This month marks the 100th anniversary of the Eastland Disaster, the largest loss of life tragedy in Chicago’s history. Unfortunately, this day is largely lost to the collective Chicagoan memory but one organization, the Eastland Disaster Historical Society is working hard to change that.
They’ve partnered with Liz Garibay of History on Tap and Ale Syndicate to brew a commemorative imperial pilsner, crafted in honor of the 844 people who lost their lives on July 24, 1915 during the S.S. Eastland Disaster in the Chicago River. On Friday July 24th at 8:44pm, we’ll be hosting a city wide toast to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the disaster.
Chicagoans all over the city will be raising their glasses to the memory of the 844. We’ll be toasting with Ale Syndicate’s The 844 but you can raise whatever you’ve got on hand. To join in, snap a photo of your raised glass and tweet or Instgram it with the hashtag #The844.
Photo courtesy Colin Cronin
Ale Syndicate’s Jake Williams explains why they were inspired to take part, “We teamed up with the Eastland Disaster Society to help tell the story of this terrible disaster that happened in our city that most people just don’t know about. We want to pay homage to the people that lost their lives as well as the heroes and survivors. There are this images from that time that just make your hair stand up – there were people who were just walking down the street that saw this happen and started jumping in the water, pulling people out. People stepped up and became heroes. It’s a really amazing story. It needs to be told.”
The 844 is a Czech imperial style pilsner, and will be available on draft for in Chicago as well as in a limited number of 750ml bottles. Each bottle will be hand numbered and will highlight the story of one of the victims, responders, or survivors of the tragedy. Ted Wachholz, Executive Director of Eastland Dissaster Historical Society said: “Every family that previewed the concept – sharing history through beer – provided overwhelmingly positive feedback. With their unanimous support we now look forward to sharing the history of the Eastland Disaster with thousands of Chicago-area residents, many who we know will be hearing the story for the first time.”
Photo courtesy Colin Cronin
A portion of the proceeds of all beer sales by Ale Syndicate will benefit EDHS.
Jake described the reasoning behind the beer’s recipe, “We decided to make a beer of Eastern European decent. A lot of the people that were on the ship were Czech immigrants so we wanted to make something that featured Czech ingredients. We used a lot of Czech Pilsner malts and a lot of Saaz hops. We wanted to do something that we could put in a large format bottle and age for a while so we made it an imperial verion. It’s at nine perecent version of a classic style that they would have been drinking.”
Join us for a city wide toast as Chicagoans all across the city pause to raise a glass to the memory of the 844. We’ll be toasting with Ale Syndicate’s The 844 but you can raise whatever you’ve got on hand. If you want to join us, sign up below and we’ll send a reminder before the toast so you can get your glasses ready.
Join Our Virtual City Wide Toast
Join us for a city wide toast as Chicagoans all across the city pause to raise a glass to the memory of the 844. We’ll be toasting with Ale Syndicate’s The 844 but you can raise whatever you’ve got on hand. If you want to join us, sign up below and we’ll send a reminder before the toast so you can get your glasses ready.
To join the toast, snap a photo of your raised glass and tweet or Instgram it with the hashtag #The844.