It’s a struggle in the wake of the election to write about a new brewpub in a way that makes it seem like it matters. On the day after Trump’s victory, I found myself at a table with a few other despondents at Old Irving Brewery, trying to medicate the malignancy of the Orange Cancer with snifters of high-ABV Imperial Black Ale.
The menu is executed by Merges lieutenant Michael Shrader, of the late Urban Union, who’s armed with the most current restaurant weaponry (aka a wood-fired oven). Deviled eggs are laced with sriracha and nestled among pickled shimeji mushrooms and dabs of charred-scallion puree. Smooth garlic mashed potatoes arrive emulsified with more than enough butter to soothe your shattered nerves. A half chicken roasts in the kitchen fire and is plated atop fingerlings roasted in its coals, charred lemons and Calabrian chiles bringing the light. A grass-fed beef burger has a distinct crusty char armoring pink beef, though it’s a bit overwhelmed by the focaccia delivery system. A BLT with avocado is built upon soft, open-crumb bread made from the brewery’s spent grains, a tender but more than capable vessel for the thick slabs of applewood-smoked bacon therein.
It’s a rare down note on the two menus at this promising brewpub, which, while no answer to our load of trouble, is at least capable of lightening it for a bit. v
4419 W. Montrose 773-916-6421oldirvingbrewing.com
