How it all
Began
Many people believe the St. John Malt Brother’s story began on February 1st, 2015, when we
opened the doors of our taproom to a small crowd who braved the blizzard and joined us on a
Super Bowl Sunday. But the
real story began years before with three neighbors drinking craft beer around the fire pit in
their connecting
backyards. Malt Brothers Jim Estry, a retired businessman, Dan Cox and Dave Witt, both
engineers, quickly bonded over their
love of great beer, and the first attempts at brewing quickly ensued. The Brothers honed their
craft on single-barrel
batches, and they were ready when the high-end computerized European brewing equipment and a
15-barrel brewhouse
finally arrived.
A few beer batches later and we arrived at that cold, snowy Sunday in February of 2015, when the
cozy 36-person taproom opened. On tap, you could only find 3 original Malt Brothers beers,
Hesperidium, MBA and Triple
Threat (renamed to "Triple Dog Dare") and several guest beers. Soon after, by providing
top-notch friendly service,
we had a loyal and enthusiastic following, allowing us to rapidly grow. It wasn’t long
before
all 12 taps were
pouring Malt Brothers originals, and we even added taps to serve the wide variety of beers we
were brewing. To keep up
with the demand, in the second summer we added fermentation tanks to boost our production
capacity to 1,500 barrels
annually.
Much like our brewery, our distribution has grown ever since opening. You can now find St. John
Malt Brothers in bars, restaurants, and stores in Northwest Indiana & Illinois. Packaging of
our
beer is done on-site
including cans and hand-bottled, limited release bombers. Cold carry-out beer is always
available, and our 64 oz.
growlers are a customer favorite to take home and enjoy fresh beer with friends and family. Kegs
are available for your
personal kegerator or celebration.
Almost 3 years after opening our taproom, the neighboring Malt Brothers Brewery & Eatery
opened
its doors on January 2, 2018 expanding our facilities with enough room for over 220 guests. But
we always knew these
locations would one day be demolished to make way for the Shops on 96th, and so we continued to
look for a permanent home
for Malt Brothers Brewing. We found our answer less than a quarter of a mile away on Industrial
Drive.
