Getting Noticed: Our first Cease & Desist

Visitors this past weekend thought we had a new beer. "Grounded"? Well, it was actually the beer formerly known as "BIO". We have gotten our first cease and desist letter from a California brewery, and had to change the name. This is a rite of passage most breweries go through. Cesar named the v2 of this beer--we enjoy the pun: this beer is both truly grounded in the earth (made from organic ingredients including Chinook hops from Michigan) and Sketchbook was 'grounded' by the cease and desist.

Employee # 1: Meet Connor Scanlan

So, Sketchbook is gifted, truly, by the energies of an incredible team of co-founders:

Shawn Decker & Alice George
Cesar Marron & Amy Wilkinson
Sean Curry
Mike Ensdorf & Kathy Pilat
Matt & Tara Kosloski
Ted Perez

These are the folks you've been seeing behind the counter since Day 1 last fall.

Well, we are proud that Sketchbook now has an employee too. Connor Scanlan is working pretty much full-time at Sketchbook, brewing, cleaning, brewing, cleaning, cleaning and ... working behind the counter. Make sure and make him feel welcome. We captured him below receiving his first pay-check.

The Fun of it: Roja & Verde for La Principal

Our friends and loyal purveyors of Sketchbook Beer--Derek Gaspar and Eric Young of Lucky Platter--have now opened the fabulous La Principal, at 700 Main St. We created two unique beers for them--Roja and Verde--using small infusions of mole and salsa verde. Back in September, this was our tasting night! This is the fun stuff...make sure to stop by and taste those exclusive beers while they last.

Rummaging for the New Space: Shout out to our Architects and Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse

Growing pains? Well, our expansion into the 821 Chicago Ave. space is proceeding, just slowly. Paperwork and planning is moving along though, never fear! And here's the cool thing: we are partnering with Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse to repurpose and reuse old wood, windows, you name it. The end product will be a cozy, one-of-a-kind space that respects the existing structure and integrates a number of reused elements. Our architects, Brad Pausha and Robert Webber of Valerio Dewalt Train Associates, are diving into the scavenging mode. A recent trip to ERW uncovered this wonderful old church door and these stained glass windows--with any luck, you'll spy them in the new space.

We are working on finalizing everything we need for our permits, and hopefully we can start construction soon!

Growing Pains & Gains