Night One of highlighting the culture of beer halls—for our first evening, we focus on Czech-style beer service, serving only světlé and tmavé. The first rule of drinking in a Czech pub? Don’t go to the bar.

On Friday, January 10, from 4-10pm, we’ll turn our Barrel Loft into a pop-up Czech-style beer hall, serving only světlé (Pilsner) and tmavé (Czech Dark Lager).

As faithful as a Chicago brewery can be to Czech brewing traditions, both of these beers are decocted (thrice for the Pilsner and twice for the CDL), open-fermented, and brewed with soft water we make here at the brewery to mimic Pilsen’s “Heaven’s Water.”

But enough about the technical stuff. Table service is front-and-center in Czech beer hall culture, there’s no need to go to the bar, because there’s no decision to be made. Our servers will bring you either “Light” or “Dark,” and our bartender-turned-tapsters-for-the-night will serve from a side-pull faucet, offering Hladinka, Šnyt, and Mlíko pours. We always preach FOAM here, but tonight we’ll shout it from the rooftops.

Also joining us for the weekend will be Beard & Belly, who will curate (ooh la la) a menu for each beer hall. On Night One’s menu: Czech Sekanà (a pork and beef meatloaf).