Seventy five years is a genuinely remarkable stretch of time for any bar to stay open, let alone one sitting in the shadow of Wrigley Field through every version of the Cubs that has existed since 1951. The Nisei Lounge in Wrigleyville has managed it, and Haymarket Brewing Company decided the milestone deserved more than a round of applause, so they brewed an entire beer for the occasion.

Nisei Lounge 75th American Pale Ale is, in the brewery's own words, loaded with a serious amount of Simcoe hops, balanced out by Amarillo for a mix of fruit and bitterness. At 5.3% ABV, it sits comfortably in classic American Pale Ale territory, sessionable enough to enjoy a few of while toasting to the honoree, but with enough hop character to make it clear this was not a beer phoned in for the sake of a nice gesture.

Haymarket has a genuine talent for turning neighborhood history into an excuse to brew something good, and this is a particularly fitting example. The beer is available on draft and in cans at both Haymarket locations, and fittingly, also in cans directly at Nisei Lounge itself, meaning you can raise a glass to the bar's 75th anniversary in the exact building that earned it. Haymarket is even hosting a whiffle ball home run derby at Nisei later this month to keep the celebrations going, benefiting a local charity in the process.

There is something quietly wonderful about a brewery choosing to commemorate a neighborhood dive bar with the same seriousness most breweries reserve for their own anniversaries. Wrigleyville has changed considerably over 75 years, but a bar that has outlasted that much change has clearly done something right, and Haymarket's tribute beer is a genuinely good way to say so.

Find it at either Haymarket location or at Nisei Lounge itself, and drink one in honor of a bar that has been pouring pints since long before craft beer was a phrase anyone used.