The first craft brewery in Niles is expected to open later this fall.
Chicago brewery Une Année — a three-year-old venture known for their Belgian and French style brews — is moving to 2,500 square-foot space inside a shopping mall in 9082 West Golf Road, according to the brewery’s founder, Jerry Nelson. The new site will house the breweries operations and a tasting room for patrons who want to try the beer onsite.
At a village board meeting in late August, officials pulled a proposed new class of liquor license off the agenda to tweak the language of the new classification. Village Manager Steve Vinezeano said the item was rescinded so staff could reach out to representatives from the craft brewery industry to solicit their feedback.
Nelson said he also requested that staff pull the item and rework the ordinance.
Vinezeano, who said he personally enjoys visiting breweries in the region, said he noticed some inconsistencies with wording. Language was included in the proposed rule about glass bottles, but the ordinance made no mention of cans.
“I just think (the ordinance) wasn’t as fine tuned as it should have been in terms of making sure it was an ordinance built on reality,” Vinezeano said.
Ross Klicker, economic development coordinator for Niles, said the village began contemplating a craft brewery ordinance even before Une Année expressed interest in Niles.
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“It is no secret that this segment of the industry is growing extremely fast,” he wrote in an email. “As we began our exploration, Une Année came to the village with a concept to open a new brewery in town. So, we began to work with Une Année on finding an appropriate location while at the same time the liquor commissioner began to formalize their work on creating a license type.”
A reworked version of the craft brewery ordinance is expected to appear on the village board agenda next month, officials said.
Nelson said he decided late last year that he needed to find a new space for his brewery, which is currently located in the area of Grand and Ashland Avenues in Chicago, to accommodate a tasting room.
Nelson, who lives in Chicago near the border of Niles, said the village was the first place he looked at after struggling to find an appropriate location within Chicago limits.
He said he also explored options in Evanston, Morton Grove, Skokie and Lincolnwood but nothing served his needs as well as the Golf Road space in Niles.
Nelson, a Chicago native who first began home brewing beer while serving in the Marines in 1995, said he’s not concerned that their new location isn’t in a high foot traffic area.
He said craft breweries don’t necessarily need to be highly visible to be successful since many avid consumers will visit destination breweries no matter where they’re located.
“We have a good amount of people that buy our beers on a consistent basis,” Nelson said. “As our popularity grows, we’d like to have a place for them to come purchase the beers directly from us and see what we’re doing. I think it will be fun.”
Klicker anticipates that the brewery will have a positive effect on surrounding businesses and village coffers in the form of increased sale tax revenue.
“My wife and I, what we do is when we travel we look for these kinds of places,” Vinezeano said, referring to craft breweries.
He said he’s excited to have a novel business in town where both residents and those from out of town can try something new and unique.
“Who knows if it will spread. I think it’s a healthy opportunity for us to diversify our retail sales tax base. We certainly don’t have these kinds of places,” he said. “And if they write this ordinance correctly, maybe more (breweries) will come to Niles.”
Lee V. Gaines is a freelancer reporter for Pioneer Press.