- Julia Thiel
- Whisper Kisses at Small Bar
A few years ago I read a Sherman Alexie story in which a character said he hated Trader Joe’s because every time he fell in love with a product, they’d stop making it. It stuck with me because I can relate (seriously, if anyone with influence there is reading this, can you bring back those big multigrain crackers?).
Now Solemn Oath, a year-old brewery in Naperville, wants to do the same thing to me. From their website: “We hope you’ll fall in love with one of our beers. When you do, we’re going to take it away. Seriously.”
Their plan for the first few years, the site goes on to say, is to make dozens of different beers in a wide range of styles, and then occasionally bring back the best of them. The names are great and the descriptions intriguing: Dude, Hold My Purse (cabernet barrel-aged Belgian blonde ale with peaches), Creepy Barista (American brown ale with coffee), Nothing Rhymes With Orange (spiced oatmeal Belgian blonde ale), Ravaged by Vikings (double IPA, which Philip Montoro reviewed a few months ago). Personally, I can’t wait to try Oxford Comma, a spiced Belgian blonde ale, mostly because I’m an Oxford comma fan.