Lake Bluff Brewing Company has closed its brewery in downtown Lake Bluff after more than 15 years and is searching for a new home, with its owners saying the landlord declined to renew the lease.
Lake Bluff Brewing Company said its last day open was its annual Oktoberfest Block Party on September 12 as owners Mike and Megan Dorneker now look for a new space in Lake Bluff.
The business opened its doors at 16 East Scranton Avenue in March 2011.
Its 15-year lease expired earlier this year and the landlord rented the space to someone else, the Dornekers said.
“This was not our choice,” the Dornekers said. “We were not even given a chance to counter. We were completely blindsided.”
The Dornekers said the decision was especially hard to take given that their neighbor, Maevery, has been renting month-to-month for around two years.
The brewery hosted weddings, graduations, baby showers, after-work gatherings and new home celebrations over the years, the couple said.
“It makes us smile to hear how many people stopped in for a beer and left knowing they wanted to buy a home in Lake Bluff,” the Dornekers said.
The owners thanked the Lake Bluff Public Library, the Lake Bluff History Museum, Abbott, AbbVie, fellow local small businesses and charitable organizations they partnered with on events, along with the local musicians who played the taproom and the brewery’s summer block parties.
They said they were proud of the national awards and recognition Mike Dorneker’s beers have earned.
The owners asked customers to tip their bartenders generously during the brewery’s final days and asked anyone who knows of an available space in Lake Bluff to email mike@lbbrew.com.
The Lake Bluff Public Library said after the brewery announced it was closing that the business had been “an incredible community partner,” hosting the library’s Trivia Nights and summer block parties and supporting its Totally Booked beer series.
“We hope this is not goodbye, but the beginning of a new chapter for Lake Bluff Brewing,” the library said.
The brewery announced that the band Käsekrainer would play its final party. The band’s lead singer, Brett Kreiner, met his wife, Kristen, while the two were bartending at Lake Bluff Brewing and they were among the brewery’s original employees.
“It is fitting that the lead singer of the band, Brett Kreiner, is the one to send us off,” the brewery said.
The morning after the party, the brewery thanked Käsekrainer, the customers who came out and its staff members Pete, Nick and Emma.
“We have no words to say what last night meant to us,” the brewery said. “Lake Bluff Brewing has been a labor of love and a dream come true. A goodbye to 15 years at this location and taking next steps for our story to continue.”
The closure also affected the library’s Trivia Night, which had been scheduled at the brewery for September 30.
The event will now be held at 6 p.m. that night in the downstairs Grotto at the Gorton Center in Lake Forest, with concessions available for sale, the library said.
The brewery has not announced a new location yet.