Elder Brewing, Downtown Joliet's 2nd Microbrewery, Opens

JOLIET, IL - Over the past several decades, Joliet had been one of the largest cities in the country without a brewery. Not a great distinction. In fact, nobody thought of downtown Joliet as a place to sit down, relax, listen to music and enjoy a top of the line handcrafted beer. But times are changing. Now, Joliet's on pace to rewrite history. In September, MyGrain Brewing Company opened inside the historic Union Station. MyGrain has received rave reviews from people who've sampled the craft beers on tap and dined here. This weekend, downtown Joliet adds its second microbrewery. Elder Brewing Company will open at 218 East Cass Street.

Is there much excitement and hype about Elder Brewing? Well, as of Wednesday night, the Elder Brewing Facebook page already had 989 Likes and 1,005 Followers, and its grand opening was still two days away.

"Best cream ale I've ever had, and the owners are just the kind of people you'd love to support!" one Facebook commenter had mentioned.

"Great beer! Awesome tap room! Highly recommend stopping in and trying all of the beers!! Can't wait to taste future beers!" another person wrote on Facebook.

Elder Brewing Company is run by Andrew Polykandriotis and his wife Melissa.

To give you a better perspective of what's ahead, Joliet Patch interviewed the owners of Elder Brewing Company on Wednesday night.

Q: What will be your hours and days of operation?

A: "Hours: Thursday: 4-7 p.m. Friday-Sunday: noon -7 p.m. The opening will start this Friday, so we won't be open this Thursday but will going forward."

Q: How many beers on tap for now?

A: "On tap: starting with at least two, and should be adding more soon! We have the capacity for ten. We will also have popcorn! People can bring food, but we won't be serving any."

Q: Why did you decide that locating in downtown Joliet was the right decision for Elder Brewing?

A: "We chose this location because the building had been owned by Andrew's grandfather, and is now owned by his father. It used to be JCM Uniforms (which has since moved across the street) and wasn't being occupied as of 2015. Andrew wanted to start a brewery and when he saw the second floor of the building, he knew he could transform it into an amazing production area. Unfortunately, it isn't accessible so, we had to turn the first floor into the taproom and folks cannot go upstairs. It was an uphill battle though, because the first floor didn't have bathrooms and we needed to add them if we wanted to have people in there (which we did). We still need to do some facade work: upgrading the windows, doors, and getting a sign for the business."

Q: What are your thoughts about downtown Joliet and its future?

A: "Thoughts on the future of Joliet - we think there is so much potential and people are starting to see it and take action. The downtown area is on the rise, and there is a lot of discussion going on about different projects. I hope even more people envision something they want to happen, and take the leap to do it. There is ample space available, these are unique buildings with a lot of character, and people WANT this to keep improving and be a great destination area; they are asking for it.

"I think people will be pleasantly surprised by what we did with the space. We have had a lot of help with the taproom; my sister helped with the design, and our family and friends have given us art work for the decor as well, so it is all very unique."

Given that Joliet is the state's third largest city at just under 150,000, and given that thousands of people who live around the Joliet area love to drink craft beers, Elder Brewing believes it can be a shining success and make a name for itself in downtown Joliet.

In fact, Elder Brewing does not view itself as being a rival to the operators of MyGrain Brewing. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

On Tuesday night, Elder Brewing posted the following message on its Facebook site:

"We are getting excited for this weekend. Are you? ... Also, don't forget to hop on over to our friends at MyGrain Brewing Co. just a few blocks away and make a true Joliet brewery trip out of your weekend! Cheers!"

RELATED: MyGrain Brewing Opens At Union Station

Building images via Joliet Patch Editor John Ferak, other images via Elder Brewing Company.