Richard K.
Yelp
Once upon a time there was a bar called the Hermosillo. Then the owners decided to let a brewmaster with experiences at both Father's Office and Craftsman Brewery open up a brewery in a 480-square-foot room at the back of the building. And the rest is happily-ever-after history.
In case you didn't follow me there, Highland Park Brewery is located INSIDE the Hermosillo. I'm not religious, but you can think of the Hermosillo as God and the Highland Park Brewery as Jesus. They are one in the same. And by the way, there sure are a lot of "holy spirits" flowing around this place... spirits as in beer!
So, after much deliberation, I decided to write my review for the Highland Park Brewery rather than Hermosillo, since many of the reviews for the Hermosillo were before the brewery set up shop in the summer of 2014.
In terms of beer, Highland Park Brewery keeps everything chill. You won't be finding overly hoppy beers here or pretentious club members-only beers. Moreover, their beers are more laid-back and have relatively low alcohol by volume (ABV) contents that hover around the 5 to 7% range.
Among the beers that I always get is this really refreshing beer called pFriem Spaceship (4.5%), a pale ale with German Huell melon hops. The melon hops really do give off a honeydew flavor and this beer pairs amazingly well with the shishito peppers ($6) served by the Hermosillo's kitchen. Seriously, these shishito peppers served with lemongrass, ginger, and crushed peanuts are the tastiest I have ever had. Dare I say it? They are the shi-shit!
Another beer that I found to be nice was the Ham Porter (5.3%), a porter made with a whole freaking ham. Sorry my vegetarian friends, but this beer is not for you. Despite being made with a whole ham, the beer is not overly smoky or hammy. Definitely unique.
Highland Park Brewery's beers are always rotating due to their small brewing capacity, yet on any given night they have up to ten of their beers on tap along with six guest taps. Also, what's really cool is that their beer menu is displayed on a screen with a screen projector and when a beer runs out, they cover it up with paper. Very old-school, yet too cool for school!
When I first saw the screen projector, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia and had a flashback to my high school geometry class and reminisced about cosines and tangents - shit I have yet to apply in the real world.
Definitely check out Highland Park Brewery inside the Hermosillo because the beers are chilled and the atmosphere is chill. Moreover, going back to the whole "God-theme", you may see a few patrons here and there that actually look like Jesus with their hipster beards.
* Want to give some mad props to Julie, the awesome beertender with the cool tattoos that made the experience even better.
** There is a metered parking lot around the corner along North Avenue 51 north of York Boulevard.