Romeoville, Plainfield Breweries To Join IL Virtual Happy Hour

ROMEOVILLE, IL — Metal Monkey Brewing in Romeoville and Garage Band Brewing in Plainfield both plan to participate in a statewide virtual happy hour this Friday at 8:30 p.m., alongside over thirty breweries from around the state. Patrons of the breweries will be invited to attend as well. Each brewery will be hosting its own separate Zoom call for their fans.

"Residents who purchase take-out or delivery from the brewery this week will receive an invite to the virtual happy hour," a promoter for the event told Patch via email. "Each brewery is planning something a little different, from craft beer tastings to behind-the-scenes brewery tours."

Patch spoke with representatives from both breweries to see what they had planned for the event. Both said they would be debuting an pale ale called 'If We Build It,' a beer brewed by multiple Will County breweries in collaboration. Proceeds from sales of the beer will benefit Habitat for Humanity. But there were also differences in their plans.

Metal Monkey co-owner Jason Janes said that for them, the virtual happy hour would be a chance to do a virtual tasting party of the new beer. They would also debut some beer-paired cookies developed in partnership with Sweet Temptations, a Yorkville bakery.

"We've partnered with a bakery in Yorkville called Sweet Temptations... so you're going to get three or four cookies that will pair with the beer as well," Janes said.

The virtual happy hour is also a pay-to-play event for Metal Monkey; the only way for patrons to get an invite to the Zoom call is to buy a $50 'barrel of monkeys' that includes several cans of If We Build It, the aforementioned cookies, and other goodies.

"In our package you'll get two 32 ounce crowlers of that, two pint glasses, [cookies]... and then part of the virtual happy hour is people who order that package will receive an email with a link to... a video chat with myself, Dan - one of the other owners and brewers, and our tap room manager Stacy," he said.

Janes said about only 15 barrels of monkeys would be available on the Metal Monkey website between now and Friday night. He said selling a limited amount was their way of trying to keep the happy hour to a manageable size.

"It's not something we're having available for everybody because we're trying to keep it to a smaller crowd, so that we can manage it... and interact with the people," Janes said.

Craig Brazeau, co-owner of Garage Band, said their plans for the virtual happy hour were much more relaxed - and less exclusive. Invites to the Zoom call are available now on the brewery's social media sites.

"We haven't put together any packages or anything... what I've done is I'm posting on Facebook and Instagram," Brazeau said. "There's a... link that we're putting out there, [people] just click on that link and they can enter their email address, and then just before the meeting tomorrow... we'll invite them that way."

For Brazeau, the happy hour will be a chance to let customers know that Garage Band is up and running. He said they were considering taking viewers on a virtual tour of the brewery, but otherwise it will be a low-key affair.

"I think it's just about getting the word out that we're still here," he said. "Tune in and watch a couple of guys just stand around drink beer, and talk about the brewery, and the beer we have on tap."

Breweries participating in the virtual happy hour:

• 2 Fools Cider
• 350 Brewing Co
• Bent River Brewing Co.
• Black Horizon Brewing Company
• Buffalo Creek Brewing
• Church Street
• Cypress Grove Brewing
• Dovetail Brewery
• ERIS Brewery and Ciderhouse
• Forgottonia Brewing
• Garage Band Brewing
• Goose Island Beer Company
• Goose Island Beer Company
• Haymarket Pub & Brewery
• Hopvine Brewing Company
• Keg Grove Brewing Company
• Metal Monkey Brewing
• Mikerphone Brewing
• Millpond Brewing & Incubator
• One Lake Brewing
• One Lake Brewing
• Open Outcry Brewing
• Penrose Brewing Company
• Phase Three Brewing Company
• Revolution Brewing
• Side Lot Brewery
• Skeleton Key Brewery
• Sketchbook Brewing
• Smylie Brothers Brewing Co.
• Tangled Roots Brewing Company
• The Blind Pig Brewery
• Whiner Beer Co.