USA, IL: Des Plaines hoping to become first brewery in Des Plaines

Fibs Brewing Company will become the first brewery in Des Plaines if plans to open this year follow through, the Journal & Topics Newspaper reported on April 18.

Dean VandenBiesen and Greg Herro, two longtime Des Plaines business owners, are set to open the brewery at 260 Howard Ave. in Mercury Corporate Center, between Mount Prospect and Wolf roads. The team is currently brewing small batch samples of original recipes, including an IPA, double IPA, porter, Imperial ale, Belgian ale and lager.

“We’ve got good recipes for at least 10 beers,” said VandenBiesen. “We want to perfect them.” Though they aim to open to the public by this fall, he said he and Herro are not in a rush.

“We want to have a good variety of high quality beers,” VandenBiesen said.

Along with Herro, VandenBiesen began brewing out of his garage about five years ago. It started as a hobby, but they quickly became more serious about brewing. For the past three years, VandenBiesen and Herro have worked with city staff to make their dream of opening a brewery and tap house a reality.

About two years ago, Des Plaines aldermen amended city code to allow for breweries. The city council was expected Monday to approve a Class A liquor license for Fibs Brewing, allowing up to 250 people to patronize the business.

For the past 10 years, the partners have also run LifeGem out of the corporate center/industrial park, where they make lab-created memorial diamonds.

“It’s a pretty interesting atmosphere,” said VandenBiesen.

While enjoying beer, patrons will also be able to check out the diamond-making equipment housed behind glass windows. In past years, corporate centers have become a popular location for micro-breweries, he added.

19 April, 2018