In a Big Beer City, Makers of Spirits on Parallel Paths.

The phrase ''Chicago distilleries'' tends to elicit visions of cinematic gunfights and bullet-pocked Cadillacs -- not hyper-educated Gen Xers surrounded by 60 pounds of raw ginger. Welcome to the new era of boutique spirit making in Chicago. Your local guides are Sonat and Robert Birnecker and Sonja and Derek Kassebaum, the young couples who own and operate the area's only two artisan distilleries, and whose meticulously made spirits have been called ''impeccable'' and ''second to none'' by local tastemakers like Kyle McHugh and Charles Joly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]