The Next Chapter in Brewing

We're amidst a new year. Looking back at the second half of 2013, Matt and I had almost 30 different beers added to our portfolio. During that time, we experimented with different malt, different hops, different yeasts and even different techniques. We picked up momentum, and are now on pace for what promises to be an exciting 2014. It's for that reason a new brand, a new beginning, seems appropriate as we gear up for the next chapter in brewing with a renewed vision. With over a hundred beers brewed and thousands of others sampled, our vision looking ahead has never been more clear. We respect tradition as much as we respect pushing the boundaries. Our admiration for the history of farmhouse brewing and spontaneous fermentation has molded us into brewers with an adventurous side. All the while, our passion for clean, traditional styles that have survived the test of time, keep us in check. We want to challenge and be challenged, all while maintaining the utmost respect for beer's history.

With that said, we announce Kimbell Brewing. Matt and I are once again working on a brewery venture. While we're very much aware of the booming Chicago market, we know we have something special to offer. From this day forward, Kimbell Brewing will work diligently to craft our beer with integrity. The brand is in development, but what's more important to us right now is brewing efficiently with audacity, while meeting our community and gaining support. The branding—something I value greatly—has been in rush-mode for the last two weeks in an effort to meet our self-imposed deadline tomorrow for the Brew HaHa. After the event, we'll let the dust settle for a moment, then pick back up, tweaking and polishing as we dig deeper into the meaning of it all.

So if you know Matt and I, and have enjoyed our beers in the last several years, we hope you continue following our progress, and remain excited for things to come. I know we are.

CHEERS.

476 Days Later...

I’ve been interested in authoring a personal blog for several years, but I’ve found it difficult reserving time to do so. That being said, here I am, writing my first thoughts in well over a year. It seems appropriate now since my life has changed a bit during that time. One of the more substantial changes is the status of Low Dive Brewing.

We spent more than a year focused on opening a brewery in Chicago. During that time, my biggest role aside from brewing was creating (and maintaining) brand identity and a presence within a handful of social networks. As much as I may dislike some aspects of marketing, I rather enjoyed the responsibility. And while time-consuming, I also enjoyed putting myself out there to network, meeting anyone I could that works within the industry and even those in a similar position that I was in—working their way into it. There’s a lot to be said for networking. I’ve met a lot of great people whom I hope to work with in the future or even just drink a couple beers with when the opportunity arises. Being part of a home brewery working towards opening a commercial brewery comes with its challenges. We loved sharing our beer. Offering the experience we worked to create with it resulting perhaps in a new fan or rather interested future consumer, and even better, feedback and criticism. But it became more difficult as the popularity of home brewing, and craft beer in general, kept growing. So much so, that our efforts caught someone’s attention, and TTB was contacting us soon after, making it nearly impossible to share the fruits of our labor.

In that following year, while working on our business plan, marketing ourselves, formulating recipes and brewing those beers, I sensed a slow deterioration. By the end of 2012, it was decided that we would no longer pursue the venture together. At that point, we were simply home brewers again. And admittedly, I was very excited about it. That past year brought challenges unforeseen by me. Challenges I felt were out of my control. But now, all we planned on doing was getting back to the basics, and brew beer with a rejuvenated approach.

Also at this time, Tara (my lovely girlfriend) and I decided I would move into her home. Obviously, that was a big step for both of us. What that also meant was that I would soon be able to brew at home, whereas in the past, I relied entirely on the others to host primarily due to the fact that my apartment simply wasn’t conducive for brewing and fermenting beer. However, that also meant that Low Dive would now have 3 locations, thus likely transporting equipment even more than before depending on who hosts. Having to transport the equipment at all is not ideal. Therefore, Tim and Sean proposed that we split our equipment as best we could, resulting in two separate brewhouses. Tim and Sean, who share a home with their families, would share one set, while Matt and I would share the other. It was unanimously agreed upon, so we sold some of our larger equipment, and divvied up the remaining pieces between the two groups. Matt and I were excited to get brewing again, so we worked diligently to build our brewhouse back up, and finally mashed in our first beer as a duo (again) on June 1.

I know there are folks out there wondering what’s going on with the Low Dive brand. Lately, when I’ve been asked, my genuine response is, “I don’t really care.” But that's only because I find great pleasure in simply brewing and not worrying about the business side of things at this time. Now that 95% of all-things-brewing between Matt and I occur at my home, I’m in a happy place. But to address any confusion or curiosity regarding the status of Low Dive Brewing, it still exists. When we decided not to pursue the venture as the four original members, and instead, put our sights on just brewing again, the thought was that Low Dive would function more as a home brew club. while we don’t brew as a foursome any longer, we’re still friends, and we are still home brewing.

Matt and I's equipment; my new basement

It is still Matt and I’s desire to open a commercial brewery together. whether or not we bring the Low Dive brand along with us remains to be seen. For now however, our focus simply is on brewing beer.

Screens 'n' Suds Chicago

On April 27, the eve of Dark Lord Day, an event will take place that you won't want to miss. People from all over will gather at the Pilsen Social Club (1804 S. Racine) from 6p-11p to enjoy craft beer and the art of screen printed posters. The most important part however, is why this event is taking place, other than to have a good time of course. If you know me or my friend Matt Herakovich, you may recall our efforts several years back to organize Mass Out, a huge art show benefiting the Illinois chapter of MS Society. Things didn't go as planned, the project regrettably lost steam and the event never came to fruition.

That changes now.

Luckily, we met Ric Hersh. Ric, along with a few friends, founded Screens 'n' Suds. The concept is very similar to Mass Out, but with a track record. Now in it's fourth year, Ric and company decided to take the event and branch out to other cities creating a series of Screens 'n' Suds events across the country. Once we learned of this, we immediately jumped on board, and have been helping bring Screens 'n' Suds to Chicago.

Artist's from around the country have donated time and their work for the cause. There will be exclusive beer-inspired screen printed posters available for sale as well as additional works from the artists. Some of the artists include: Steve Walters from Screwball Press—tentatively scheduled to appear, Jim Pollock of Pollock Prints—who will definitely be in attendance, Basemint Designs, and Gumball Designs just to name a few. And while all the beer-inspired art may make you thirsty, we'll have Goose Island, Metropolitan, 5 Rabbit, Breckenridge and even more breweries to take care of you.

Upon entry, there will be a $5 suggested donation at the door. Donations collected at both the door and the bar as well as sales from the beer-inspired art, will be presented to MS Society.

In addition, we have a Dark Lord Day ticket to raffle off! A $10 donation, gives you a chance at winning a ticket to the "C" time frame. The drawing will take place at 10pm at the Screens ’n’ Suds event. You do not need to be present. However, if you aren't present, you're responsible for meeting up with Ric to get your ticket the next morning. The proceeds from the raffle will go straight to MS Society. Paypal screensnsuds@gmail.com or cash / credit at the the event. Please include your name and telephone number if you paypal.

Finally, to take this one step further, just down 18th street, Nightwood Restaurant will be donating 100% of sales made from a selected pasta dish. Even better, if you can't make it out Friday night, don't fret! You can stop in any time all week from April 23-28 to support this cause. If you haven't paid them a visit, you're doing yourself a disservice. The food is amazing. Enjoy yourself, and know you're supporting something bigger.

Get involved, have fun, and fight against Multiple Sclerosis!

Join Me

flyer design by yours truly. holla at ya boy.

A couple months back, Won approached Low Dive about brewing a beer for an event a little different than the brew-b-q's we've worked together on last year. I think once Won experienced a Thirst Fursday, he wanted to organize something similar. If you've never been to a Thirst Fursday, it all boils down to the Goose Island brewpub in Lincoln Park opening a room for beer fans to bring bottles from their personal collection, their home brew or even whatever you can find in your local shops cooler. Pretty simple, but Won decided to approach it a bit differently and expand. Everyone's invited, and encouraged to bring bottles just like Thirst Fursday. However, he invited some of his home brewing friends to feature some of their beer while he prepares and serves food. And if that's not enough, Michael Andersen will be serving Angel's Envy from 2-5p. So, essentially he kicked the concept up a notch. Hopefully you can join us at Chicago Urban Art Society Saturday.

CHEERS!

Dig Some Art This Weekend

Deny Me Three Times (Wooster St., Manhattan, NY, June, 2010)

The minute I was exposed to Gaia's work on flickr, then first-hand in New York last summer, I've been a fan. Pawn Works and Maxwell Colette Gallery have joined forces to bring Gaia to Chicago for a show that opens tonight. Gaia's been getting up in Chicago for the last couple weeks in preparation for tonight's show. His work has popped up in several neighborhoods as well as downtown that many folks have captured and featured on their flickr photostreams. I'm really looking forward to seeing his work up-close again, and in a gallery setting.

Also opening tonight at Rotofugi is a show featuring new work from Andrew Bell and McBess. I still haven't been up to see the new digs (can it even be considered new at this point?), and tonight just may be the night. I'm really diggin McBess' work.

One last show that should be considered—starts tonight and lasts through the weekend—is the Chicago Zine Fest. In it's second year, it will feature over 200 artists at Columbia College, 826CHI, and Quimby's.

TONIGHT!

Just a lil friendly reminder that I'll be at the Beetle this evening from 6-10 drinking Alpha King's and probably eating an Elvis burger (fried plantains and peanut butter) at the bar. I have about 30 framed photographs up for sale in addition to a few screenprinted and painted pieces. I'd love to meet or see ya, but if not tonight, again, my work will be hanging there til mid-October.

CHEERS!

HAPPY FRIDAY

I'm gonna start things off with a lil bit-a-self promoting. I took advantage of an opportunity to display some new work at the Beetle (2532 W Chicago). All the work is already hung in fact. I'll be in attendance Wednesday night from 6-10, so I hope you all can either make it out sometime before October 15 when my work comes down or even better, next Wednesday so we can rap. Most of my work this time around consists of photos, but I did manage to throw in a few additional [non-photographic] pieces for good measure.


Rotofugi moved into their new digs recently up in the Lakeview/Lincoln Park area. They've already had a show there in fact, a couple weeks ago that I missed. And they're not messin around as they already have their second show lined up to open tonight. This time, Dalek and Steve Seeley are the featured artists. Dalek's work is out of my budget, but I do enjoy it. I always enjoyed his space monkeys, but in recent past, he really switched his focus to a more pattern/geometric style with lot's of colors. It worked well at a show I attended last year as he had access to the space's entire wall. This time, his work is scaled down, and more accessible. Steves work is awful interesting. He likes his super hero's. And women. That's all I'm gonna say.


This weekend brings Meeting of Style's back to Chicago! LOTS of writer's in town for this. I'll let the flyer speak for itself.

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Tuesday, September 21, Local Option's hosting a Three Floyd's tapping event. 10 taps total, including Ruggoop, will be flowing for us beer nerds, and quite possibly this year's Nemesis (which is currently on tap at the Small Bar on Division) released less than a month ago from Founder's Brewing Company.

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I hope I get to see or meet you all Wednesday. But if not, have a great weekend.

PEACE

BIG WEEKEND!!!

A new art season is upon us! There's lot's going on this weekend, and it'll likely be impossible to catch everything you want to see, so here are my personal picks.

Let's Hot Box! I love this concept. I saw Veggiesomething's show a couple weeks back, and instantly fell in love with this idea. It's a box truck. It's a gallery. It's both! A traveling gallery if you will, both inside and out. This weekend, the featured artist is REVISE CMW. I have a feeling this is gonna be stupid. STUPID AWESOME! It'll be driving/parking in and around Pilsen tonight (2nd Fridays!), and then in Wicker Park Saturday to party with this weekend's Renegade Craft Fair. Do not miss this one.


And speaking of Renegade Craft Fair, soak in the works of over 300 artists in one monstrous creative event. This could easily keep you busy for an entire day, so prepare thyself.


This actually opened last night at Columbia College's C33 Gallery, but it'll remain on display til October 14th. Artist's involved include: Klepto, Blutt, Brooks Golden (who's work's featured on the flyer), Stockyard Institute, amongst many others. It's nice to see a show like this. Show your support.


David Burdeny's showing his super crispy photographic landscapes at the David Weinberg Gallery, starting this evening. I love photographs, and I love skylines. I hope to make it over there before it's too late, or else I'll be disappointed in myself. I've never seen David's work personally, so I'm really excited to see these photos firsthand.


Sonar Festival! Typically held in Barcelona, has landed in Chicago bringing a plethora of sick electronic artists for us to feed on this weekend. I saw The Slew (featuring Kid Koala) last night at the almighty Pritzker Pavilion (for FREE of course), and it was well worth the money ;) In fact, I've never seen a show at the Pavilion at night, and it really is a completely different experience. That is by far one of my favorite venues for music (weather-permitting) in Chicago as the sound and sight's are second to none. Performances all weekend will be taking place there and many others spaces, so take advantage of this opportunity if electronic music is your thing.

Have fun, be safe, and most importantly, take advantage of all the great things going on this weekend.

PEACE.

Lowdive.com is officially online. We'll try our best at keeping readers up to date with what's brewing, both throughout the industry, and most importantly in our very own lab. Should be a fun ride!

What You On Tonight?

Tonight in Pilsen, it's the monthly Second Friday's. Lot's of galleries/studios open to the public for free. Specifically, stop by the Beer Run Gallery to catch Won Kim and Jarrett Spiegel's collaborative effort. Won says it's very different than anything else he's done. Goose Island beer's and DJ Intel on the beats... it's a no-brainer.



This is special. Stop by the Gene Siskel Film Center tonight for the 8:15 screening of Sharkula's documentary, Diarrhea of a Madman. This guys somewhat of a Chicago legend, and will show only once, so this is a rare opportunity. Should be good.

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Boris plays at the Metro tonight. Get your face melted.

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Thursday at Sheffield's, Goose Island invades for the bar's 30th anniversary. What that means is a lot of special beers on tap. Beers you will never see in bottles, and may never see on tap again. Chili pepper Bourbon County?? YES PLEASE.

Photo courtesy of LunaPark

Lastly, peep the production OS GEMEOS and FUTURA 2000 are working on in Manhattan. Why can't Chicago get these kind of treats??

Beer & Art

Low Dive is about to jump into our 20th beer brewed. We've made some great beers and learned quite a bit in the last year and a half. We're about to take the next step in doubling our normal batch sizes from five to 10 gallons. It's been fun learning, experimenting, and of course drinking these beers, so I'm excited for our next 20. Yesterday in fact, we bottled our oak-aged barleywine ale, Malevolence, clocking in at a hefty 17.75% abv. We brewed it on Halloween, so it was nice finally getting that in bottles. I suspect we'll try a bottle in a couple months, but the rest will likely be resting in the cellar to allow the alcohol to mellow and the flavors to balance out. But it did taste quite well I must say. Here's to hoping I get to drink our beer with each and every one of you in the near future!



I'm getting back to painting which feels good. More on that later.




Shawn Smith has a show opening at Oh No! Doom this Friday titled Monster March. Shawn's been doing big things lately, so I'm curious to see what he brings. Oh No! Doom moved into a new spot this year also, and if you haven't been yet, you should go based on that alone. Good people and a dope space.



Won is a good friend, and he along with Jarrett Spiegel have been working on this show for the last several months (when he wasn't cooking, Painting signage at your local watering hole/big-ass Whole Foods or DJing). I've personally not been to the Beer Run Gallery yet. I know a couple of the artists that run it, so I'm excited to see them along with Won's work. Pay it a visit. I'll be there. What more could you want??



It's Midwest Craft Beer Month at all Binny's locations in August. Find your favorite libations or better yet, use this sale as an opportunity to try something new. ALWAYS SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BREWERIES, but more importantly, please support the entire craft/micro beer movement. It's certainly growing in popularity, but it could still use your help.



Half Acre announced the release of a highly anticipated collaboration between them, Short's Brewing and Jonathon Cutler from Piece. I cannot wait to try this. Freedom of '78 (Pure Guava IPA) will be released Friday, August 6!



Jason Brammer teamed up with sculptor Jason Hawk for a collaborative exhibition titled "Finding the Future" as part of the Pop-Up Art Loop at 240 S. State tonight from 5-8. I think it's safe to say that their work will surely entertain.

CHEERS!

D*Face!

D*Face, Artist :: Off The Wall from friendswelove.com on Vimeo.

So...it's been a minute.

I've been dealing with a number of issues in the last few months, most notably, I was in a bike accident in early August. August 9th to be exact. Broke my left elbow and right wrist as well as busted my chin. The bike, well the bike is out of commission. The fork is definitely bent, but I've since then bought a new bike (new to me that is) since I can ride now albeit a bit uncomfortably. It's an SE Premium Brew frame, and still needs some work, but if I had to, it is ride-able. Shortly after getting my second cast removed, I came down with the flu, and still to this day am fighting this nagging cough that is driving me crazy. During that whole time, I basically had no energy or will to do much more than veg out on the couch or drink with the homies. But enough about me! It's gloomy outside, but it's not gonna bring me down as there are a few nice art-related events going down this weekend.

However, First things first. Chicago Police Detective Joseph Frugoli, after being involved in several DUI cases already, once again got behind the wheel of his Lexus with a blood-alcohol level 3x the legal limit, and plowed into a broken-down car that was parked on the side of the Dan Ryan. That car immediately went into flames and killed both Andrew Cazares and Fausto Manzera ages 23 and 21 respectively who were sitting in the pulled-over vehicle. To make matters worse, Frugoli was found by police fleeing the scene. He was arrested, and later released on a $500,000 bond. The reason I bring this story up again is because Frugoli's police pals have organized a fundraiser for him to be held this evening at the Fraternal Order of Police headquarters at 1412 W. Washington Blvd. It infuriates me that a piece of shit like this can not only get released from jail, but that his police pals are hosting a fundraiser in his honor. Care to support a shameful cause and slap the faces of every family member and friend of the two young men he killed, then by all means hurry your slimey self to this event, but I assure you there will also be a protest by those seeking actual justice.


Now, back to happy thoughts. FACT is one of Chicago's profound graffiti writers and now he's inviting you all to see what he does on a fine art tip. It's tonight at the Novem Store on Ashland. It should be interesting.

Who doesn't like documentaries? Mark Rosengren is presenting I Write on Stuff tonight at the Silver Room in Wicker Park. The documentary covers some of Chicago's graffiti writers which can always make for good entertainment. The list includes some stand-out names, so I'm expecting a good show here.

Saturday at Oh No! Doom will be the last show at their current location before they move into Bucktown. Curated by Phoneticontrol, this show includes an impressive list of Chicago artists who are all interpreting the same 3D model designed by Phoneticontrol. I love the concept. I've seen Artillery's piece already, and let me tell ya, this is gonna be a good show, and there'll be a lot of good people in attendance. Come out and send the Oh No! Doom collective on to their new digs with style.

Finally, another favorite Chicago artist of mine, Mr. Jason Brammer is opening up a solo show Fragments From the Future Saturday evening at April 7s in Ukranian Village. He never disappoints me. He and his wife, Erin are super people, so please support them and see what he's been up to as of late.

PEACE

Joey Potts!

Love Joey's work. Here's a look inside the mind of Mr. Potts.

VIMBY - Joey Potts

Invader!

He has a show opening in July at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York. Love his work, and this is a great promo for it.

Banksy vs. Bristol Museum

Alderman James Balcer: HATER.

Gabriel Villa spent two weeks painting this mural in Bridgeport for an arts festival on a wall owned by the mother of Ed Marszewski, a festival organizer. In other words, he was granted permission to paint a mural on private property. It didn't last long though, as Ald. James Balcer (Ward 11) had it buffed. In his own words, he was quoted saying:

"You know I don't know if there was hidden gang meaning behind it with the cross, with the skull, with the deer, with the police camera's. Was there something anti-police about it? I don't know what's in his mind. That's how I viewed it."

Hater? Or just dumbass? I call a combination of both. But on the real, this was an entirely unfair move on the governments part to squash the little guy because someone didn't like what was painted. It's art. One of many things art does is challenge you. Even though the wall now bears the infamous brown buff, I sort of consider it a win on Villa's part (even though, I would imagine he may understandably disagree), as he obviously challenged the alderman, and the alderman couldn't handle it.

BEFORE

AFTER

Feel free to contact him and express your disgust with his decision:
3659 S. Halsted St.
Chicago, IL 60609
jbalcer@cityofchicago.org
(773) 254-6677

FULL STORY HERE

TONIGHT: Meat Number 5 at Sonotheque!

Flyer design by yours truly. Holla at ya boy if you have any design needs!!!

Meat Number 5's having a release party at Sonotheque tonight for The Oblivion EP. All those performing tonight had a part in the making of this EP which makes this show super tasty. Many will tell you Sonotheque has one of, if not thee best sound system in the city. I'm personally excited to see Meat Number 5, Phaded and Maker all on the same bill. Hopefully you can make it out and support their new release. I'll see ya there!

Studio News

As some of you know, I've branded my own line of apparel, but haven't done anything of great magnitude to see it flourish. It was a big day for me about a year ago, when I stumbled upon several stretched silk screens in an alley. Before then (and even now still), I've used an online service that, for the most part, has been a great resource for my printing, billing and shipping needs. However, they enforce certain restrictions that limited what I could design/print. Well, my friends Meat Number 5 inquired about the screens I found, and asked for my help printing shirts for their upcoming release party on Thursday. Naturally, I was glad to help, but maybe even better, it forced me to get my act together and finally screenprint at home. Tara helped me get the screens prepped, and the shirts were printed last night!

It had been since college when I last printed with silk screens. I learned last night why the shirt needs to be flat. That in turn caused a whole mess. A mess, for a moment, I was sure was gonna end our operation with a quickness. However, with some MacGyvering, we solved our problem and finished the job. They're now drying and will be for sale at their release party.


BE THERE!!!

Ricky Powell

Ricky Powell's another photographer whom I'd love to meet. He's lived quite a life. Here's a somewhat entertaining interview done by Walrus TV.