NORTH CENTER — Hop Butcher For The World’s latest brew uses water from a Schiller Woods hand pump considered magical by many Northwest Siders.
The unassuming hand water pump sits at the southern end of Irving Park Road just west of Cumberland Avenue in Schiller Woods. For generations, Chicagoans in the know have made pilgrimage to the “magic water pump” to fill their jugs full of its water, which is supposedly imbued with preternatural properties promoting youth and longevity, according to the Tribune.
Some people swear by the water’s magical properties. Others just say it tastes better.
“It makes a better highball,” Mercurio, a bartender, told a Tribune reporter in 1957.
In a similar spirit, the team at Hop Butcher headed to the popular watering spot this winter to secure its liquid treasure for their latest brew: Regeneration Station.
The beer will be available via can or keg starting Feb. 21 at Hop Butcher’s taproom and retail store, 4257 N. Lincoln Ave.
“We’ve read the articles and talked for years about how fun it would be to make a beer with this water – magical or not. So it’s very exciting to have finally done it,” said Hop Butcher cofounder Jeremiah Zimmer. “Our team pumped enough water into containers for a small batch.”
The pump’s water is from an aquifer that’s about 31 feet underground, and it’s unlike the tap water pumped from Lake Michigan most Chicagoans are used to. The “magic liquid” has a significant mineral content that’s common to water pumped from a well, according to WBEZ.
Lore around the water has grown since the current pump was installed in 1945 to replace one that had been there since at least the ’30s, Zimmer said.
Urban legends around the pump and its water include that it was blessed by Pope John Paul II when he visited Chicago in 1979 (unverified), that the water is actually drawn from distant sources such as Lake Superior or Lake Huron (untrue) and that the pump is tapped into a secret water supply reserved for the wealthy (untrue).
During the Hop Butcher team’s pilgrimage to the pump, Zimmer was blown away by the “camaraderie and friendliness” from longtime fans of the water pump in helping them secure its special water.
“Whether it was operating the pump or helping carry containers back to their cars, the ‘magic water pump’ experience is all about humans helping humans and sharing an experience,” Zimmer said.
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