MEET FORBIDDEN ROOT
Robert Finkel
Randy Mosher
Nick Williams
Brian Krajack
OUR INSPIRATION
Beer is the ultimate creative beverage. Over the ages, brewers have used every imaginable ingredient in the quest for some new flavor or experience. We embrace this brewing artistry as inspiration for our restless creativity, seeking every fascinating and delicious ingredient we can find: herbs, spices, flowers, fruits and roots. Combined with traditional brewing ingredients and modern brewing techniques, the end result is a stream of uniquely tasty beers—in our brewpubs as well as the broader marketplace.
We value the way great beer creates pleasure. We also love how beer builds community, whether we’re sitting sitting at the table with family or with newfound friends in a community environment. Through both our beers and brewpubs we envelop our guests in a rich multisensory experience through the textures, flavors, and visual sparkle of our beer, food, and environment.
OUR PROCESS
We love malt and hops; they remain the foundation for any beer. But why should beer be limited to just two botanicals when there is a vast world of rich ingredients out there waiting for us to discover? Through our unique approach to brewing, we explore a rich world of ingredients, forgotten recipes, and creative flavors.
In our mission to brew botanic beer, we are dedicated to research, process, and innovation, working to evoke the natural world in new and unique ways. Rather than just spiking a style with some new flavor ingredient, we brew beers that offer up a whole experience of flavor, texture, and aroma, designing the beer around the ingredient to showcase it in the best possible context. Through modern processes and equipment like our “flavor torpedo” hop-back, we’re able to extract deep flavor and bursting aromatics, creating combinations that are often totally new to beer.
Inspired by forgotten recipes, ingredients and flavors, every beer starts with a big idea. Then we gather the appropriate botanicals, going as fresh and local as we can, then build the beer. We always strive for an integrated whole that doesn’t try too hard to impress. We love approachable and gloriously drinkable beers, whether we’re brewing a juicy new-school IPA or a sensory bomb inspired by a legendary Italian liqueur.
OUR COMPANY
Forbidden Root, the first botanical brewery in Chicago, was founded as a passionately personal project by Robert Finkel after leaving the world of high-stakes entrepreneurship. His idea to create a true-brewed root beer quickly grew to encompass the broader idea of botanic beers.
On February 18, 2016, our restaurant and brewery opened in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. More than just a brewpub, we offer fresh and seasonal dishes that highlight our craft beers and elevate the overall dining experience.
In addition to our passion for beer and food, Forbidden Root is passionate about giving back. We are a benefit corporation, meaning that goals other than shareholder value are built into our operating charter.
OUR CHARITY
We’re passionate about giving back. As a Benefit Corporation, Forbidden Root has built goals other than shareholder value into its operating charter. Here are some of the ways we’re meeting those goals:
- We donate 100% of our non-consumable merchandise profits to charity. That means every time a Forbidden Root t-shirt, bottle opener, growler container, or other merchandise item is bought, the profit goes to a good cause. Our current beneficiary is Chicago’s Green City Market.
- By donating a portion of our beer and participating in festivals where proceeds benefit charitable organizations, we’re able to put our good brews towards good causes. (There are so many good causes. We wish we could donate to all of them, but due to our limited beer, staff, and time, we cannot fulfill all requests.)
- We feel the love! At our bar, tap 16 is our dedicated Love Handle. We partner with other breweries to get their beer on the Love Handle, and $1 from every glass sold goes to a mutually chosen organization. Some of our partnerships have included:
- Oskar Blues Brewery benefiting AmeriCares
- 4 Hands Brewery benefiting One Tail at a Time
- Solemn Oath Brewery benefiting Girls Who Code
- Left Hand Brewing benefiting National Multiple Sclerosis Society
- Smuttynose Brewing benefiting Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing
- Three Floyds Brewing benefiting Howard Brown Health
- Right Bee Cider benefiting Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
- Firestone Walker Brewing benefiting Semper Fi Foundation
- Half Acre Beer Company benefiting Chicago Rowing Foundation
For us, craft beer and delicious food is all about fostering community, which is why we give back. Here are just a few of the organizations that inspire us and that we support. We encourage you to get to know them if you don’t already: ALS Therapy Development Institute, Chicago Legal Clinic, Chicago Rowing Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Howard Brown Health, Inspiration Corporation, Lambs Farm, Meals on Wheels, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Safe Humane Chicago, Semper Fi Foundation.
CAREERS
We are currently hiring for all postions for our Ohio brewpub! Please send your resume or information along with your position of interest to columbuscareers@forbiddenroot.com for Columbus, Ohio jobs only.
For careers in Chicago at either the original location in West Town or at Cultivate by Forbidden Root in Ravenswood keep an eye out on Culinary Agents.
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- Thursday12:00 PM - 10:00 PM
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- Saturday12:00 PM - 11:00 PM
- Sunday12:00 PM - 10:00 PM
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