Solemn Oath Brewery

Microbrewery in Naperville, Illinois, United States 🇺🇸
Associated Venue: Solemn Oath's Still Life

Established in 2012

Contact
1661 Quincy Ave, #179, Naperville, IL, 60540, United States
+1(630) 995-3062
hello@solemnoathbrewery.com
Description
Solemn Oath was born high above the great expanse of the American West. John Barley sketched out a plan on a return flight from visiting his brother Joe in San Diego. On that trip, the Barley brothers hosted a craft beer tasting party for a couple dozen of their friends. It was on. John put together a full business plan after soliciting examples from breweries he admired across the country and started interviewing brewers. It took one meeting with Tim Marshall, then of Rock Bottom – Lombard, to know he would man the brewhouse. His experience with Belgian-style beers and barrel aging made him the perfect fit for Solemn Oath. Together, Tim and John scouted locations in Chicagoland. They were looking for a space in the middle of a large population with an underdeveloped local craft beer supply. Naperville was the perfect location. Solemn Oath leased space in one of the city’s only light industrial parks and worked with the city council to craft a new liquor classification that would allow Solemn Oath to operate as a production brewery with an on-site taproom. As he placed tank orders and Tim signed hop contracts, John convinced Joe to move back to Chicago to be part of the team. Over the first half of 2012, the team built out the space and in April installed a fifteen-barrel Premier Stainless three-vessel system along with 105 barrels of fermentation, affording Solemn Oath a production capacity of about 2,000 barrels per year. (A barrel is thirty-one gallons.) Before our first brew day on April twenty-first, we signed on with craft pioneers Windy City Distribution and launched with three beers during Chicago Craft Beer Week 2012, including the opening of our Naperville taproom. Our first expansion was completed in January 2013, adding sixty additional barrels of fermentation capacity, bringing our annual volume capacity to about 3,200 barrels. Along the way we’ve made great friends, like Jourdon Gullett, a trained muralist who does all of our illustration work. A mutant baby? Monsters mid-ticklefight? A bad garage-punk band? He’s got a vision for it. And Michael Kiser, a professional photographer in Chicago who tells stories about the world of beer and the beer of the world on his blog, Good Beer Hunting. Without his photographs, this website wouldn’t be half as sexy as it is. Speaking of this website, how about the talented and creative people at Nelson Cash? Killed it. We have other friends we would name, but we wouldn’t want to stroke Greta de Parry’s ego. Of course, we couldn’t do any of this without our distributor and the sales reps who ruin any chance of us getting any work done on Friday afternoons. Or the beer buyers, managers, and owners at the most badass bars and restaurants in Chicagoland. And you. That’s right, you, the person who just read 493 words to this point because you want to find out what we’re all about. Thank you. You’re kind of our story, too. We’ll be damned if we know how it all turns out.
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notalush

7.8
notalush (7339) reviewed Oubliette from Solemn Oath Brewery 10 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8

Pint at the Chicago location - clear medium gold - nicely dry, with a mix of crackery maltiness that pairs well with the pepper and clove spice of the yeast, giving notes reminiscent of gingerbread - grassy hoppiness adds a light bitterness on the end - it’s good.

Tried from Draft at Solemn Oath's Still Life on 06 Apr 2025 at 21:10

PLohbauer

7
PLohbauer (1111) ticked Pat from Solemn Oath Brewery 11 months ago

RB score 2.93

Tried from Draft on 15 Mar 2025 at 03:14

Beer tick image
drpimento

8.1
drpimento (5997) reviewed Small Wave City Club from Solemn Oath Brewery 11 months ago
Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Aromas are nice blend of fresh citrus pith, resin, malt and a hint of MJ. Flavors are similar to nose with citrus coming out a bit more. Excellent balance between bitter, sweet and carbonation. Good drinking. Glad I got a four pack.

Tried from Can from Woodman's Foods - Onalaska on 04 Mar 2025 at 02:00

trapped

6.8
trapped (8300) reviewed Motion Poets from Solemn Oath Brewery 1 year ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Draught @ Kasey's Tavern, Chicago (Oct 2024). Lightly cloudy lemon yellow with a small frothy beige head, lemon peel aroma, bitter lemon peel taste, thin body, long bitter finish. Nice, but a bit too bitter.

Tried on 05 Nov 2024 at 14:51

Frothingslosh

6.8
Frothingslosh (19093) reviewed Shadow Factory from Solemn Oath Brewery 1 year ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 6

Black with a small tan head. Anise, red wine, roasty, woody and a bit smoky. Long finish. Full bodied.

Tried on 06 Oct 2024 at 22:46

Frothingslosh

7.2
Frothingslosh (19093) reviewed The Telegraph from Solemn Oath Brewery 1 year ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Reddish brown with a large foamy head. Tasty malt, caramel, fig, raising and toffee. Long finish. Moderately full bodied and smooth.

Tried on 06 Oct 2024 at 22:45

Frothingslosh

6.1
Frothingslosh (19093) reviewed I Quit Solemn Oath from Solemn Oath Brewery 1 year ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Slightly hazy gold with a large white head. Tart and tangy with tropical fruit. Long finish. Medium body.

Tried on 06 Oct 2024 at 22:44

Frothingslosh

5.2
Frothingslosh (19093) reviewed Oktöberface from Solemn Oath Brewery 1 year ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5

Caramel color with a large creamy head that left good lacing. Sweetish, fruity, perfumey and a bit astringent. Medium finish and body.

Tried on 06 Oct 2024 at 22:43

Frothingslosh

5.2
Frothingslosh (19093) reviewed Man vs. Internet from Solemn Oath Brewery 1 year ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5

Red-brown with a medium sized white head. Woody, astringent and perfumey. Long finish. Medium body.

Tried on 06 Oct 2024 at 22:42

Frothingslosh

5.6
Frothingslosh (19093) reviewed Yarnbomb from Solemn Oath Brewery 1 year ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Cloudy yellow with a large white head. Musty, grainy, yeasty and phenolic. Long finish. Medium body.

Tried on 06 Oct 2024 at 22:41

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