Lockport craft brewery thriving 3 years after unconventional start

Lockport — Starting a new business in the midst of a pandemic during the summer of 2020 may have seemed like a risky endeavor to some, but for Paul and Chrissy Ivnik, it’s one that has paid off.

The Ivniks’ business, Nik & Ivy Brewing Co. in downtown Lockport, celebrated its third anniversary this past weekend and commemorated the event with a weekend of live musical performances and a Makers Market featuring local artists.

“I’ve always been a fan of craft beer, and when I first said I wanted to open a brewery it was almost a joke, but then I started doing some research,” said Paul Ivnik, who manages the day-to-day operations of the brewery. “I wanted to do something I was interested in and one thing led to another, and the next thing we knew, we were signing a lease. It sounds crazy, but the timing [in 2020] actually worked pretty well. It helped that we opened up after the first round of hard lockdowns ended, so we didn’t have to deal with the lull in business and the loans that other businesses that were already open had to face. People just usually see it the wrong way. It was better to open part-way through than just before.”

Several other craft breweries in Will County did end up with their businesses badly damaged by the pandemic, including Metal Monkey in Romeoville and MyGrain in Joliet, both of which closed permanently this summer.

The Ivniks attribute some of their success to their involvement with local schools and charity organizations, for which Nik & Ivy has become known for hosting fundraisers.

“It sort of started out of necessity,” Ivnik said. “Winter 2021 was rough for business, and one of the PTO members from Taft School district was in and asked if they could host a parents’ night at the brewery. We suggested making it a fundraiser for the PTO to get more people to come and we ended up raising $1,000 for the school in just a three-hour event.”

Ivnik said word of the event’s success got around and “it just snowballed from there.” Nik & Ivy now hosts fundraiser events “every other Wednesday, at least” for school clubs and local charities. During the events a portion of the proceeds from drink sales, typically $1 per pint or $2 per four pack of cans, are donated, as well as Ivnik’s tips from tending bar.

“It’s been really good,” Ivnik said. “We’ll do a fundraiser on a Wednesday night, triple our sales for a typical weeknight and give a lot of it back to the organization. Not only is it helping our business, but it’s nice to give money to a good cause, plus it brings in new people who might not have come into the brewery normally.”

Beers for all tastes and seasons

As part of Nik & Ivy’s business strategy, Ivnik said they focus on trying to provide a variety of beers to appeal to a wide audience, including people who might not be big beer fans but who will come for the entertainment or fundraisers.

“We’ll do a fundraiser on a Wednesday night, triple our sales for a typical weeknight and give a lot of it back to the organization. Not only is it helping our business, but it’s nice to give money to a good cause.”

—  Paul Ivnik, owner, Nik & Ivy’s Brewing Co.

“Not everybody is into craft beer,” Ivnik said, “so we try to keep a variety of options available at all times. We have about eight types of beer on tap regularly, including some sweeter, fun stuff with fruit flavors or our milkshake IPA, but we also do very standard types of beer like lagers and stouts.”

Each year for its anniversary, the brewery creates a special Anniversary Stout as the kickoff to the fall season. This year, they created two variations of the stout: Peanut Butter Cup, which contains chocolate and peanut butter flavors, and Twist Cone, which tastes of chocolate and vanilla. These anniversary beers are barrel-aged in old Four Roses whiskey barrels and are custom bottled in-house by Ivnik and head brewer Keven Schumacker, who has been working at Nik & Ivy for a little more than a year.

“We only have space to do one barrel-aged beer at a time, so those bottles are very limited,” Ivnik said, “but we can our regular beers on a daily basis. So, if you like something you try a pint or you can always bring some of it home.”

All the beers are made by Schumacker, with some input from Ivnik.

“He has a lot of creative freedom to do what he wants, but we communicate daily about our strategy,” Ivnik said. “I tend bar a lot, so I get feedback from customers, and our tastes in beer are pretty different, so it ends up as a good combination.”

Giving back to the hometown

Schumacker also is responsible for one of the brewery’s latest charitable partnerships with the Lockport Fire Department and the Illinois-based Project Fire Buddies. The organization works with local fire departments to pair them with children who are dealing with severe illnesses.

Each station is assigned a child as a “fire buddy” who firefighters then help support by spending quality time with them and sometimes assisting the family financially. The organization also helps fire departments provide kids in need with gifts and treats at Halloween and Christmas.

“I’ve got a friend who’s a Lockport firefighter, and we thought it would be cool to host an event for them,” said Schumacker, who also contributed his tips for the event to the donation.

In addition to the fundraiser, Nik & Ivy created a special Fire Buddies beer for the organization that it will beginning selling soon with proceeds going to benefit the organization.

“We were all really proud of that event, and we want to continue working with the fire departments. We might do another Oktoberfest event with them this year, and we’d like to do a really big event next summer for all of the local departments,” Ivnik said.

Ivnik said he likes being able to give back to the community, especially as someone who grew up in Lockport.

“I lived here until after I finished college,” he explained. “I moved to the city after school, then we were in Villa Park for a few years. We decided to come back to Lockport around the time we started planning the brewery though, because it seemed like a good place for a family business.”

Ivnik said that the city government and residents have been very supportive of them coming into the community. When Nik & Ivy opened in 2020, it was the only brewery in Lockport, though within the first year, they received some friendly competition just across State Street with the opening of Lock & Mule’s Lockport location.

“We didn’t expect another brewery to open right across the street,” Ivnik said. “But it’s been good having them there. They’re a bigger name and we ended up getting more business when they opened. We’ve actually collaborated on three crossover beers with them so far, and we’ve shared supplies with them when one of us needs something. They’ve donated large baskets for raffles to some of our charity events, so they’re great neighbors to have.”

Following anniversary festivities, Nik & Ivy will continue hosting weekly Tuesday open mic nights and begin focusing on the fall season, which includes special seasonal beers made for Oktoberfest.