Werk Force Brewing Co. 14903 S. Center St #101, Plainfield, IL 60544 phone: #815-531-5457   website: WerkForceBrewing.com
Hours: THURS-FRI 12PM-10PM | SATURDAY 11AM-10PM | SUNDAY 11AM-7PM

Experience before you go . . .

Okay, we had a weather phenomenon called a Graupel blow through, the caddy was warmed up and wanted to continue down the road, Brad and I were also warmed up and wanted to see where this adventure took us so the executive decision was made to tour another brewery. Plus, Ben at Metal Monkey had nothing but great things to say about Werk Force which you got to luv about the brewing community......Werk Force Brewing Company here we come. So we jumped in the caddy, fired her up, pointed her in the right direction and motored down the road.

We were heading to Plainfield and as far as I'm concerned there's nothing plain about Plainfield. Voted in 2018 as one of the Top 10 places to raise a family. Playgrounds, attractions, education, health and safety and of course affordability are all pretty important if you have kiddos.

Less then 15 minutes and Werk Force was in sight. Easy parking and we head for the door. The patented front sign selfie done and in we went. Big, big, big, industrial brewery, "Chic" as I've learned to call it. When you need room for the malting, mashing, boiling, fermenting, conditioning, filtering and packaging you need some space. And because of certain zoning restrictions most breweries have had to set up shop in small industrial areas which adds to the whole mystique. Straight ahead we have lots of tables and chairs and behind that we have a very large bar that separates the taproom from the production area. To the left of the bar there is a 15' x 20' raised stage for live bands to perform....this place is rocking! The brewery is busy but of course it's Saturday afternoon right after a Graupel went through....people need some beer! I peruse the bar and its basically full except for one lone bar stool between two couples and another loner stool on the other side of the one couple. Being the shy guy that I am I confiscate both bar stools and start sliding them together and right then and there I had a choice to make.....should I slide them together so we're next to the millennial couple on date night or should I slide them the other direction which would put us right next to an older (you know - our age!), much more interesting, fun couple? You guessed it, I scooted those stools right in, the millennials moved down and we're right next to the more interesting, fun couple....just the way I like it!! At first Mark behind the bar greeted us and we did the card exchange and the mission statement and we were getting comfy and up walks Amairany with a smile that would light up a room and she also greeted us, but in a much better way. Brad and I looked at each other, out came a HBT card and the intros and the facts and figures and I believe this time we definitely have a Bing, Bang, Boom the Hoppin Brewery Tour strikes for the 75th time right hear in Plainfield, Illinois.....yeah buddy!

The much more interesting, fun couple to my left turns out to be none other than Laurie and Jeff from Minooka, Illinois. They were home looking at the "honey do" list, said the heck with it and jumped in the car to embark on their own brewery tour. Amairany started bringing us some brews. I got a couple samples, one being Bold as Beer - American Brown Ale (5.9%) dry chocolate, rye toast and hop forward. The other sample was Through the Fog - Saison (6.8%) passion fruit, peach and pine. Brad got a pint of Flat Earth Rocket Man - Milkshake IPA (7.2) tart, fresh peaches and citrus. Come to find out that Jeff was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 9th round of the 1984 MLB June amateur draft. He played 1st base and catcher, he was 6'5", 220 lbs, bats left and throws right. We're talking the real deal here! One of the spring training sessions the team had was down in Florida and the manager at the time was Sparky Anderson. And during practice there was a golf cart with two guys riding around practice and believe it or not the guy riding was none other then baseball great Ted Williams. Many say he was the best hitter that ever lived. Now Jeff was taking some turns at 1st base and Ted was watching and he went up to Sparky and said, "Can I have a talk with the boy?". How cool is that, The Thumper wanted to talk with the boy! So Jeff sat in the golf cart and Ted got behind the wheel and drove Jeff around giving him some pointers. Now Jeff was only 23 years olds and here you got Mr. Ted Williams driving you around talking to you. Now this was before iPhones so no one had a camera to take a picture for Jeff and all Jeff could think about was this is Ted Williams!! Jeff said he didn't hear a thing he said because of how awestruck he was to be hangin with the Ted! Jeff now works down in Crest Hill, Illinois at the Stateville Correctional Center. Jeff was telling us some stories of how crazy it gets down there sometimes but looking at Jeff's size and demeanor it looks like he can handle himself. Now besides making sure Jeff stays out of trouble, Laurie keeps busy working for a home care company. Great meeting you two guys and keep on keeping on!!

Mark circled back around and before I knew it we were getting a tour of the production area. Panoramic picture here, snapshot there, handshake with one of the brewers.....always great seeing the behind the scenes.

We had a ball, not a baseball, but a ball at Werk Force Brewing. The staff was great and the brews were complex and tasty. Check them out next time you're in Plainfield and tell'em Brad and Clyde sent ya!

Until next time and remember.........

Go get'cha one!!