Fenton Grads Moving Forward with Chicago Brewery

A name change hasn't stopped a pair of Fenton graduates from pursuing their dream of opening a brewery.

Fenton natives Kevin Cary and Matt Ritchey planned to open in Chicago earlier this year, but had to undergo a name change for their community-supported brewery business. The brewery will have members who commit to a monthly subscription to a variety of beers, instead of a bar, restaurant or tavern.

"We received a letter from a lawyer in Australia representing a small winery in Oregon. Turns out they had the rights to the name Argyle," Cary said.

After many long hours trying to find a new name, the group only slightly modified the name, to Begyle. The name change affected all of the business' paperwork and they had to change all of our documents, accounts and federal and state licensing.

"We really liked our logo (which was designed by a good friend and Fenton graduate Melanie Hudson)," Cary said "We liked the cursive, and we liked that the word gyle was incorporated, the word gyle is another word for fermentation."

Starting in July, the Fenton natives opened a licensed brewery in Illinios and plan to begin distributing in-state Aug. 22 and deliver kegs to bars in September.

The Fenton natives' location, a 4,400 square foot facility in the re-invented Ravenswood Corridor, is halfway built, all of the tanks are in place and brewing has begun. They are launching five beers to start, a Pale Ale, Hefeweizen, Pale Wheat Ale, American Strong Ale (Brown IPA), American Blonde Ale.

"The plan is to finish up the remaining construction on our retail space and apply for a liquor license before the end of the year. If all goes well, we will begin selling growlers in January, which we are really excited about, as that means we will also be able to start our community supported brewery," Cary said.

The group is running a kickstarter fundraising campaign to help the business get started.