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
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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7

Clear gold bod small foamy white head. Floral fruity.aroma. grassy floral flav. Med bod mod carb. 7/3/7/4/14 3.5

Tried from Draft on 12 Aug 2023 at 17:59


7.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

On tap at Solemn Oath. Light gold color with some lingering foam in a plastic cup. Has a very light peach smell to it, and the taste does bring up some peach notes. Very easy drinking. maybe it's hiding more alcohol than I think I detect. Good thing I got some cold brew coffee to take with me. Peach blends harmoniously with the beer hop, and there's just a little bit of malt on the edge.

Tried from Draft on 25 Jul 2023 at 00:24


6.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Can, from Foxtrot Lakeview, Chicago. Pours hazy rich yellow with a large foamy off-white head, grain aroma, adequate carbonation, medium bitter lemon zest taste with hay flavor, thin body, long medium bitter finish. A nice NEIPA.

Tried from Can on 10 Jun 2023 at 00:01


6.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Can, from Foxtrot, Chicago. Pours cloudy dark yellow with a foamy off-white head, citrus aroma, adequate carbonation, medium bitter orangey taste with pineapple flavor, thin smooth body, long citrus peel finish. Refreshingly citrusy.

Tried from Can on 17 Mar 2023 at 23:54


9.2
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9

Tap at Orange and Brew. Coca-Cola black with just a few bubbles under the edge. A smooth nose of bourbon and coffee liqueur. The taste takes that bourbon-coffee smell and adds all those other complexities like vanilla and some room for coconut. There's also a slight hint of almond. No bitterness, just creamy texture and smooth alcohol. Definitely more liqueur than beer.

Tried from Draft on 24 Feb 2023 at 04:55


6.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

decent Hazy - believe my first from this brewery. Mild overall, great easy sipper

Tried on 08 Feb 2023 at 02:23


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Can from Binny's, Chicago.
A: hazy ochre, big, frothy, white head.
A: dough, young cheese, peach, mandarin, banana.
T: sweet peach & mandarin, doughy & cheesy.
F: floral & peppery hops, bit spicy, juicy citrus.
P: medium body, creamy texture, soft carbonation.
By the book, and quite enjoyable.

Tried on 12 Dec 2022 at 12:36

gave a cheers!

7.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

12 ounce can. Amber orange pour. Frothy beige head. Toasted malt aroma. Bittersweet toasted malt flavor. Crisp, earthy notes. Herbal hops on backend.

Tried from Can on 04 Oct 2022 at 03:31


6.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6.5

Sampled from the tap at the brewery. Pours a near clear orange gold with a white head that lasts throughout the beer. Aroma has light citrus pice and grass with some bread backing. Flavor has candied citrus and light pine with a bit of bread backing.

Tried from Draft on 15 May 2022 at 01:54


7.5
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Sampled from the tap at the brewery. Pours a cloudy gold with an orange hue and a white head that dissipates slowly to the edges. Aroma has a slightly sweet citrus with a bit of tropical fruits and sweet grain backing. Flavor has sweet tropical fruits and citrus rind with a bit of grass underlying.

Tried from Draft on 15 May 2022 at 01:40