Evanston’s Temperance Beer Announces Closing Date

Evanston didn’t have a brewery before Temperance Beer Co. arrived at the end of 2013. The suburb’s first brewery was a historic moment, and the taproom quickly became one of the city’s finest with hits like Might Meets Right and Gatecrasher IPA. Temperance represented the rising popularity of the craft beer movement when home brewers crowded taprooms and stood in long lines for the latest release.

But times have changed. On Tuesday afternoon, Temperance founder Josh Gilbert announced the brewery would close on Sunday, October 27. All brewery tours had been canceled with refunds on their way. In a newsletter blast and Instagram post, Gilbert calls the craft beer world “barely recognizable” compared to a decade ago. “It’s difficult to even imagine that kind of excitement for a new brewery launch these days,” he writes.

Drinking habits have changed, and many craft beer fans have grown older, gravitating toward bourbon, non-alcoholic drinks, or even spiked seltzers Beer can be filling. Beyond beverages, the food scene has also shifted. Food trucks were a staple at Temperance, but the excitement for mobile eating has also snarled in this age of food delivery apps.

Temperance head brewer Claudia Jendron helped open the brewery in 2013 and was one of the few women in the industry. The taproom gave Evanston some credibility in the food and drink scene. Evanston has a long history of being a dry town. Customers, including Block Club Chicago co-founder Shamus Toomey and former Tribune beer and spirits writer Josh Noel, expressed their condolences with comments under the brewery’s Instagram post.

Now, fans have 12 days to relive the glory days before Temperance closes.

Temperance Beer Co., 2000 Dempster Street, Evanston, closing Sunday, October 27.