Boulevard’s Alex Rodriguez talks four-pack Smokestacks, hints at collaboration with Christopher Elbow

With beer pairings and chefs taking beer lists as seriously as the wine they serve, it makes sense that I’m learning about the future of Boulevard Brewery from a former chef. Cellarman Alex Rodriguez has been with the brewery for a decade, a career that began with him hand closing six-packs.

On Friday, he walked me down the automated line that was busy filling, capping and packing 12 oz. bottles of Dark Truth Stout. 

“I was a chef that wanted to get out of the kitchen,” says Rodriguez. “The brew house is just as hot, but it’s a lot more forgiving than a saute pan.”

He was a chef at the now-closed The Tribal Grill, among other places, a family restaurant with locations in Chicago and Kansas City (3516 Charlotte). An interest in beer and a desire for a change of scenery led him to Boulevard in 2000.