No matter how good the beer, the cider or the food, the showstopper at Eris Brewery and Cider House will likely always be the building where the beer, cider and food are made.

In planning since 2014, Eris finally opens Friday, and the heart of the operation remains what enchanted co-founder Michelle Foik from the start: the 107-year-old, four-story Masonic Temple-turned-Korean Presbyterian church-turned brewery and cider pub at 4240 W. Irving Park Road.

What was the Presbyterian sanctuary is now the dining room. The basement houses the brewery and cider-making. And the majestic second-floor ceremonial space for the Freemasons will be a private event space just as soon as Eris has the money to renovate it.

The building is a stunner, and it has driven the project from the start.

“I walked in the first time and saw it all — a beautiful dining room and special event space,” Foik said. “It’s the first time I've ever dreamed five years down the road. I usually live day to day.”

It just happened to take a while to bring Foik’s vision to life. Broad rows of windows were unbricked. Heavy steel beams stretching above the dining room were unearthed from layers of plaster. And of course, a brewing and cider operation had to be built.

The brick building totals 24,000 square feet across four floors (including the basement), but for now, Eris will operate within 14,000 square feet on the first two floors and two mezzanines (at two different heights) overlooking the dining room.

Odd bits of building history will be laced throughout, such as a pair of weighty safes and decades-old beer bottles once belonging to the Masons.

“We found all this weird stuff in the building, but I've been looking at the weird stuff for two years, so it doesn't seem so weird anymore,” Foik said. “But I think everyone else will be psyched.”

Most of the brewery taprooms that have opened in recent months across Chicago are minimalistic by design. Eris, by contrast, is a slice of weighty gothic character.

The floors have been stained dark. So are the booths, made with wood reclaimed from the building. The towering 21-foot walls are rough and handsome original brick. Old radiators have been re-purposed as barriers on the mezzanines. The bar is made of walnut and steel, finished with old radiator covers from a historic bank building at the intersection of Irving Park Road and Cicero and Milwaukee avenues.

Lest it all sound heavy — which it is — plenty of natural light spills in through broad windows.

Opened around 1911 as a Masonic Temple, the building became a Korean Presbyterian church during the early 1970s. Eris spent $1.27 million for building and “definitely a good amount” getting it into shape as a brewery, though Foik declined to reveal that figure. The result is an impressive feat and a unique vision within Chicago’s beer landscape.

Eris is the brainchild of Foik, who has spent 20 years in the industry — including 10 years at Goose Island and turns at Revolution Brewing and Virtue Cider — and Katy Pizza, whose husband, Nunzino Pizza, founded Hop Head Farms in southwest Michigan.

“The building is so massive, we couldn’t play around with something small and then exchange it for something big,” Foik said. “We had to go big out of the gate.”

The food menu is at once ambitious and sparing, with four to six options among a handful of categories, including salads, entrees (which will be tweaked with the seasons) and “first bites,” including the tempting herb-tossed fries (“hand-cut, shiitake bacon, scallions, red pepper, micro greens, roasted garlic tahini, fresh jalapenos and radishes”).

Beer and cider will be made by Hayley Shine, who spent more than 10 years brewing for the Rock Bottom chain, including the downtown Chicago location. The opening tap list includes six beers and six ciders. The beer list features an IPA (of course), a hazy IPA (“It’s the right thing to do,” Shine said), a Belgian-style wheat ale, a hoppy stout, “a light ale fermented with apple juice” and an oddball: a purple beer made with beets.

Shine refuses to be hemmed in by a single approach to the beer list, even naming a flagship. Who knows — Eris may even become better known for its ciders, which so far are lean, crisp and balanced. The early stunner is Blush, a cider made entirely from fermented cherries.

“The plan is being made as we’re going,” Shine said. “There’s not a lot to compare us to. We’ll learn as we go along and see what hits.”

jbnoel@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @hopnotes

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