2023 Illinois Brewery Opening / Closure Thread

Thanks for the replies guys. Here is a link to my map. Probably missing some breweries that opened in 2021-2022. Will be going through to find those.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=15US5ozImTCxM1uzsQZbfYHW9R2M&usp=sharing

Guys Drinking Beer has a good up to date map: https://www.guysdrinkingbeer.com/chicago-craft-beer-map/

The difference with mine is that I have a layer for closed breweries as well (and Historical breweries which I haven't really worked on yet). And I also have planned locations on my map (white markers). Truth is like 70% of the planned breweries don't pan out and I have to remove those eventually. Anyway, looking the closed brewery map looks like this: (red are closed, orange are former locations where the brewery moved)

 

Foreign Local, I believe, is operating out of the old Sour Note location, likely until they close down.

I know Drew sold Miller and was looking to sell Hammond. So to confirm, it is under new ownership? Are they still brewing?

 

I do wonder if Foreign Local has been reading Viking Artisian Ale’s future business plans.

18th Street sale rumors have been around for quite a while. Not sure who would want to buy a brewery that specializes in shelf-aging IPAs.

 

What’s the story behind the Gary sale and wanting to offload Hammond? Is Gary just a franchised 18th Street location now? 18th was on such a rocket trajectory before Chicago suburbs (RAM, MORE, P3, Mikerphone) and newer wave Chicago breweries (Forbidden Root, Hop Butcher, Corridor) came into play. Surprised they didn’t sustain it. Are they just trying to distro brew or do the distillery or sell out all together?

 

A fascinating case study for sure. At 1 point it felt like 18th street had hype pipeworks style IPA, and the hottest stouts in Chicago. The trajectory couldn’t have been any better. I think business planning can be blamed on this one. The company wasn’t able to capitalize when they got hot

 

USA Today named them best brewpub in America in 2019 to give more context to this and make the disappearing act even more bizarre.

 

To be clear - lack of business planning. It really was a case study in growing too fast, without a clear idea as to what to next. So they tried to do it all, based on seat-of-the-pants decision-making: Bought the Hammond location and installed all new equipment (including a ton in HVAC, plumbing, electrical et al), then opened up Sour Note (which was excellent, for a while), dabbled in an Indy location (which made zero sense), opened up a distillery, then bought the building across from Sour Note and renovated into an extra space for the distillery to age barrels as well as hold events (never happened to my knowledge) and which also included two Air BnB units.

When they opened, they brewed great stuff from a really cramped small-capacity brewery with second-hand equipment. But Drew Fox was hands on brewing at that time, and it was inspired. Then, you make the move to a mack-daddy new brewing system that is automated to the Nth degree, and can brew huge batches compared to the old system. And add in the distillery and all the other bright shiny objects, and seems the brewery lost focus.

And it showed in the product hitting the shelves, which didn't sell because the market became more competitive, and rinse, repeat. The downward spiral of a business.

I could go on but that's enough; I've got myself good and depressed.

 

Sorry, meant to answer your specific question on Gary - they sold it outright to a local group of investors who live in Miller and now operate it as just a bar/lounge. I believe they still sell 18th St beer, but there's no direct link.

I don't "know" but I believe that the distillery is where Drew's heart is; so, maybe keep the distro going to pay the overhead for the Hammond location, and operate the distillery?

I will say that I think that location is going to be dynamite in the next few years: the downtown Hammond area is gentrifying - new high-end market-rate apartments are going in, with a lot of other redevelopment of the existing building stock. And, they did a major street renovation to make it more pedestrian-friendly in the downtown, to make it more walkable, plus there's a new extension of the South Shore commuter rail going in with a planned station just up the street from the brewery.

Now if only the brewpub was a place that was inviting and....

 

Not dismissing the other points, but I think the BA Hunter fiasco had an impact. The brewery greatly underestimated the number of people who would show up for the release. I believe they changed the allotment during the release process. Then came the complaints of off-flavors/infection. The brewery pivoted away from big releases at that point. The hype machine died shortly thereafter.

 

Neither here nor there, but 18th St Hammond has been a running joke between myself and one of my best friends. He goes there fairly often for a bite to eat on work lunches and loves the place. I tell him I am scared to get out of my car to walk from the parking lot to the front door...lol.

The beer is ok and the atmosphere is ok. I haven't been in awhile due to my aforementioned fear of the area. Boy do we have alot of choices nowadays.

 

[

The Gary taproom is still listed on the 18th St site, however as “18th Street Gary, LLC”.

 

Isn’t it literally behind a giant police station?

 

18th Street sale rumors have been around for quite a while. Not sure who would want to buy a brewery that specializes in shelf-aging IPAs.[/QUOTE]

Close. I believe it's a federal building. Miller had way more character than Hammond ever did (back in the day, as they say).

 

Not sure, but not a fan of the area. Munster feels totally different (to me).

 

That is a giant police station next door. I always thought the idea of a beer release with a line that snaked in front of police station would be amusing.

 

Can't speak to the ownership entity. I was told the buyers were local Miller residents, and that they purchased it outright.

 

Rock Island Brewing Company will close this weekend, Dec 17.

https://www.wqad.com/article/news/l...01ea9263?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

 

To the best of my knowledge, St John Malt Brothers (Indiana) has been closed for two months. Many rumors as to the reason. … As I have often said, they might be (might have been) the worst craft brewery I have ever sampled.