Begyle Brewing in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood in currently on hiatus as they make a major investment in the next stage of their business. For two months, they'll be installing new trench drains, a new 10-barrel brewhouse, six new 10-barrel fermenters, and fitting the front of the space with a brand new tasting room and growler fill station. Neighbors will be able to get kegs, growlers, bombers and 1oz samples come mid-november (fingers crossed).

Before they broke ground, I wanted to swing by and document this stage of their development with a few photos of the brewery for posterity. We also had a Beer Advocate Magazine cover to nail.

This is a major upgrade for the nano brewery founded on a CSA model. Since day one, meeting demand has been challenging. But replacing the 2-barrel set-up will dramatically cut down on their labor, while increasing their capacity, and eliminating a lot of consistency risks (not that they've struggled with that).

So if you see any dips in stock around town, hang tight. They're going to be coming back online in a big way this fall with all your favorites, including Crash Landed, Farmers Hand, Haphazardly, Flannel Pajamas, and Jonny Quest in December.

Other start-ups are benefiting from this move as well. An old 7-barrel fermenter went to Pipeworks, and the 2-barrel brewhouse and a couple fermenters went to Flesk in Lombard, where Begyle is actually playing gypsy on their own equipment for the time-being. A great example of how growth supports growth. It's a thermodynamic law of the craft beer universe.