MyGrain Brewing Marks Anniversary With New Beer

JOLIET, IL - On Friday morning in downtown Joliet, MyGrain Brewing Company celebrated its one-year anniversary by unveiling a new beer, a special beer, a beer that has been aged in Koval whiskey bourbon barrels over the past six months. Knowing that supplies are limited, Shorewood resident Creig Zook was ready. He drove downtown to buy a four-pack to go of the Vingori Russian Imperial Stout.

"Whiskey Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout Brewed With Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans." It's 10.1 percent alcohol by volume, the can reads.

"I've been here several times," Zook told Joliet Patch Friday. "I tell everybody, the service is good, the food is great, and the beer is very good, some of the best beer in the area."

This week, the owners of MyGrain Brewing Company announced on their Facebook page that they were unveiling a newly tapped beer to commemorate their one-year anniversary in downtown Joliet inside Joliet's historic Union Station.

Zook was happy MyGrain was offering the Vingori Russian Imperial Stout in a limited supply.

"It's kind of like my favorite," Zook remarked. "That's why I was excited to get it."

So why does Zook like MyGrain Brewing Company so much?

"This place has a big selection, a nice selection. It's not like there's one or two good ones and the rest are all bad ones. Everything about the place is very nice," he said.

MyGrain is operated by Vince Turrise and Grzegorz Lesiak.

On Friday, Joliet Patch asked Turrise to reflect on last September's opening Joliet's first microbrewery. Now, Joliet has a second microbrewery, Elder Brewing, a couple blocks away, on Cass Street.

During the past year, MyGrain Brewing hosted a number of events at the restaurant including a beer dinner and several blues bands playing live music in the restaurant.

The goal, Turrise said, is to make MyGrain Brewing known as a destination.

"I think we spent a lot of our first year making sure the business just ran smooth," Turrise reflected Friday.

"We're seeing it grow over time. We're still working on the lunch crowd, but dinner has been good."

Here's why MyGrain spent the past six months brewing the Vingori Russian Imperial Stout to mark the one-year anniversary.

"We really like the dark heavy stout," Turrise explained. "It's just a nice, heavy beer, very rich, complex, with notes of dark chocolate, coffee and we've added vanilla Madagascar bourbon beans. It's been aging. It's a good one to throw in the cellar."

But if you're planning to wait until, say, Christmas to drop into MyGrain Brewing to try the Vingori Russian, sorry, the train will have already left the station.

"I can see it all going in the next week. There's a very limited quantity of it," Turrise said.

Overall, Stateville Stout, which is brewed with a Dutch chocolate, remains MyGrain's crowd pleaser. It's alcohol volume is 7.4 percent.

Other top sellers include the Wheel in the Sky series as well as Service Dog, which is an IPA with a deep citrus flavor and a massive hop aroma.

There are 18 beers on tap at MyGrain.

As many people know, the first year of business for most restaurants and bars is critical. For MyGrain, Friday was a special occasion. It was a time to look back and a time to look forward.

"I just want to say thank you to the whole community of Joliet and the surrounding area and for all the support from local businesses, City Hall, the Chamber, City Center Partnership and most importantly all of our supporters and patrons who have been with us since the beginning," Turrise told Patch.

MyGrain Brewing's customer base primarily comes from Joliet, Shorewood, Plainfield, Lockport, New Lenox, Bolingbrook and Romeoville, Turrise said.

"The lunch crowd is still the main thing we're trying to develop. I think Joliet has been very good to us and the surrounding communities as well. We're very appreciative of that."

To learn more, visit the website for MyGrain Brewing.

One more thing: MyGrain will be continuing its anniversary celebration with an Oktoberfest bash on Saturday, Sept. 22. The event will include commemorative German steins that customers can get filled with an Oktoberfest or FNL Kolsch. In addition, there's a $4.50 beer special all day for the Oktoberfest and FNL Kolsch. There's an exclusive German cuisine menu, a German DJ from noon to 6 p.m., followed by a German band playing from 6 to 9:30 p.m. (The German cuisine is featured all weekend, Sept. 21-23.)

On Sunday, Sept. 23, MyGrain will be giving a free pretzel with an entree order (with a limit of three per table.) The $4.50 beer special for FNL Kolsch and Oktoberfest will continue. And the German DJ will be on hand from 1 to 7 p.m.

Images via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor