E-Malt.com News article: USA, IL: Dry City Brew Works to open in Wheaton

Just a stone's throw from the area known as Whiskey Creek during Prohibition, downtown Wheaton will soon welcome its first brewery and tasting room. Dry City Brew Works hopes to open this summer, producing up to 40 barrels of beer at a time and offering a five-beer rotating tap for tastings, Mysuburbanlife.com reported on February 10.

The brewery will be operated by Wheaton residents Jessica and Ben Sampson, and Jessica's parents, Lori and Dave Carr of Glen Ellyn.

A pharmacist by trade, Ben became interested in the combination of science and art brewing requires.

"I really wanted to know how it worked, rather than follow a recipe," he said. "I read some books about every style and tried to make it my own."

Ben and Jessica became beer aficionados, traveling the country to visit small breweries, touring more than 30 during their honeymoon last year and falling in love with the tight-knit brewing community.

"My experience in going to beerfests and breweries and all these places was just realizing what camaraderie there is in this industry," Jessica said. "These people love what they do, they have a lot of fun when they go to work, it's a great network of people. It's all about the beer."

The idea of opening a brewpub stemmed from the notion that if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life, Jessica said.

Already the owners of Carr Mobile Technologies in Glen Ellyn, Lori said she and her husband were looking for something new.

Their concept for a catering operation evolved to incorporate Ben and Jessica's brewery, and they decided to narrow their focus, at least to start, Dave said.

"We wrestled amongst ourselves – what are we really? Are we a brewery? Are we going to be a restaurant that, by the way, we do beer? What's our identity?" he said. "And we all feel very good about the beer, so let's get the beer thing off the ground and stay focused on that."

Ben said he has already created nearly 30 beer recipes, many with Wheaton-themed names, such as Wheat(on) Ale, Courthouse Smoked Porter and the Wheaton Grand Theater-inspired MiracAle, after the "Miracle on Hale Street" fundraising campaign.

That connection to the city is important, Dry City's founders said.

Dry City worked with officials to determine zoning and restrictions for its Main Street location, since Wheaton had never encountered a brewery before, Ben said. However, his experience with the city was positive throughout, he said, and Dry City was told it would fit in well with the recently-adopted Wheaton Downtown Strategic and Streetscape Plan.

Much like fellow downtown storefront Tasting deVine, the brewery is allowed a tasting room with a three-drink limit. It will also sell growlers and bombers of its various beers for carry out, including seasonal and specialty beers, such as Dry City's Thanksgiving offering, with thyme, sage and cranberries.

Jessica said having a place where locals can come and meet the founders face-to-face is important.


12 February, 2014