CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (AP) - In the backroom of Crystal Lake Brewing, stacks of empty aluminum cans slated for the microbrewery’s signature golden lagers and India pale ales wait to be filled and packaged through an automated canning line.
The newly installed line, owners John O’Fallon and Chuck Ross explained, can package a case of beer within a minute - an expected improvement over the downtown Crystal Lake brewery’s original method that had employees manually packaging two cans a minute.
Both Crystal Lake Brewery founders invested in the automated line to up production and meet growing demand for their four “flagship” craft beers that soon will hit retailers’ shelves in six-packs throughout McHenry, DeKalb, DuPage, Lake, Kane and Kendall counties for the first time.
The unexpected part for the two founders is how quickly they have arrived at that point, a year after they opened their craft brewery and tap room last August.
“Production is going up fast. We should be available from the north side of Chicago all the way up to the Wisconsin border by the end of the year,” O’Fallon said. “Right now, we can’t make beer fast enough.”
Craft breweries, from larger mainstays such as Sierra Nevada Brewing to the smaller “nanobreweries,” also are seeing more beer drinkers clamor for locally crafted and uniquely brewed beers.
For the first time ever, craft breweries in 2014 captured 11 percent volume share of the beer marketplace in the U.S., according to figures released earlier this year from the Brewers Association, a national trade organization that represents small and independent brewers.
Overall industry sales by volume in 2014 grew 0.5 percent, adding to craft breweries’ booming reputation. In 2010, craft breweries’ volume share of the marketplace totaled 5 percent.
With more beer drinkers wanting a taste of Crystal Lake Brewery’s Beach Blonde, Slalom King and other brews, O’Fallon and Ross installed three additional fermenters earlier this month and nearly doubled production capability, as the microbrewery prepares to expand commercially throughout the Chicago area.
The two hope to be producing 2,500 barrels of beer a year with the new canning line and fermenters. Both brewery founders said the company’s growth is similar to others in the craft brewery market largely because beer consumers now want locally produced beer for its quality and flavor.
“It’s because of the quality of our product,” Ross said. “Without the quality of the product, we would just be another guy. Business is moving well.”
Michael Dallas, who owns Scorched Earth Brewing in Algonquin, brushed aside concerns the growing market soon may become oversaturated.
Specializing in sour tasting beers, Scorched Earth also has installed an additional fermenter and other brewing equipment to its Algonquin brewery and tap room since opening last summer. The microbrewery packages four- and six-packs of select brews for retailers in McHenry, Lake, DuPage, Kane and northern suburban Cook counties.
Craft breweries total greater numbers out west in states such as Colorado and California, where many brewers started turning their beer brewing hobbies into fledgling businesses decades ago, Dallas said. Scorched Earth even started after Dallas took interest in brewing beer as a hobby, initially in 2006 with a home-brewing kit his in-laws bought him for Christmas.
As the craft brewery wave makes its way east, Dallas sees the number of breweries growing - not subsiding - since by design the brews are geared toward individual tastes.
“People’s palates are changing, and that’s because craft breweries are pushing the palates of everyone to try different things. That’s what’s so exciting about this movement,” Dallas said. “People are tired of the mass market approach and want something local and unique.”
The nation’s largest beer makers have noticed.
Anheuser Busch purchased Chicago-based Goose Island Brewing Co. and started the brand Shock Top for craft beer consumers years ago. The popular Blue Moon craft beer brand is a part of MillerCoors, which also has bought up smaller breweries in recent years.
In Illinois, craft breweries nearly have doubled in the past four years, increasing from 54 total in 2011 to 103 in 2014, association figures show. McHenry County saw Crystal Lake Brewing, Scorched Earth and the smaller Chain O’ Lakes Brewing Company in McHenry all open in 2014.
The three local breweries joined the 612 other microbreweries, brewpubs and regional breweries that started last year in the U.S., based on association figures.
All three categories fall under the umbrella of a craft brewery, which the association defines as one that produces less than six million barrels of beer a year. Smaller microbreweries produce less than 15,000 barrels a year and primarily sell beer off site, while brewpubs primarily brew beer to be sold in a restaurant or bar.
Craft breweries in all three categories now total 3,464 - an 18.75 percent increase from 2013. That’s a level not seen since 1873, when 4,131 total breweries served a population who logistically had to rely on local producers to grab a cold one.
Even with its focus on McHenry, Chain O’ Lakes Brewing has seen a number of out-of-town visitors try the company’s popular seasonal brews and other beers, owner Curt Ames said.
Ames started the brewery last spring for McHenry residents without the intention of wider commercial distribution. He brewed about 100 barrels of beer last year, but increased sales and demand this year have pushed production to 125 barrels through mid-August.
Even as nearby Crystal Lake Brewing and Scorched Earth ramp up commercial production, Ames so far has found comfort in competition. The new craft brewery scene in the county has driven more people to all three companies, he said.
“The more awareness of people being able to go into a local brewery and get a freshly brewed beer helps us all,” Ames said. “I don’t even look it as competition. It’s a community that makes more people show up.”
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Source: The (Crystal Lake) Northwest Herald, https://bit.ly/1POvd12
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Information from: The Northwest Herald, https://www.nwherald.com
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