Tribes Brewing, A Mokena Staple Since 2009, Will Close At Month's End

MOKENA, IL — Tribes Brewing, which has been providing Mokena beer lovers with craft brews since 2009 when it first arrived in the village from Frankfort, announced on Sunday that it will close its doors at the end of the month.

The independently owned brewery, which has produced award-winning craft selections since it was founded under a different name, announced the closure on its Facebook page on Sunday. In the post, the brewery wrote “As most of you are undoubtedly aware, our brewery will be closing at the end of the month.”

The post invited residents and patrons to “start saying goodbye” by coming to the establishment on Sunday night but did not offer a further explanation of what led to the upcoming.

Messages requesting comment or interviews left for the brewery’s staff and owner Niall Freyne were not returned on Monday.

Freyne arrived in Mokena and opened Tribes Alehouse in 2009 after he closed his Frankfort-based Galway Tribes restaurant and pub due to a weak economy, Freyne told Patch in 2018. Tribes’ original location brewpub in Mokena, which was located on Lincoln Highway, closed in 2019 when owners said that they made the difficult decision not to renew their lease when it ran out.

At the time, the brewery still had a beer garden in Mokena and owned and operated the Tribes Alehouse and Grill in Tinley Park. But the Tinley Park location also closed, leaving the Front Street location that allowed the brewery to expand its production of brews as the only remaining location.

At each brewery and taproom location he oversaw over the years, Freyne said he worked hard to provide beer lovers with selections they would enjoy time and time again. He expanded his creations for distribution throughout the area and into Chicago, where his beers could be found and enjoyed.

After Sunday’s announcement, residents and patrons alike posted comments on the Facebook page, expressing sadness that the local drinking establishment would be gone after such a successful run in Mokena.

One local woman said that while they had been to all of the Tribes locations, the Front Street location was near and dear to her heart as she met her husband there four years ago, and has been together ever since, celebrating each anniversary at the local brewery and taproom.

Melissa Fedora, the executive director of the Mokena Chamber of Commerce, declined comment when asked about Tribes' decision to shutter its doors.

In social media messages left on the brewery’s Facebook page, patrons posted memories of all of Tribes’ locations but said their love for the business never wavered.

“From Galway to Front Street, you gave us a good place to meet,” one patron wrote. “Through good times and bad, another home we all had.”

Wrote another patron: “Nothing compares to Tribes and the quality crowd it always attracts. Thanks for many years of good brews, music, friends made, and memories that’ll last a lifetime.”