Chicago craft brewers spend their days making (and tasting) delicious beer, so it's not exactly shocking that some of them enjoy kicking back with a beverage that's produced in much larger quantities. At Off Color Brewing, the macrobrew of choice is Miller High Life, the ubiquitous effervescent lager that is also known by its self-appointed nickname, "The Champagne of Beers." In fact, Off Color's brewers like High Life so much that Miller invited them up to its Milwaukee brewery to make a few kegs in 2016—and the Miller brewers returned the favor by coming to Chicago to collaborate on a special High Life-inspired beer.
The result of the unexpected collaboration between microbrewers Off Color and beer titans Miller was Eeek!, a beer which took the base ingredients used to brew High Life and introduced them to Off Color's "wild acidic and funky mixed cultures" as well as its "house lactobacillus." Champagne yeast was also used to imitate High Life's pronounced carbonation.
Eeek! was originally released in limited quantities at Off Color's brewery in October 2016, and there was every indication that it would be a one-time-only release. But earlier this week, Off Color announced that it has brewed a second batch of the High Life-inspired beer and will be selling 750ml bottles ($20) and draft pours from its Mousetrap taproom on March 18. That's the day after St. Patrick's Day, and there's sure to be a sizable line when the taproom opens its doors at 11am, so plan your green beer consumption accordingly.