065: Brian Rutzen | The Northman, Chicago’s 1st cider bar

Brian Rutzen is the Cider Director at Chicago’s first cider bar, The Northman managing 20 taps of cider, 5 craft beers and in total over a 100 options of cider to partake at this 63 seat bar.

We chat how The Northman helps patrons understand cider, how it is poured, cellaring cider, cider with food, and lots of tips for attendees heading to the windy city for CiderCon (the annual cider conference for members of the United States Association of Cider Makers).

Chicago is a city of neighborhoods – with many of the names reflecting the immigrant groups that settled there. Pilsen for instance got its name from the Czech immigrants and is now housing many Mexican immigrants.

Brian says “Chicago is setup as a grid.” Making it fairly easy to get about

O’Hare Airport apple history

What does the airport code ORD stand for at this mighty Chicago hub?

Answer: Orchard Field

Taxi to Downtown from O’Hare Airport: $50 bucks (this is not absolute, might be more)

Public Transport from O’Hare to Downtown -$2 (might be a bit more but, no more than $5)

What to expect for cider options in Chicago?

Brian says that most bars nowadays have at least 2 ciders on tap

Transportation around Chicago?

Uber – Take lake shore drive to get to The Northman from Chicago CiderCon2017 for $15 bucks. Use the promo code CIDERCHAT10 for $10 off your first Uber ride.

Taking the L train from downtown to The Northman will take you 45 minutes

Contact info for Brian and The Northman

Brian’s Twitter handle: @ChicagoCider

website The Northman

address: 4337 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago

telephone: 773-935-2255

Twitter @TheNorthmanChi