Whiner Beer Co. to Close in Back of the Yards
Whiner Beer Company announced it will permanently close its brewery and taproom in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood on March 29. The closure marks the end of a decade in business for the saison-focused brewery and is the third such closure for a Chicago brewery in recent weeks.
- Co-founders Brian Taylor and Ria Neri brought extensive experience to Whiner Beer Co. Taylor was instrumental in developing the wine barrel-aging program at Goose Island, creating award-winning beers like Sofie and Madame Rose, while Neri is a Certified Cicerone who developed beer programs for notable Chicago bars. - The brewery was located in a former meatpacking facility known as The Plant, a collaborative business incubator focused on sustainability and zero-waste principles in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. - Whiner Beer was a key tenant in The Plant's "closed-loop" system; its spent grain was intended to fuel an anaerobic digester to create energy for the building and was also used to make briquettes for a bakery's oven. - The brewery specialized in barrel-aged, Belgian-style beers, utilizing alternative yeasts and fermentation in wine barrels, a niche it aimed to carve out in the Chicago market. - The closure is part of a wider downturn in the craft beer industry; in the 18 months leading up to early 2026, the number of breweries in the Chicago area had already dropped by about 15%. - Other recent local casualties in the craft beer scene include Alarmist Brewing and Illuminated Brewing, which also announced closures in the preceding weeks. - Industry experts attribute the wave of brewery closures to multiple factors, including the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on taproom traffic, inflation, and a shift in consumer preferences toward spirits and other non-beer alcoholic beverages. - Whiner's taproom, known as The Jungle, also served as a space for other local businesses, including SomosMonos CervecerÃa and Raza's Pizza.
