Parson's Chicken & Fish, Revolution Brewing team up on beer

Parson’s Chicken & Fish is now Parson’s Chicken & Fish … and beer.

The Logan Square restaurant has released a branded brew this week to pair with its finger-licking fried delicacies: Parson’s Beer, a crisp and accessible golden ale served in an elegantly retro red-and-white 12-ounce can.

If Parson’s Beer tastes familiar, it should. It is, in fact, Cross of Gold, which won a gold medal for Revolution Brewing at the Great American Beer Festival in 2012. It is one of the oldest recipes in Revolution’s lineup.

Charlie Schott, beverage director and managing partner of Parson’s, said the goal is for Revolution to eventually brew a beer exclusive to the restaurant, which is in the midst of expansion to Lincoln Park and Nashville, Tenn. But for now, Cross of Gold was just what it wanted.

“It was always going to be something crisp and something accessible,” Schott said. “Nothing really tastes better than a crisp beer with fried chicken. Better than oatmeal stout.”

Selling for $3 per can, Parson’s Beer replaces what Schott called the “cheap beer” at Parson’s. In the past, that beer has been Pabst Blue Ribbon and Old Milwaukee.

The can, hearkening to the era of strong regional breweries — mostly killed with the growth of Anheuser-Busch and Miller during the 1970s and 1980s — was designed by the art department at Land and Sea Department, Parson’s parent company.

While it would have been simpler and cheaper to simply brand a draft beer, Schott said the project is better off for putting the beer in a can.

“We want people to be able to hold it and see it — it’s just more fun,” he said. “It won’t be our most profitable product, but it’s well worth it to us. We’re known for our aesthetic, and the brew fits with the vibe.”

jbnoel@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @hopnotes

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