MyGrain Brewing Forms New Club For Customers

JOLIET, IL —On Friday afternoon, as Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" played over the sound system, there was a large lunch crowd and lots of hearty laughter inside downtown Joliet's MyGrain Brewing Company. The place is gearing up for a huge celebration party all-day Saturday. MyGrain is celebrating its two-year anniversary since it opened as Joliet's first microbrewery.

MyGrain operates on the first level of the historic Union Train Station.

Saturday's fun begins at 11:30 a.m. Owners Vincent Turrise and Grezgorz Lesiak are unveiling eight new craft beers this weekend. These are limited quantities. In fact, Turrise told Joliet Patch on Friday that "We're hoping to sell them all tomorrow."

The other big news at the MyGrain Brewing Company concerns the start up of the new MyGrain Brewing Mug Club Memberships on Saturday.

There are three tiers: the most expensive is the Conductor level at $170, the Engineer Level is $120 and the Railfan Level is $60.

(Article continues below photo.)

These days, MyGrain's craft beers are being sold in about 120 liquor stores and bars in Will County, Grundy County, Kankakee County and parts of Ford and Iroquois Counties, the owners told Patch on Friday.

At the microbrewery, MyGrain is offering weekly specials such as Wednesday's 1/2 off pretzel, $2 off all draft beers and Thursday's steak frites and any beer combo for $19.99.

Once a month, MyGrain hosts Thursday Trivia Nights at 7 p.m. The next one will be Friends Trivia Thursday, Nov. 14. Star Wars Trivia will be Dec. 12.

"We're seeing a lot more events based off the craft beer," Turrise told Joliet Patch Friday. "The growth since we've opened has been more steady. We're seeing a lot more regular people who are appreciative of what we've done and they tell us how thankful they are that we are here."

(Article continues below photo.)

Over the coming year, Turrise said, he still wants to see even more growth, especially during the weekdays. More weekday growth will make it easier for MyGrain to expand its hours and days of operation.

Since January, MyGrain has been open Wednesdays through Sundays.

"With a town this big," Turrise remarked Friday, "there is still a lot of room to get more people in on a daily basis.

"I have found that the people of Joliet are very supportive of local businesses. My goal is to continue to make this a destination for downtown and not just on the weekend. It could be a Wednesday or Thursday, come down with the family for a dinner."