New Forgotten Chicago Article - Bygone Breweries

Leading breweries could be found everywhere from the Southern Shore of Lake Michigan to an 18th Street where a micro-brewer & later private label water bottler harvested natural spring water.

As they said in the Untouchables movie, we know where the breweries are, but you must be willing to take on Al Capone!

Schoenhofen, that's correct--appleuzer. I met a retired Cook County Circuit Court Judge who launched his own water bottling operation in Schoenhofen's former brewery building near 18th Street & Canal (just west of Mayor Richard M. Daley's private residence @ Central Station).

If my memory serves me well, the retired judge told me that there's a natural spring on that property which helped Schoenhofen locate the original brewery.

Primed for real estate development @ the corner of 18th Street & Canal Street near the Chicago River. Developers might find that this former brewery building is of such a historic character that preservation may be preferred.