IT’S just shy of 5 p.m. on a sunny spring Friday in Chicago, and the intimate front room of Michael & Louise’s Hopleaf Bar on the North Side is already packed, the decibel level growing. Creative types mix with professionals; young women in stylish jeans and sweaters rub elbows with older guys who look as if they’ve been hitting this bar as long as they’ve been hitting on the ladies.

This is a bar that starts rolling early and doesn’t stop until last call. And it’s all about beer.

The Hopleaf is known for its pages-long brew list, with an emphasis on hard-to-find Belgian imports and domestic craft selections. But a quick check of the couple of dozen taps lining the bar with their colorful and artistic handles shows something more: many of the beers being served are brewed right in Chicago. Just a few years ago, this would not have been the case.

As Chicago has morphed from a meat-and-potatoes town to one claiming some of the country’s best chefs, consumers have started demanding better beer. While the craft beer movement that exploded in cities like Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Philadelphia infiltrated Chicago within the last couple of decades, it’s only lately that the city has experienced a brewing renaissance of its own. Today, local beer is popping up all over town.

Since October, two new microbreweries have sprouted on the North Side. Half Acre Beer, which produces three niche beers at its street-facing brewery on Lincoln Avenue, will open a tasting room for the public later this year featuring six draft lines and small-batch guest spirits and beers, and local food like pretzels, mustard and chocolate.