City Permit Issue Leads Brew Camp to Open New Ravenswood Location

What started as an unfortunate piece of luck could turn into something positive for Brew Camp, the home brewing store formerly located in North Center at 2039 West Belle Plaine Avenue.

The store had to close down Oct. 1 because the City Health Department said it needed a full food-services license, Gapers Block reported last week.

Along with brewing equipment, the business sold pre-packaged yeast, grains, hops and other raw brewing ingredients.

Brew Camp had to close its doors, but found a new location at 4639 North Damen in Ravenswood, just south of the Damen Brown Line Station.

Co-owner Jared Saunders posted on the business’s Facebook page that the new space is twice as large as the old. As of now, he doesn’t have an open date.

Home brewers can still get equipment from the store through its website, according to their Facebook page.

“We appreciate your patience and we're working hard to be back soon,” the Facebook post read. “We did our best to understand the city's requirements when we started up. Over the past year, representatives at both the city and state levels have expressed that they don't have a clear picture of "how to deal with homebrew shops" because we "aren't a typical business."

The post said both the business license and health departments have been very helpful in the process.

Editor’s Note: We’ve reached out to Saunders and will update the story when we hear back.