• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • About Craft Brewing Business

Craft Brewing Business

Professional Insight, Unfiltered

Craft Brewing Business Craft Brewing Business
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment & Systems
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment
  • Webinars & White Papers

BrickStone Restaurant & Brewery takes gold, expands brewhouse

February 23, 2015Keith Gribbins

Dark Secret
BrickStone’s Dark Secret Russian Imperial Stout secured a gold medal in the Stout, Porters, & Strong Ales category.

 

Chicago breweries continue to attract our interest. The latest, BrickStone Restaurant & Brewery, is a suburban Chicago small town brewery that debuted in 2006 as a tiny, 5-barrel (bbl) brewing system. Now, the Chicago brewery has just took gold at the Beverage Testing Institute’s 2015 World Beer Championships as it sets to debut a new fully automated 50-bbl brewhouse and tasting room this spring.

BrickStone’s Dark Secret Russian Imperial Stout secured a gold medal in the Stout, Porters, & Strong Ales category, drawing a rating of 92 (exceptional) for its “dense aromas and flavors of dark roasted coffee beans, burnt sugar and nuts, caramel cream, and honeycomb with light oak.” Each year, BrickStone Restaurant & Brewery releases its Dark Secret on Black Friday. This year’s variance was aged in Dark Matter El Rosaro coffee beans which were barrel-aged then roasted to a medium dark and blended with Giant Step dark roast.

“We’re very proud of this brew,” said Brickstone BrewMaster Tommy Vasilakis. “We are extremely fortunate to have collaborated with Dark Matter and their fun and talented team. We knew from the first sip of coffee that we just had to work with them.”

The World Beer Championships are considered one of the major beer judging events throughout the world. BrickStone was also named “Best Brewery” at the 2014 American Beer Classic and has secured gold medals for its BrickStone APA and Belgo-APA. BrickStone’s new fully-automated brewhouse will allow for the production of 9,000-12,000 kegs of award-winning craft beers each year and be distributed throughout Illinois in both kegs and cans.

Lyft_PressKit cbb crop
Craft Beer Marketing Idea of the Week: Lyft partners with Baderbrau Brewing in Chicago on a ride discount beer
Burnt City cbb crop
Cool loot we get in the mail: Burnt City Brewing’s mixer sixer (it rocked out most convincingly)
Moody Tongue Brewing announces new tasting room in Chicago
Illinois map cbb crop
Self-distribution key to craft beer growth in southern Illinois

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tenn Tennis says

    February 24, 2015 at 1:37 am

    Tenn Tennis liked this on Facebook.

    Log in to Reply
  2. John E Bittermann says

    February 23, 2015 at 6:22 pm

    John E Bittermann liked this on Facebook.

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • Lagers, lemons, and legendary collabs: 6 beers to know this week
  • Meanwhile Brewing and Uptown Sports Club host 2nd annual Backyard BBQ Summer Series; 100% of proceeds benefit central Texas flood relief efforts
  • Athletic Brewing extends Arsenal F.C. partnership, expands non-alcoholic beer options at Emirates Stadium
  • Abstrax Hops calls out DMTS flaws in hop extracts in new white paper

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • 2025 L.L.Bean 4pk Mock UpLagers, lemons, and legendary collabs: 6 beers to know this week
    July 17, 2025
  • UK_ArsenalAnnouncement_MD_PressAthletic Brewing extends Arsenal F.C. partnership, expands non-alcoholic beer options at Emirates Stadium
    July 16, 2025
  • gross flavor man faceAbstrax Hops calls out DMTS flaws in hop extracts in new white paper
    July 15, 2025
  • Allagash White 12 Packs_horizontal coastDistribution news: Allagash returns to Ohio + moves from Outlaw, Mother Earth and more
    July 14, 2025
  • face palm embarrassed guy beard cbb cropJune Beer Purchasers’ Index shows craft continues to sink
    July 14, 2025
  • Deschutes non alcoholic beer brands toasting in the wildernessNon-alcoholic beer is booming in 2025 — here’s why craft brewers should pay attention
    July 9, 2025

Footer

  • Email Newsletter Sign Up
  • About Craft Brewing Business
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise on Craft Brewing Business
  • Media Kit Download
  • Privacy and Terms

© 2025 · CBB Media LLC