Hopvine Brewing Company

I dragged my niece and boyfriend to Hopvine. They’ve been living in Naperville for a bunch of years but neither one knew about this brewery. Situated in a shopping mall somewhere in the middle of Suburbia, there is not much going for this place ambience-wise, but the beer- they do it well.

Fifteen house brews on tap plus nine guest taps (Ale Syndicate, Pollyana, Deschutes, Rogue Double Chocolate, Hailstorm, Crystal Lake). They brew a wide variety of things; we tried the cabernet-aged Opus Monkey tripel (10.1%), Brew Monkey (9.05%), Alpha Mastodon IPA and Crystal DIPA (9.43%).

They also have a Summer Session, Blonde ,Strawberry Honey, Hefe, Rye Saison, Blueberry Rye Saison... you name it. We also had some delicious elevated bar food that paired well with the brews and left plenty happy. A great find in the suburbs overall.

 

Open floor plan, tables for 60 or so, and a room for private parties. Bar itself is well designed with stools for 15 or so. Fermenters are in plain view behind glass in back of the bar. It's a good place for gathering. TV's have sports on, but the sound is music, so that is good.

In house brews are plentiful and there are also a few guests. I enjoyed a flight with a brown ipa (more toast than hop), a Belgian Trippel (stone fruit and spice), a Russian Imperial Stout (fruit and coffee), and a Blonde (ok). I enjoyed them, but not world shaking. I did not have a sour or an IPA, but they have a couple of both.
Service was ok.
I expect to return, soon.

 

I have known of the brewery for 2 years as it is the reincarnation of Limestone brewery that used to be in Plainfield. I haven't brought myself in because the owners are about the bottom line, handcuffing the brewer.

After dropping my daughter off at hoops it was time to give this place a try.

It is located on outskirts of a shopping mall. Based on the number of cars in the parking lot I wondered if it was open.

Inside it's more restaurant than brewery. Lucky if it was 10% full on a Thursday evening at 2000. The bar was empty only tables had customers. These things should have let me know what is what. The vibe wasn't there. Still I had to try.

A dozen signature beers on tap at $3 a pour on Thursday. Nice. 3 premiums, all barrel aged, for $7 or $8.

I wanted a hoppy beer. Only two had high ibus: a brown and an ipa hopped with sorachi ace. The brown was described as new castle like. No good. I don't like sorachi ace hops. I'll try the rye saison.

Nothing fantastic. I expected a mix of rye and saison yeast phenols. Instead I got a touch of fruity esters with rye trying to poke through. I wouldn't have it again.

I didn't have food bit based on the beer and vibe of the joint, I will not be back. Too bad this Chicago burn are can't drum up a knock it out of the park brewery. There is enough people as aurora and Naperville are north of 150K people each. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought that the atmosphere was fantastic. There was live music at the brewery, but wasn't so loud that you couldn't hear the people next to you. The brewery has a homely and inviting feeling to it. I thought the quality of beers was great. This is a relatively new brewery, so they didn't have a huge beer list, but pretty good for a fledgling brewery. The service was spot on. The waiters didn't hover over your table and kept an eye on everything from a distance. The bar tenders also came around and talked with us and gave a coupe of house concoction shots on the house. My fiancé and I ordered nachos and we were not disappointed. The plate was piled high with nachos and were covered in tomoatoes, guac, cheese, lettuce and onions. I will be coming back to Hopvine Brewing Company again!

Cheers!