Why Forbidden Root Brews with Génépi, Feijoa, and Grilled Grapefruit: Inside Chicago’s First Botanical Brewery

Hear how Forbidden Root uses rare botanicals and fruit to craft unique beers—and how the same fruit can create different flavors.

Phil Zelewsky, Head Brewer at Forbidden Root, shares how Chicago’s first botanical brewery evolved from a root beer experiment into one of the top 10 brewpubs in the U.S. He explains how founder Robert Finkel sources wild ingredients like the “smuggled” Alpine botanical Génépi, Forbidden Root’s approach to using “unusual but appropriate” ingredients, how to determine whether a root belongs in a beer, and how Thailand’s markets and flavors inspired his ingredient mindset. He also discusses brewing with feijoa (pineapple guava) in a kettle sour, flagship beers like the strawberry basil Hefeweizen and peach witbier, the challenges of sourcing fruit with consistent flavor from one purveyor to the next.

After the beer break, Phil introduces Bicycle Fire, a fruited Kveik ale brewed with hearth-grilled grapefruit and white pepper. He explains the advantages of Kveik yeast, including fast fermentation and high-temperature tolerance, and then breaks down Sláinte, a collaboration Irish Red Ale with Parlor Pizza, and shares how collaborations come together at the brewery. He also discusses the Black Phillip black IPA (a.k.a. Cascadian Dark Ale) and explains the use of their “flavor torpedo,” a device for infusing beers with hops, cherry stems, and more. Plus: Phil’s “origin story” of how bartending at Merle’s #1 Barbecue led to homebrewing, and eventually, to leading production at Forbidden Root.

About Forbidden Root: As the first botanical brewery in Chicago (located in the West Town neighborhood), Forbidden Root’s mission is to brew botanic beer, working to evoke the natural world in new and unique ways. Learn more on their website at https://forbiddenroot.com/ 

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Our executive producer and editor is award-winning podcaster Cody Gough. He insists that we tell you that in this episode, you’ll learn about: New England IPA, Ghost Tropic, botanical beer, flavor torpedo brewing, grilled grapefruit beer, hearth-grilled fruit, fruit beer brewing, wheat beer base, experimental beer styles, kettle sour brewing, fruit puree in beer, brewing with orange peel, white pepper in beer, heather in beer, heather honey beer, smoked malt, Seville orange peel, roasted barley beer, carafa malt, Black IPA vs Cascadian Dark Ale, how to brew with botanicals, botanical beer recipes, brewing with cherry stems, Forbidden Root beer styles, collaboration beer process, grapefruit in IPA, beer recipe consistency, flavor infusion brewing, ingredient sourcing for brewers, pub brewing vs production brewing, epic spices Chicago, Merle’s Number One Barbecue, Chicago craft brewery collaborations, and seasonal fruit beer.