Karl Rutherford
Owner and brewery director at Twisted Hippo
Chicago and Wheeling, IL (Inside District Brew Yards)
TwistedHippo.com

The last really good beer I drank was… Black Walnut from Scratch Brewing Company. I am a huge fan of dark lagers, and this one took the style to the next level. The slightly chocolate backbone was perfectly complemented by the foraged, toasted black walnuts. The beer also had some slightly fruity notes that really elevated the profile. I love that The Beer Temple in Chicago keeps Scratch on draft so we can keep finding gems like this one. 

Beyond that, I always keep some of Around the Bend Beer Co.’s Vera (pistachio cream ale) and Half Acre’s Bodem (IPA) in the fridge. Vera’s cream ale base pairs so well with the rich pistachio for an easy-drinking treat, while Bodem checks so many boxes. Somehow it manages to meet squarely in the middle of hazy and West Coast sensibilities by balancing slight bitterness with a fruit profile over a backbone of traditional IPA maltiness mixed with hazy softness. Both of these beers are on my list of beers I wish we’d developed. 

Around the Bend’s Vera cream ale pairs so well with the rich pistachio for an easy-drinking treat, while Half Acre’s Bodem manages to meet squarely in the middle of hazy and West Coast sensibilities by balancing slight bitterness with a fruit profile…

What fellow Illinois breweries and specific beers have impressed you lately?

So many of our fellow breweries are making outstanding beer right now. Our friends at Old Irving Brewing keep making world-class beers and proved it again with another gold medal win for their Beezer. I can’t wait to see what’s next as they start cranking out beers from their new production facility.

I am also really loving the lagers that Alarmist Brewing is making with Midwest Royalty and Crispy Boy. Off Color Brewing’s “Beer For” series consistently impresses me and is such a creative way to approach thinking about the occasions for drinking a beer. And the Pipeworks Brewing‘s crew continues to innovate and crank out new beers, all while proving their ability to tackle traditional styles as well. I loved their Maibock that I snagged a sample of at Beer Under Glass.

What are you most proud of at your brewery?

While we still mourn the loss of our brewpub (due to a fire in 2022) and the community we built there, we continue to work toward a new Twisted Hippo location. I am proud of the way we have pivoted into our current home at District Brew Yards. It’s a very different environment when patrons pour their own beer and don’t interact with a bartender. Some of the more esoteric options that we featured at our brewpub move differently without a human to help you find those you might love based on your palate. We’ve had to streamline and adapt to the preferences of the District Brew Yards crowd, but I am pleased with how we’ve risen to the challenge, refined our crowd favorites to remain consistent on a different brew system, and developed new beers for the DBY drinkers all while maintaining the spirit of what makes Twisted Hippo unique.

We’ve really hit our stride with our Fruit Booty series of fruited goses, and we will be bringing back our tropical Leviathan’s Lua this summer. And our strawberry lemonade-inspired blonde ale, Strawberry Rapture, will hit distribution for the first time.

What do you have coming up that people should know about?

I love dreaming up new beers and have several on the horizon that I’m excited about. We’ve really hit our stride with our Fruit Booty series of fruited goses and will be bringing back our tropical (mango, pineapple and tangerine) Leviathan’s Lua this summer. Our strawberry lemonade-inspired blonde ale, Strawberry Rapture, will hit distribution for the first time after previously being a pub-only beer.

In addition, I am putting the finishing touches on some new recipes for a Trappist single and a honey IPA. Anyone who has visited Twisted Hippo can tell I love working with honey and am intrigued by the prospect of a new beer that balances hop fruitiness and bitterness with the perceived touch of sweetness that honey brings.

District Brew Yards