For $1.65 million, one of Chicago’s original craft beer bars can be yours.
The building housing Quenchers Saloon, which opened at the corner of Fullerton and Western avenues in 1979, has been put up for sale by owner Earle Johnson.
Johnson, 75, said he hopes the next owner will continue to operate Quenchers. He began working at the bar shortly after it opened and became its owner during the early 1980s.
When Quenchers launched, American beer was dominated by just a handful of brands that included Budweiser, Schlitz, Miller Lite and Pabst Blue Ribbon. (Bud Light didn’t even exist yet.)
At first, Johnson aimed to differentiate Quenchers with a broad selection of imported beer.
“The emphasis was imports because there were so few American beers available,” he said.
But the American craft beer movement took off, and Quenchers was among the first Chicago bars to embrace the trend. Its menu came to include one of the city’s great beer-focused events, long before most local bars were doing such things: the annual monthlong Stout Fest every January.
jbnoel@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @hopnotes
