The 350 Brewing Company has spawned from the ashes of our failed Collegiate careers at Northern Illinois University. Let me explain. 350 Augusta Ave. was our address in Dekalb, IL. At the time, your founders Todd and Erik spent more time on projects like way below average punk rock bands in the attic, and a Hardcore Wrestling Federation called WCVF (this took place in our kitchen), instead of focusing on classes like Humanities 227 in DuSable Hall. I mean, have you ever choke slammed one of your best friends into an oven pre-heated to “550 degrees”? Well, I have, and that was just a random Wednesday night. This raw energy (stupidity) and creativity is what eventually drew us to the Craft Beer scene. That’s what craft beer is…a creative and fresh twist on a beverage that has been mass produced and shoved down our throats for much too long (carefully stepping down from soapbox). Why not name our Brewery after the point in our life when we were most creative? Well…..we did. It was during these times we were also introduced to good, quality beer.
Once NIU had enough of our shenanigans, Erik went on to continue his education while I submerged myself into the cesspool known as corporate America. I feel dirty just talking about it. Over the last decade, my soul has been slowly rotting and exiting my body so there was a need for this creative juice to be squeezed once again.
Since wrestling and punk rock was now out of the question, brewing beer quickly became that much needed release from the Groundhog Day that had become the norm for us. Erik like most homebrewers started out brewing with extract several years ago and quickly rose to the challenge of all-grain batches. Erik, the 350 Head brewer, has been very successful when entering brewing competitions walking away with multiple awards for his Porter and Patersbier. Myself on the other hand have had a love for flavorful craft beer for many moons, and once I learned of Erik’s brewing expertise years ago, I too became emerged in this brewing lifestyle. It was a match made in heaven. Erik brewed awesome beer, and I was awesome at drinking and sharing that beer!!!
From that point on things just sort of clicked and for the last 2 years Erik and I have been researching and concocting this master plan of opening a brewery. The time has come. We want all of you to enjoy this journey with us. Tinley Park has always been the #1 location choice for 350 Brewing Company. Tinley Park embodies the spirit of 350, and definitely pairs well with our vision of always making sure a visit to our brewery is an interesting experience. Tinley Park is ready for a neighborhood brewery. It really was an easy decision based on Tinley Park’s sense of community, and passion for supporting local products.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BREWERY!!!
350 Brewing Company is a 100% community-funded neighborhood brewery. This is truly a dream come true for Erik and I. We look forward to sharing a beer with you very soon!!!
Cheers!!
Todd Randall – Co-FOUNDER of 350 Brewing Company