Chauncey Delaware
Ørkenoy

I want to like Orkenoy. In the middle of The Second City's renewal sits Orkenoy, less than one mile from million dollar homes and next to $200,000 homes. Orkenoy is one of the main tenants in the Kimball Arts Center @ 3400 West right next to Chicago's nearly-famous renewal stimulation project called the 606 Trail. I bike it frequently, several times a month (except in winter.) This is my 16th unique beer from Orkenoy. Not all were good. Chauncey Delaware is one of them.

Chauncey has a pretty amber, but lacks foam; so Looks only slightly above average. Smells contain minimal fruit, so slightly below average. Tastes are balanced, important for a table saison; and the rye provides a little depth, like a multi-grain bread. My mouth needs more scrubbing than Chauncey provides because it relies too much on bubbles when the yeast's foam also clears the palate.

But after this sub-par review, I repeat: it is important to remember that brewing is a key part of the renewal of communities, of bringing people together. And for that, I give Orkenoy lots of Overall Hugs.

6/12/22. I had Chauncey with my world famous ratatouille and Chauncy passed as a Saison. So for this second can, I edited the above review and increased the rating a bit. But the basic bottom-line is that brewing is part of the culture and Orkenoy needs to focus more on brewing's culture, which is its yeasts. If Orkenoy doesn't focus on that, it remains just a cafe serving food and its average brews in a neighborhood struggling to improve next to the 606.