This Week's Beer News: New Diversity on Diversey
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There’s a lot of closures and conflict to discuss this week so let’s start with something pleasant: Moor’s Brewing Company announced plans to partner with Steep Ravine and open a sports bar/brewery in the former Ravinia Brewing space (which, of course, is Steep Ravine’s prior brand) on Diversey.
The new space will be called Diversey House and they’re adding a bunch of TVs, a “personalized audio experience” to make sure you can hear the game at your table, and bringing in a three-time “Chopped” winning chef to come up with the new menu. And they’ll still brew beer from there too.
In just the last few weeks, two of Chicago’s Black-owned breweries have announced plans to open physical locations of their own (see Funkytown’s news here). That’s good news to carry into a new year.
In less fun news, we have our first Chicagoland closure of 2025: Longtime Waukegan brewer Ten Ninety has reportedly shuttered. (Thanks to everyone who reached out to flag it with us!) They’re listed as Permanently Closed on Google, their socials haven’t been updated in weeks and this IG post from a local seems to solidify it.
I remember being impressed by their initial focus on imperial-strength beers and making beer and food pairings more user friendly. I liked their imperial porter enough to write it up for Time Out nearly a decade ago and their tabasco-barrel-aged experiments at FoBAB remain infamous (at least for me).
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To celebrate Conrad Seipp Brewing Company’s fifth birthday (well, their second fifth birthday, technically), Classic Chicago Magazine published a Q&A with owner Laurin Mack.
WCIA reported on the new Danville Dashers beer from Riggs Beer Company.
Job alert: Want to rep Destihl and Wrexham Lager throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic? They’re looking for you.
King Jugg Brewing announced plans to open their third location in Noblesville. Plans include a $4 million investment in the space, which previously housed a dry cleaners for over six decades. Construction is expected to start sometime this year.
The former owners of Saugatuck’s Guardian Brewing announced plans to open a new brewery in Bloomington under the name Towaki Brewing.
Towaki Brewing’s own email announcement is here.
After four years in operation, Wyoming’s 3 Gatos Brewery announced their closure. More here. According to the owner, he never took a paycheck from the brewery.
Tis the season for paczki stout news, starting with this story about the return of Griffin Claw’s version.
The new Bell’s taproom at Little Caesars Arena is now open.
Northern Express highlighted this cacao and coconut imperial stout from Elder Piper.
Chanhassen Brewing Company announced that their final day in business will be February 1.
KARE-11 looks at the causes behind some recent brewery closures and some of the pivots other breweries have made to stay alive.
I didn’t know there was a Grand Rapids, Minnesota until I read this story about Klockow Brewing Company.
AB announced an energy drink partnership with UFC owner Dana White’s 1st Phorm. They’ve also announced nearly 4 minutes of Superbowl advertising, none of which will feature an AB craft brand.
Perennial Artisan Ales announced plans to open their third location, this one in Kirkwood.
The owner of Immigrant Son announced plans to open a restaurant around the corner from their brewery.
West Side Brewing acquired a former firehouse turned Irish pub called Gilligans on the Green and announced plans to open Gilligan’s Brewery there.
It’d be impossible to round up all of the news about the final days of Leinie’s Chippewa Falls Brewery and the efforts of the Leinenkugel family to purchase that brewery back from MolsonCoors. The news was literally everywhere this week and to include all the links would make this email unsendable. That said, here’s a few of the best stories we saw:
“End of an era: Hourly workers at Leinenkugel’s Brewery in Chippewa Falls finish their final shift” (Wisconsin Public Radio)
“Like a 'funeral wake': Dick and Jake Leinenkugel lament loss of historic Chippewa Falls brewery” (Post-Bulletin)
“Molson Coors rejects Leinenkugels’ bid to save Chippewa Falls brewery” (WTMJ)
While I’m extremely sympathetic to the Leinenkugels wanting to reclaim their family brewery … they won’t be able to brew Leinie’s beer there without the blessing of MolsonCoors, which doesn’t seem likely to happen. They’d have to either spin up a brand new brand or take on a lot of contract work (in a state full of massive contract brewers). I’d love to see the Chippewa Falls facility continue, but without Leinie’s beer coming out of it, I’m not sure how it happens.
Madison’s Herbiary taproom, dedicated to hop-free herbal beers, announced it’d close on Feb. 1.
In addition to their recent acquisition news, Gathering Place also now has THC seltzers, keg curling and more.
This week’s Meet the Brewer column from the Milwaukee Record introduces John Degroote of New Barons Brewing Cooperative.
In Scotland, The Herald has a new beer columnist with roots in Chicagoland and Indiana.
Bier Omakase shared a cool story about how a single line in a UK newspaper story revived South Korea’s craft beer efforts.
Most-clicked link in last week’s email: Hop Culture’s list of the 17 breweries to watch in 2025.
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