Brewing Up More Business: Another Expansion In The 'Werks' For Plainfield Brewery, Tap Room

PLAINFIELD, IL -- In just five years, a Plainfield business has grown so much that's already expanded -- and now it's planning to branch out again.

After relocating to a larger space in 2013 and adding a brewery to their home brew supply store in 2014, Chicago Brew Werks/Werk Force Brewing owners Brandon and Amanda Wright are opening a second location, but they're not going far.

For four years, the business has operated out of a 4,000-square-foot space at 14903 S. Center St., sharing the building with neighbors including Tailwinds Distilling Co., event venue Warehouse 109, Lucky Dog Academy and coffee stout/nitro coffee collaborator Ten Drops Coffee.

Now, Amanda said Brew Werks/Werk Force will have even more space and expanded hours thanks to some foresight and a little bit of good luck.

The couple was planning an expansion and scouting locations -- and had already ordered the equipment to go with an expansion -- when a location fell into their laps.

"We knew we needed to expand," Amanda said. Thanks to the popularity of the tap room and events like food truck nights, "We'd been searching around Plainfield (for more space) for the last year or two," she said.

Werk Force had also gone from brewing about 100 barrels of beer in its first year to 500 barrels last year, along with offering bottled beer sales and satisfying a growing demand for distribution to area bars and restaurants.

Then, they learned CrossFit Plainfield was planning to move out of the building into a new location on Riverwalk Court.

"We scooped (their space) up right after they left," Amanda said. "We love the building, so it made sense to stay close by. We just thought, 'If we don't jump on this now, we might miss out.'"

The roughly 10,000-square-foot space just a few doors down from the current taproom will allow Werk Force to brew five times as much beer, along with offering space for large, communal tables -- perfect for customers who want to enjoy some food truck fare with their beer tasting -- and an even larger tap room.

The additional room will give Brew Werks more space for its experimental brews and allow it to keep barrel-aged brews -- like some of its fruit beers -- separate from "clean" brewed beers. It will also have walk-in coolers and 20 additional taps offering not only craft beers but also non-alcoholic options like nitro coffee, soda and kombucha.

Amanda said the existing tap room will remain open during its current hours, while the new one will have expanded hours. The hours for the new space are yet to be determined.

As for an opening date, Amanda said the business is finalizing its permits -- along with odds and ends like gas, electric and plumbing -- and hopes to have the expanded facility open by early summer.

"We have all of our equipment waiting," Amanda said. "We're ready."