The Oswego Brewing Company set up shop two years ago in the heart of downtown—and public opinion has been soaring ever since.
When Chris Heinen, one of three founders of OBC, received a home brew kit from his wife back in 2008, he had no idea it would lead to the founding of a full-blown establishment. Working as the Brewery Operations Manager along with co-founders Peter Rzeminski II (General Operations Manager) and Punit Patel (External Operations Manager), whom he met through various home brew clubs, Chris’s response to whether he anticipated how popular OBC would be was a flat “no”.
Heinen says that the founders set out to make a community gathering place out of the brewery—conveniently located near the Country Market during the summer months and near an assortment of family-friend shops. But the sheer welcome by the Oswego community when OBC opened its doors was, according to Heinen, a pleasant surprise.
“[We were] fully embraced by the community…everyone thoroughly enjoyed [having us here]” Heinen says.
It’s not only by word of mouth that OBC’s popularity has been measured—Heinen says that the company is on track to double what they put out in the their first year in terms of barrel production.
With the ‘craft beer craze’ hitting an all-time high across the nation, it’s interesting to ponder what the Oswego Brewing Company is adding to the mix and bringing to the Oswego community.
“We embrace trends (like serving the Triple Cupcake Stout and IPA’s), but we also stay true to form and style.”
Heinen says that taking in what the community likes and has preferences for allows them to get back to basics and serve craft beer in this original way.
OBC recently hosted its first annual BBQ Backyard party, with aspirations to acquire its own canning equipment in-house and, hopefully, expand.
With such a strong foundation set in such a short amount of time, the village of Oswego looks ahead with excitement to see what its hometown brewery will do next.
