotten the most press has been the pizza, so I ordered a pizza.  The pizzas were 12 inches which is a good size for one person, especially when it has more than cheese and spices on it.  For my pizza, I ordered a Korean Short Rib BBQ Pizza with Korean Short Rib, Korean BBQ Sauce, Arugula, Scallions, Mozzarella, Black Sesame Seeds, and Sesame Soy Vinaigrette.  I liked it a lot.  It had a sweet and spicy flavor, with some savory from the soy sauce.  The Short Rib was tender and the arugula added some bitter crispness.  There was also a good sesame finish.  Between the flight and the pizza, I was pretty full when I finished.  While the service was casual, it was very friendly, and the food and drink were very good.  I would be happy to return.