Tangled Roots Brewing Company expands to Lockport

Tangled Roots Brewing Company is expanding both in Starved Rock Country and beyond.

Chief commercial officer and co-owner Scott Struchen said the company is in the midst of opening new brewpubs at the northeast corner of La Salle and Joliet streets in La Salle, known as the former Maytag building, and 1025 S. State St., Lockport. The new breweries also mean new beers on tap at Ottawa’s location in the future.

Struchen said La Salle has always been on the company’s radar and the building has long been owned by CL Enterprises, the brewery’s parent company.

“We’ve always looked to do something in La Salle as they have a great downtown and market. The people of La Salle have been nothing but great,” Struchen said.

He specifically noted that the downtown was in need of an additional dining area to complement successful businesses such as Social Kitchen & Bar and Uptown Bar & Grill.

He hopes to be part of a larger resurgence there in the future.

“Just in the past four years, look how far their downtown has come,” Struchen said. “We think it’s time. La Salle is getting primed to explode and a lot of people are paying attention to it.”

Struchen said as the company looks to expand beyond its Ottawa home, locations farther north were also considered before finding the perfect home in Lockport’s downtown.

Struchen noted the company looks for communities where it can add something special to an area that is already attracting attention.

“We really want to support [Lockport] and what they want to do,” Struchen said. “This is giving something to the people they haven’t seen before.”

Both breweries are aiming for openings in fall 2019. And the growth isn’t expected to stop there.

Struchen said the company is also assessing opening breweries in Naperville and Bloomington. They’ve already begun getting the brand name known in those markets by hosting tasting events, according to the company’s Facebook page.

Different concept from
Lone Buffalo restaurant

The dining component of the brewpub at the new location still is in the concept stages, but Struchen said it likely will be a different experience than what is available in Ottawa.

Struchen isn’t too worried about the La Salle or Lockport locations hurting the business of the Ottawa location as each will offer different experiences for customers.

The new locations are expected to have a full-service dining experience, and while Lone Buffalo won’t be present at the new locations, it’s expected more will appear at breweries that open in larger demographic areas.

Legislation helped make
it happen

Tangled Roots Brewing Company had been looking to expand but that expansion was hindered by old legislation.

A new law passed in August, co-sponsored by state Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, amended the Liquor Control Act of 1934 and allows breweries to transfer beer from one location to another without the use of a distributor.

It helps the brewery avoid a 30 percent margin that would be lost to distributors and allows the beer to be easily transferred between locations.

Distributors still are a part of the process as they’re required to move the product into restaurants and grocery stores, which means those in Lockport likely will start seeing Tangled Roots beers in local stores.

Struchen said he’s excited.

“It’s always been my dream to have a hospitality company, and with CL Enterprises behind us and [CL Enterprises CEO] Peter Limberger, his forward thinking has given us a chance to do different kinds of concepts with brewpubs,” Struchen said.