Goldfinger Brewing Company Brings Craft Lagers To Downers Grove
DOWNERS GROVE, IL — Brewer Tom Beckmann is more than passionate about beer; it's in his blood. Beckmann, the owner of Goldfinger Brewing Company, which opens Friday in Downers Grove, told Patch he was brewing beer at home for fun when he traced his genealogy and discovered he comes from a long line of beer brewers.
Beckmann's family tree includes brewers that date back to the 1870s in Prague and Poland. He told Patch the Goldfingers not only produced beer, but brewing equipment as well, and made innovations that are still used today.
The discovery inspired Beckmann to quit his job and enroll in the World Brewing Academy, where he delved into the chemistry and microbiology of brewing in Chicago before heading to Munich, Germany, to learn the trade first-hand.
Beckmann told Patch the training gave him "more knowledge of brewing than I could have ever gained just doing home brewing.”
He then went on to work as a brewer for Lagunitas Brewing Company in Chicago and Emmett's Brewing Company in Downers Grove while developing a business plan of his own. Thus, Goldfinger Brewing Company was born.
Goldfinger is a lager house "in the truest sense of the word," Beckmann said. “That’s the style of beer that was produced by the Goldfingers back then," Beckmann added.
He said the brewery will offer three lagers to start: Original Lager, Pils and Vienna-style Lager. Beckmann said those core three beers will be on tap at all times and rotating seasonal options will be available. Other options will be on tap, including gluten-free ERIS cider and kombucha.
Goldfinger Brewing Company will also brew a soda in-house, which can be ordered alcohol-free or as a radler, which Beckmann said is like a "beer spritzer."
As one can imagine, opening in the midst of the coronavirus was "not in [Goldfinger Brewing Company's] business plan." For the time being, customers can enjoy their lagers in the brewery's outdoor beer garden, which has socially distanced seating for up to 75 people rain or shine.
Beckmann said the interior of the brewery will open once safety protocols are in place. Once inside, customers can view brewers at work through a 10-foot wall that overlooks the brewery. Customers will be just "two feet from where their beer is produced," Beckmann said.
The interior is designed to look like a modern-style taproom and draws inspiration from European beer halls. Wrought-iron chandeliers provide ambient lighting and the bar top and drinking rail are made from wood reclaimed from the Wheaton Bowling Alley. The bowling alley itself had reclaimed the wood from a bowling alley in Japan and Beckmann said there are burnt-in etchings that read "Ireland," so "the wood has its own history."
The walls are decked out with translated 19th-century newspaper clippings from when the Goldfingers were in business. Beckmann said he even plans to display a vintage sampler valve with the Goldfinger signature on it, as the Goldfingers developed an early sampler valve.
So, once beer fanatics set foot into Goldfinger Brewing Company, they won't have to look far to see just how deep brewing runs in the Beckmann's blood.
Goldfinger Brewing Company, which opens July 31, is located at 513 Rogers St. in Downers Grove.
This article originally appeared on the Downers Grove Patch
