Bianca James and her fellow beer glutton Chris Wussler do a keg-sit at Louis Glunz

Don’t like beer? The Glunz family is convinced it can change your mind. With a portfolio of 665 specialty and imported beers from 152 breweries worldwide, family-run Louis Glunz Beer, Inc. is the biggest supplier of craft and microbrewery beers in the Chicagoland area, providing everything from 1960’s recipe Schlitz (which they promoted by delivering to retailers in an old fashioned horse and buggy) to rare beers that run almost $500 a keg.

I recently had the pleasure of touring the 120-year-old distributor’s Lincolnwood facilities with fellow Chicago Reader beer enthusiast Chris Wussler. Glunz isn’t your typical corporate office—the lobby is outfitted with a pneumatic tube elevator straight out of Star Trek, as well as a stuffed bear that general manager Jerry Glunz caught on a hunting trip. (I had Jerry pose as if the bear was attacking him, but my camera tragically ran out of batteries.) Jerry follwed a tour of the office with a walk around Glunz's amazing beer warehouse, at which point Chris asked if could move in.

Glunz’s business philosophy emphasizes education; the company is dedicated to teaching staff, retailers and customers about their products, and they've found plenty of willing students. Many Chicagoans are eager to learn more about craft beer, and marketing director Jennifer Faulk says that public events often fill up within days. Glunz also recently assembled a culinary council to advise on beer/food pairings, including notable local experts such as Hot Chocolate chef Mindy Segal.

True to their goal, Jennifer and specialty beer manager Anthony Norkus treated us to a short seminar on beer styles. We sampled some I already knew and loved, like Pyramid’s tart Apricot Weizen wheat beer, and some new favorites, like Hirter Morchl, a sweet, dark Austrian beer brewed with caramel malt for a flavor reminiscent of toffee and rum cake — Anthony encouraged us to develop our own palate and descriptors for beers, since nobody perceives the exact same flavors in the same beer. The refreshingly sour Gueuze, an unfruited lambic (Belgian beer fermented with wild yeast), reminded me of a cross between champagne and lemonade. We also tried Lindemann’s Framboise lambic, a sweet raspberry-flavored relative of Gueuze so declicious that the Glunz family often recommends it to people who think they don’t like beer.

Still in that group? I dare you to take a sip.

Louis Glunz Beer, Inc. is not open to the public, but you can sample their portfolio at Hopleaf and the Map Room, or check out any of their public programs. For more information, check out glunzbeers.com.