DryHop Brewers: Delays After Construction Snafu (PHOTOS)

Craft beer fanatics counting down the days until they can sip a cold brew at DryHop Brewers will have to wait, because according to owner Greg Shuff, a few snags have delayed their grand opening by a few months.

Located at 3155 N. Broadway, the 3,000-square-foot gastro brewpub will focus on small-plate food, a trendy brewery atmosphere and craft beer brewed in-house, even served to-go in growlers.

DryHop was slated to open in late December or early 2013, but after some delays regarding a fire exit, Shuff’s plan was pushed back more than six weeks. Now he’s set his sights on opening in March.

“Last time I talked to (Patch), we were waiting on building permits,” Shuff said, referring to September’s business profile. “But we ended up hitting a lot of snags, with the biggest one being our emergency exit door. Our main entrance is going to move to the north (side of the storefront). We have a back door going out into our garage, but the Chicago Fire Department, effectively, would not accept that door as an emergency exit.”

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Once Shuff’s construction team remedied the situation, a month had passed. And after they submitted the paperwork, they didn’t hear anything for weeks. It wasn’t until Ald. Tom Tunney’s (44th) Chief of Staff Bennett Lawson made a few calls downtown did the paperwork they needed get pushed through.

“It was approved so we could start construction the next day,” Shuff said. “It was horrible. Bennett has been our saving grace through all of this.”

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With a new grand opening planned sometime in March, the crew at DryHop has been working double-time to get everything completed. The water and sewer lines are now completed, and crews are getting ready to work on electrical and craft beer lines before pouring the concrete floor.

Even the menu, which currently remains a top secret, is completed and ready for opening day. Combined with getting ready to knock out the existing glass storefront to install a foldable NanaWall that opens to North Broadway in the summer, Shuff is keeping everyone busy.

But, not busy enough to create a few limited-time craft beers on the side.

“We just did a black IPA collaboration with Begyle Brewing, which is a brand new brewery in Ravenswood,” said Shuff. “It officially releases next Tuesday, so we’re doing an event at Northdown, which is at Lincoln and Belmont in Lake View. They actually hosted us for our very first public event, so now that things are going more smoothly with DryHop, we’re not forgetting about them.”

Northdown is located at 3244 N. Lincoln Ave., and the event is from 7-9 p.m.

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