18th Street Brewery~Hammond, IN

nglkss
Sep 26, 2020
2 min read

Updated: Jun 27, 2024

I'm a fanboy of this brewery. I wish it were in Chicago so that I could visit more often. I mean, it's not that far–45 minutes on a good day and well worth the drive–but it's just so good, and I selfishly want it closer to me.

For the last decade, owner Drew Fox has simply been smashing it. From the food, beers, staff, label art, pub design, business model, you name it. And he's not finished moving forward and growing. I hope he's never finished.

This is a brewery I think of when I crave a hoppy, bitter, vengeful IPA. Yes, 18th Street gets down with the hazies too, but they still keep in mind the old school IPA lovers like me: the filtered, needs-me-some-IBU hop heads who feel like we've been left behind in a cloud of juice dust. They also brew a crispy AF pilsner that is like Mary Poppins: practically perfect in every way. And let's not forget about their flagship double milk stout, Hunter, which won a Bronze medal at FoBAB 2016 for its vanilla variant.

Onto the food! The first time I ate at 18th was at the Gary brewpub. I was already expecting great things, yet I was still blown away by how incredible my meal was. Drew is not messing around when it comes to the quality of anything his company produces. You can taste that just as much love and care goes into the food as it does the beer and spirits. The menu will not overload you with too many options, yet you'll have a difficult time choosing because EVERYTHING looks delicious (and it is). It's all about the quality of the food, not the number of menu items. A handful of handhelds and some must-try side dishes are the overall theme, but if there's a food special available, you should probably order it. Your tum-tum will thank you.

This place is a well-oiled machine with excellently-hired FOH, BOH and brewery staff, which explains why the service is consistently great and the food and beers are always delicious. Every aspect of a great restaurant and brewery experience is why you go to 18th Street. It really doesn't get much better, unless you also love listening to metal.🤘🏽

(You can see my husband's carpentry skills at both the Hammond and Indy locations. He built Hammond's interior bar, and he collabed with Gus of Doing It Right Construction to build the patio bar, which is nestled inside a shipping container. At the Indy location, he built the back bar and liquor shelves to prominently display 18th's versatile selection of spirits.)