Harbor Brewing Company
136 Cedar Avenue in Lake Villa
HarborBeer.com

Wednesday-Thursday: 12-10 p.m.
Friday: 12-11p.m.
Saturday: 12 p.m.-midnight
Sunday: 12-8 p.m.

Harbor Brewing’s lakefront biergarten & taproom
701 N. Point Dr. in Winthrop Harbor

History in short: Kyle Wenzel, a mechanic in his previous life, was a passionate home brewer for about five years before he started seriously thinking about making the career jump toward hospitality.

He and Joe VanHeirseele originally opened their first location, in downtown Winthrop Harbor, in May of 2018. But not long after, it was evident they needed to scale up just to keep customers happy and beers flowing. “There’s nothing like running out of brewing space and enough space for a comfortable taproom at the same time, and so quickly into it,” Wenzel tells us.

In 2019, Wenzel, VanHeirseele and fellow partner Alyssa Curry purchased their current Lake Villa location — a former car dealership — and three years’ worth of major renovations followed before it officially opened in 2022. Also in the fall of 2019, they signed a lease with the state for the one-acre biergarten and taproom overlooking North Point Marina in nearby Winthrop Harbor. That decision paid immediate dividends by providing patrons a safe place to enjoy a beer and food outdoors during Covid restrictions.

Harbor, which began as a tiny one-barrel system back in 2018, has grown to a 15-barrel operation. They began distributing their beer and also opened their impressive Barrel Room event venue in 2023.

The space: On first glance, the Lake Villa brewery and taproom is much larger than it appears from the road, and the massive building itself, which dates back to 1910, offers a lot of character and versatility.

“It was a blank canvas where we could finally do whatever we wanted and really map it out and build what we wanted instead of having to build around what’s already in our way,” Wenzel says.

Communal tables, a large L-shaped bar, creative use of barrels, bow truss ceilings and a game room with slot machines, shuffleboard, darts, board games and more are highlights of the taproom, which also boasts a small sidewalk patio out front.

A 50-foot barrel wall is the signature piece (not to mention a unique backdrop for photos) in the popular Barrel Room, which serves as a wedding, party and concert venue that can hold up to 300 people.

And if you’ve never been, we highly advise making a beeline to the picturesque biergarten that lies amidst the beautiful Spring Bluff Forest Preserve overlooking North Point Marina on Lake Michigan near the Wisconsin border. There’s plenty of picnic tables, some pine trees and tents to provide shade when needed, even live music and food trucks. Bring your own folding chairs if you’d like. It’s that kind of place.

We highly advise making a beeline to Harbor Brewing’s picturesque biergarten that lies amidst the beautiful Spring Bluff Forest Preserve overlooking North Point Marina on Lake Michigan near the Wisconsin border.

Interesting note

The team at Harbor is known for collaborating with other local businesses and breweries. For example, they recently partnered with the Lake County Forest Preserves to create a pair of limited-edition “Heroes & Villains” beers — a blueberry golden ale and cherry hibiscus golden ale — to celebrate an exhibit at the Dunn Museum in nearby Libertyville that dives into the artistic world of superheroes and villains.

“I like to think we’re a community living room in a brewery,” Wenzel tells us. “We’re family and dog friendly, community oriented with our events and fundraisers, and that has always a big part of our goal.”

Besides weddings and larger parties, the Barrel Room also plays host to a variety of events like live bands, drag Bingo, adult proms, comedy shows, etc.

Not to be forgotten, their friends at 9th Hour Brewing Co. have been brewing out of Harbor’s facility since January of 2022, and you can find several of their brews on draft as well.

What we’re eating and drinking: The focus from the start at Harbor has been on “unique, fun, and flavorful beers as well as classic styles,” and there are up to 25 options on draft at any time.

A few of our favorites include Endless Summer, a hazy IPA that’s loaded with Citra hops and a healthy dose of fresh blood orange, and Harbor’s dark Czech-style lager that includes Vienna, Munich and chocolate wheat malts as the base and Crystal hops to add a woody spice and complexity. The Six Flags Mango Wheat is a delightful fruited wheat beer made for (and available at) the nearby Six Flags park.

From 9th Hour Brewing, a perfect beer for the end of summer is Emily’s Ale, a slightly sweet strawberry blonde ale, and Harbor also offers wine, cider, seltzers and cocktails.

Food trucks are on site Wednesday-Sunday at the Lake Villa brewery and Thursday-Sunday at the biergarten.

What we love so much is being at the heart of our community. We love knowing your name when you walk in the taproom and seeing your kids go from 8th grade to graduation and beyond.”  — Kyle Wenzel

On the horizon: Coming up on Saturday, Sept. 13, they will be hosting a craft market at the Winthrop Harbor biergarten from noon-5 p.m. and releasing their Oktoberfest beer at a Lake Villa taproom party that includes live music from Nick Sanzeri from 7-10 p.m. and food from Smash Em Up. … They also have regular trivia nights on Thursdays at the biergarten and live music most Fridays and Saturdays in Lake Villa.

From the brewery: “What we love so much about it is being at the heart of our community, hosting fundraisers and just being a gathering place for everyone in our area. We love knowing your name when you walk in the taproom and seeing your kids go from 8th grade to graduation and beyond.”

— Co-owner Kyle Wenzel