Revolution Brewing and CH Distillery Team Up to Make Malört From Old Beer

The result has been dubbed "the most Chicago beverage"

A bottle of Malört and can of Anti-Hero beer
Anti-Hero Malört is available starting Friday, May 22.
Revolution Brewing

Two of Chicago’s most beloved booze brands have teamed up for a clever solution to a problem caused by the coronavirus pandemic: CH Distillery and Revolution Brewing joined forces to release a special edition of Jeppsen’s Malört — the notoriously bitter but widely popular liquor — distilled from old kegs of Anti-Hero, Revolution’s flagship IPA.

With local bars closed due to the virus, 160 kegs of Anti-Hero were returned to the brewery, forcing them to come up with a creative way to avoid simply dumping it.

“They were getting near their expiration date,” John Carruthers, communications manager for Revolution, told Block Club Chicago. “We were looking for a home for this beer rather than destroy it.”

The result is Anti-Hero Malört, which is available for purchase beginning today (Friday, May 22) at local Binny’s, as well as at Revolution’s brewpub in Logan Square. Bottles will retail for $25, and to celebrate the release, Revolution and CH Distillery will each donate $5,000 to Comp Tab Relief Fund, a Chicago-based relief effort for hospitality workers.

“This is the most Chicago beverage, between Malört and Anti-Hero, that I can think of,” Carruthers said. “I think it works well.”

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Meet your guide

Bonnie Stiernberg

Bonnie Stiernberg

Bonnie Stiernberg is InsideHook’s Managing Editor. She was Music Editor at Paste Magazine for seven years, and she has written about music and pop culture for Rolling Stone, Glamour, Billboard, Vice and more.
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