Half Acre is Moving/Expanding

Discussion in 'Great Lakes' started by HartsyThaiFood, Mar 24, 2014.

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  1. HartsyThaiFood

    HartsyThaiFood Initiate (0) Dec 11, 2013 Illinois

    I knew the restaurant next door to their taproom sort of fell through, but I did not expect this news. Very exciting!

    Countrymen,

    As you know, we hit the streets selling beer brewed out of Wisconsin in 2007 and built our brewery on Lincoln Ave in 2008. That choice had us working and reworking 13,000 sq. ft of space to accomplish our goals as brewers. We went through consistent expansion, added a store, added a tap room and learned to become better brewers.

    We've sincerely enjoyed these years and wouldn't have changed much of anything.

    It was obvious, though, that a big choice lay ahead because the longterm needs of our brewery would necessitate growth beyond our walls. We explored many forms of expansion. More beer was only one factor in what would change the entire culture of our brewery. Ultimately, we wanted to expand our creative tools and explore all the options we have as brewers without losing the authenticity of our organization.

    The two things that surfaced as being paramount were proximity and total space. If building a second brewery, the space between the two facilities had to afford them a tight workflow or bring in an entirely new dimension that only distance could offer. The size of the site had to allow us the room to breathe and think for a while.

    We're pleased to announce that we purchased 2050 W. Balmoral Ave right here in Chicago, IL. Bowmanville will be our second neighborhood and the place where we'll figure out our next chapters. You can leave our brewery on Lincoln Ave and walk through the door on Balmoral in about five minutes time. The scale of the site will remove constraints that have uncomfortably driven our brewery.

    The two buildings will work together to accomplish one comprehensive result.

    The additional space will allow us to expand our distribution footprint to the entire Chicagoland area, add more onsite enjoyment at both locations and explore our interests as brewers and beyond. The expansion process won't be fast, but we can now remove many questions and begin to mold the future into the exact shape we feel is best.

    Thanks for all the support you've offered us over the years.

    Cheers,

    Half Acre Beer Co

    Chicago, IL
     
    #1 HartsyThaiFood, Mar 24, 2014
  2. ratmoss

    ratmoss Initiate (0) Sep 11, 2005 Illinois

    #2 ratmoss, Mar 24, 2014
    ravot and HartsyThaiFood like this.
  3. atomic

    atomic Pundit (945) Sep 22, 2009 Illinois

    This is awesome, this new place is walking distance from my apt. Sweet
     
    #3 atomic, Mar 24, 2014
  4. HartsyThaiFood

    HartsyThaiFood Initiate (0) Dec 11, 2013 Illinois

    That Tribune article helps clarify things a whole lot.

    The current Half Acre taproom is one of the best I've ever been to. Given some more space, I can only imagine what those guys will come up with.

    Plus I'm moving in to the heart of Lincoln Square just off of Damen in a few weeks. So I'm pumped to basically be at the midway point between the two facilities.
     
    #4 HartsyThaiFood, Mar 24, 2014
    PseudoBen likes this.
  5. JakeT469

    JakeT469 Initiate (0) Jan 13, 2012 Colorado

    Awesome news! More Half Acre brews and hopefully distro in all of the surrounding Chicago burbs (which is what it sounds like). Congrats to Half Acre on taking the next step in this crazy craft beer world.
     
    #5 JakeT469, Mar 24, 2014
    stevegoz likes this.
  6. Redrover

    Redrover Grand Pooh-Bah (3,676) Jan 18, 2003 Illinois
    Society Pooh-Bah

    This is great news! Couldn't happen to a more deserving brewery & group of workers!
     
    #6 Redrover, Mar 24, 2014
    __cesarm__ likes this.
  7. steebo777

    steebo777 Initiate (0) Jun 30, 2009 Michigan

    Good news!
     
    #7 steebo777, Mar 24, 2014
  8. stephenieman

    stephenieman Zealot (552) Oct 14, 2011 Illinois

    With two Half Acre locations will they now be "Whole Acre"?
     
    #8 stephenieman, Mar 24, 2014
    jminch, jackndan, king75 and 14 others like this.
  9. Rollzroyce21

    Rollzroyce21 Pooh-Bah (2,211) Oct 24, 2009 California
    Pooh-Bah

    I just hope they don't close the taproom during the moving process while I'm there.
     
    #9 Rollzroyce21, Mar 24, 2014
  10. TravisMBinns

    TravisMBinns Initiate (0) Apr 30, 2011 Illinois

    It doesn't sound like the plan is to close the taproom at all. I hope they don't anyway; though I'm not sure if the new location would actually be closer to my condo...
     
    #10 TravisMBinns, Mar 24, 2014
    Rollzroyce21 likes this.
  11. Vav

    Vav Savant (1,049) Jul 27, 2008 Illinois

    :slight_smile: yay HA!
     
    #11 Vav, Mar 25, 2014
  12. beelzebubbles

    beelzebubbles Crusader (405) Mar 1, 2006 Illinois

    It'll be great when they finally expand their distribution to the rest of Chicagoland. Looking forward to that!
     
    #12 beelzebubbles, Mar 26, 2014
    jcsilves likes this.
  13. SpunkyHopslammer

    SpunkyHopslammer Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2011 Illinois

    Maybe they'll bring back Marty Stouffer's Great America BW [​IMG][​IMG]
     
    #13 SpunkyHopslammer, Mar 26, 2014
  14. ravot

    ravot Initiate (0) Mar 20, 2012 Illinois

    I have two bottles left. I had opened one a month ago. These were bottled during the capping issues they had at the time. I remember one of my small animal big machines leaked and Gabriel hooked me up with a one off in exchange. Awesome customer service. Anyway. I had to drain pour my Marty as it tasted of cardboard. Heavily oxidized.

    You can have one of mine and give it a shot in exchange of whatever.
     
    #14 ravot, Mar 26, 2014
  15. ravot

    ravot Initiate (0) Mar 20, 2012 Illinois

    I hope this is true. Not many folks know this but they've done some awesome sours that weren't released to the " public ". Truly experimental stuff. I hope they continue this trend.
     
    #15 ravot, Mar 26, 2014
  16. michman

    michman Pundit (751) Oct 14, 2005 Illinois

    this will be great to get more of their beers on shelves. i love the daisy cutter and gossamor is solid brew, but they have so many other good to great beers they could be canning as well. ill be sad to see the heyoka go until fall. anyone know what they replace it with during the spring and summertime?
     
    #16 michman, Mar 26, 2014
  17. Unbreakabolt

    Unbreakabolt Crusader (448) Nov 6, 2011 Illinois
    Trader

    Akari Shogun will be returning.
     
    #17 Unbreakabolt, Mar 26, 2014
    spicoli00 likes this.
  18. gill897

    gill897 Initiate (0) Apr 18, 2008 Illinois

    barrel aged dripping agrees with you.
     
    #18 gill897, Mar 28, 2014
    Dontcounttoday likes this.
  19. PseudoBen

    PseudoBen Initiate (0) Feb 14, 2014 Wisconsin

    If Space or Navaja get canned, dreams will become reality...
     
    #19 PseudoBen, Mar 28, 2014
    MattLatuchie and stevegoz like this.
  20. gregdafdxguy

    gregdafdxguy Initiate (0) Feb 17, 2013 Illinois

    The brett-aged Dripping Saison was one of the best beers I've ever had, anywhere. They had it on tap at the beach party a couple of years ago, I think my friend and I drank half of the keg. Mechahugs was also spectacular. Dang, if the new location (WHICH IS RIGHT BEHIND MY HOUSE) has room for barrel aging, we're gonna see some special brews, and for a reasonable price, too.
     
    #20 gregdafdxguy, Mar 29, 2014
    Dontcounttoday likes this.
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