Closing Metal Monkey Brewing 'Probably The Right Call': Owners

ROMEOVILLE, IL — For several weeks, Dan Camp and his fellow owners of Metal Monkey Brewing felt they had a survival plan in place that would allow the Romeoville craft beer emporium that has established a loyal following over the past 7 ½ years to keep its doors open.

Even though sales had dropped since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Camp, his wife Brandi, and fellow owner Jason Janes had been in the process of making business decisions that would allow Metal Monkey to keep its head above water. But when the prospective sale of two fermenters fell through and the hopes of opening a small kitchen in the taproom didn't pan out, everything changed.

Metal Monkey announced in a social media post over the weekend that it will be closing its taproom doors in August. Since then, the business has seen traffic at the taproom grow as customers eager to spend time in the brewery’s inviting space before it closes have made their way to Metal Monkey.

The decision to close was almost a last resort, Camp told Patch, but considering the reality of the situation, the difficult choice became increasingly evident to the three owners.

“Ever since we came to the decision (to close), it feels like this was the call we had to make,” Camp told Patch on Wednesday. “Even though nobody wanted to, it’s definitely something we had to do. I think the reality has set in and as difficult as it is saying goodbye and all the things to do with closing down a business are going to be, it’s probably the best call.”

In recent months, Metal Monkey had changed up its liquor license, allowing the brewery to serve wine and spirits in addition to its home-grown beer. By doing so, the owners felt like they could cater to a larger audience, which, in turn, would hopefully improve the company’s bottom line as it moved farther away from the pandemic.

Although they knew adding more drink offerings and possibly opening a small kitchen that would offer soups, sandwiches, and possibly sushi may not save them entirely, Camp said they hoped the changes could help push things in a more positive direction. But when village officials conducted a walk-through of the property, the idea of adding even a small kitchen proved to be a much bigger financial commitment than the business owners originally projected.

That, along with the breakdown of the sale of the fermenters, made it clear to Camp and his fellow owners that survival may not be possible.

“Within a few hours, it all came crashing down,” Camp said. “It was gut-wrenching, honestly. It was horrible. This is something we’ve worked on and worked on…. This wasn’t a decision we came to lightly, and so many people’s lives have been wrapped up in this for such a long time.”

Initially, the decision was made to halt production of the beer that the brewery has been producing since it opened in 2016. With enough beer in their fermenters to keep things up and running for at least another three to four weeks, the ownership group decided that they would keep Metal Monkey’s doors open as long as they could.

Camp says all three owners ultimately reached the same conclusion at the same time, as they realized that their time operating a popular heavy metal-themed taproom and live music venue may be winding down. The brewery has two of Camp’s and Janes’ home brews — Furious George and Tony's Car Double IPA — in fermenters that will be canned. The company still has a large amount of beer packaged in either cans or kegs, as well as merchandise that will allow the business to begin to wind down organically over the next month, Camp said.

Camp says there is an outside chance that the owners could sell the business as is to another investor who may be able to pump more capital into the brewery. Camp says he has a handful of people reach out with proposals that might be able to keep the business afloat.

Camp said that he is open to the idea of turning the keys of the business over to a new owner with the idea that the brand that he, his wife and Janes have worked so hard to build could live on. In addition to selling beer out of the taproom space, Metal Monkey has seen the distribution of its canned beer grow and after so many years of hard work, Camp said he would hate to see the group’s efforts simply disappear.

“This has been our passion for so long, I would hate to see it all just go away,” he said.

But should that not happen, Camp is at peace with liquidating the business and filing for bankruptcy. He said he wants to try and take care of dedicated staff members who have become more like family and wants to make certain they can have a plan moving forward as the brewery's current chapter closes.

In the meantime, though, he revels in the idea of hearing the stories of customers who are now coming into a space where weddings have taken place and where birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions have been celebrated.

Camp has been encouraged by the uptick in traffic the taproom has seen since last weekend’s announcement. It signals to him that the business has done many things the right way while producing its own brand of beer that never fell into a trendy cookie-cutter mentality of other craft beer producers.

But without knowing exactly how sustainable the increase in traffic could be over the long haul, Camp senses that the brewery’s days are numbered. In the time the taproom will remain open, Camp says he will continue to enjoy mingling with customers – many of whom have seen their lives made better by the presence of a local business that always just wanted to give local residents a place to hang out, listen to music and enjoy beer made with love.

Now, more than a decade after Camp and Janes met in a homebrew club and began dreaming of making really good beer on a bigger stage, Camp says he can walk away knowing Metal Monkey made its mark on the Romeoville community.

“That’s what’s keeping us going at this point,” Camp told Patch. “It’s just so great to hear what an impact we’ve had on people, even if the business itself is shutting down. We’ve done something to enrich people’s lives, and that’s really awesome. It’s really, really humbling.”

He added: "When you walk in the door here, people feel like family. They feel like old friends."