DESTIHL® Brewery is celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the opening of its flagship location, DESTIHL Restaurant & Brew Works, in Normal, IL.
DESTIHL started as a concept in Matt Potts’ head after he was given a five-gallon glass homebrew kit by his wife, Lyn, in Dcember 1995.
In 2005, after practicing law for over 11 years and brewing beer professionally with his first brewpub concept, Matt made plans to open a new brewery at the Shoppes at College Hills in Normal.
On November 23, 2007, DESTIHL Restaurant & Brew Works in Normal opened with industry professionals Troy Nelson, Laurie Nelson, and Jason Bratcher to help develop Matt’s brewpub vision. At that time there were only 7 beers on tap: Normal Lager, Baldock IPA, Mild Ale, Redbird Ale, Jivaro Oatmeal Espresso Stout, Weissenheimer Hefeweizen, and Roggenbier.
On April 20, 2011, the second DESTIHL Restaurant & Brew Works location opened in historic downtown Champaign, IL. This location offers a private tasting room accommodating up to 22 guests for special events and a large bar area with 18 beers on tap, plus casks.
With the success of the brewpubs and after winning several major beer awards, DESTIHL directed its attention toward growing brewery operations, and launched a dedicated production brewery on May 31, 2013. This paid off, with DESTIHL earning back-to-back Gold Medals in the most competitive Strong Stout category and Best-in-Show accolades at the National Wood-Aged Beer Competition held in Chicago at the Festival of Barrel-Aged Beer (‘FoBAB’) in 2015 (for Dosvidanya) and Runner-Up Best in Show in 2016 (for Dosvidanya Rye). In addition, Dosvidanya is the 2015 GABF® Bronze Medal winner in the Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout category.
Quickly, DESTIHL realized the need for a larger production facility, so construction began in June 2016 on DESTIHL Brewery’s new 47,000 sq. ft., $14 million complex located in Normal, IL.
DESTIHL Brewery & Beer Hall opened its doors on May 27, 2017, with a new menu, over 30 beers on tap, and the addition of ciders, adventurous beer-based cocktails, and craft sodas, all made on site. DESTIHL currently distributes its beers in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin with availability in Washington, D.C. as well.
To commemorate the 10th Anniversary of their flagship location, DESTIHL hosted their first-ever Dosvidanya Day Bottle Release Party at their new location, selling out of all 700 available tickets before the day of the event. Tickets guaranteed guests one of each bottle of all four Dosvidanya variants:
Dosvidanya (Bourbon Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout) (Gold Medal Strong Stout and Best in Show at FoBAB 2015 and Bronze medal in the 2015® GABF Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout Category)
Dosvidanya Rye (Rye Whiskey Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout brewed with rye) (Gold Medal Strong Stout and Runner-Up Best in Show at FoBAB 2016)
Dosvidanya – 10th Anniversary Edition (Russian Imperial Stout brewed at the old brewery and aged in Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrels for 8 months)
Dosvidanya Vanilla Rye – 10th Anniversary Edition (Russian Imperial Stout with Vanilla Bean, aged in Buffalo Trace Rye Whiskey Barrels for 8 months)
On Wednesday, both DESTIHL Restaurants opened their doors to guests patiently waiting for a chance to score one of the last remaining available bottles of the two 10th Anniversary variants, which are not for distribution, and are available in very limited quantities only at DESTIHL Brewery, DESTIHL Restaurant & Brew Works in Normal, and DESTIHL Restaurant & Brew Works in Champaign. Both Dosvidanya and Dosvidanya Rye are available at select locations throughout the country.
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