Woodstock's ShadowView Brewing begins serving original craft beers

Woodstock's ShadowView Brewing has started serving its own original brews.

The brewery, located at 2400 Lakeshore Drive, opened in December 2018 and received its brewing license in May. The political happenings around the brewery's opening likely caused the licensing delay and now are memorialized on the menu via ShadowView's "Government Shutdown" American stout.

“Once the agents from [Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau] got our information it sailed along,” said John Koziol, who co-owns ShadowView with his brother Mark Koziol. “[The shutdown] probably put them into a backup with everyone else waiting for labeling, recipe approvals and things like that.”

The partial government shutdown began Dec. 22 and lasted for more than three weeks, making it the longest partial shutdown in U.S history.

“It’s very hard to even advertise that we are a brewery without having our own beers on,” John Koziol said. “It couldn’t have happened at a worse time.”

But now ShadowView is up and going strong, he said. The bar started serving its own brew in June and have seen a positive response from patrons.

Original beers include Government Shutdown, an American stout with 7.9% alcohol by volume; Juice Box, a 6.2% ABV New England IPA; Altogether Now, a 5.9% ABV Altbier; Brigid’s Fire, a 5.2% ABV Irish Red Ale; and Wheat Emotion, a 5.8% ABV Hefeweizen.

Other beers on the menu include a variety of local brews, from Richmond BratHaus Hammerschlagen, by Scorched Earth Brewing Company in Algonquin to Overboard, by Crystal Lake Brewing.

“Our top-selling beers right now are all our own,” John Koziol said. “I think that speaks volumes to what people were waiting for.”

ShadowView operates on a five-barrel, system, which means a total of 10 kegs worth of a beer can be in the process of fermenting at any given time. For the initial release, the company made a variety of beers but moving forward will focus on one at a time, John Koziol said.

A golden ale currently is brewing and will be ready for release in about two weeks, he said.

The company also plans to experiment with different flavors. A pumpkin ale and different beers using coconut and pineapple flavorings are in the works, he said.

The brewery plans to participate in Woodstock Ale Fest in October, and it hosts regular trivia and bingo nights.