The Golden Prairie Brewing Company was started in the Autumn of 1991, on the Northside of Chicago, by Brewmaster Ted Furman, a.k.a. Spacebrewer, Laura Elliott and David Bouhl. The brewery was known for full bodied, balanced ales and innovative first of a kind beers.

The flagship product was Golden Prairie Ale, an amber to copper color slightly sweet altbier.  The most notable seasonal products were Golden Prairie Maple Stout, a first of it’s kind innovation made with 100% pure maple syrup. This ale won the Gold Medal in the 1994 World Beer Championships.   Another notable seasonal product was Golden Prairie Honey Ginger beer, a first of it’s kind innovation incorporating ginger in the hop schedule, and locally produced Wildflower Honey.  This beer won the Champion Herb/Spice category in the 1994 World Beer Championships.

The Golden Prairie Brewery was one of the smallest production microbreweries in the world. The brewhouse included a gas fired step infusion mash/lauter tun and a 3 barrel gas fired brew kettle. The fermentation and aging tanks were 7 barrel stainless steel converted top manway Grundy tanks. After fermentation the ales were racked into the 7 barrel aging tanks that were inclosed in a walk-in cooler kept at a steady 42F. The yeast was allowed to settle out and after 7-10 days the ales were run through a diatomaceous earth filter that was hand made by Brewmaster Ted Furman. The filtered ales were then allowed to condition for 24 hours before racking into Hof-Stevens kegs. The kegs were then loaded into a Volkswagen Jetta, and later, a Ford Explorer to be hand delivered by Ted Furman.

Watch:working away

The Golden Prairie Brewing Company enjoyed a 10 year life, supplying the finest ales to Chicago’s best restaurants and drinking establishments. Some notable customers included: Blackhawk Lodge, Widow Newton’s on Navy Pier, Delilah’s, The Clark St. Ale House, The Fireside Pub, and Sheffield’s.

The most notable former brewers of Golden Prairie Ales include Nick Floyd, founder of Three Floyds Brewing Company, and Brewmaster Greg Browne.

Theories/Experiments

Brewing with Sound.  The Effect of Sound Vibration on Yeast in Propagation and Attenuation.

Zero Gravity Brewing.  The Effects and Process of Brewing in Zero Gravity.(Page Under Construction)