Operating under the principle that two heads are better than one, pioneering Chicago craft breweries Half Acre and Maplewood are joining forces under one corporate umbrella.
The still-to-close merger, announced on social media Tuesday, will maintain separate brands while sharing brewing facilities and other resources, helping both companies navigate a challenging craft beer industry and explore new opportunities for growth.
“A choice like this really helps us to address a lot of the challenges that we have just every day going out in the world and selling beer,” Gabriel Magliaro, owner and co-founder of Half Acre Beer Co., told the Tribune.
Magliaro, a former magazine advertising director who opened Half Acre in a converted North Lincoln Avenue warehouse in Chicago in 2008, will supply most of the brewing power for the two brands. Half Acre, whose brewery and tap room is now located in Bowmanville, will produce nearly all of the beer for Maplewood post-merger.
Founded in 2014, Maplewood Brewery & Distillery operates a Logan Square facility and tap room, but outsources the majority of its production to a downstate Normal brewery. Once the deal closes, most Maplewood production will shift to Half Acre, according to Ari Megalis, head distiller and co-founder of Maplewood.
“We’re like two pieces of a puzzle that needed to fit together,” Megalis told the Tribune.
Half Acre has excess capacity in part due to a broader downturn in the craft brewing market.
A niche segment of the beer industry, hundreds of mostly small craft brewers in Illinois generated $2.9 billion in economic impact in the state in 2024, according to the Brewers Association, a Colorado-based trade group. But industrywide revenue is declining after years of explosive growth, with a number of high-profile brewery and taproom closings in the Chicago area in recent years.
Maplewood and Half Acre say their respective businesses have been resilient, but as in many industries, there may be strength in scale.
Under the merger, which is expected to close in spring or early summer, both brands will maintain their own line of products and retail locations. In fact, Maplewood is in the process of opening a public house in west suburban Glen Ellyn as its second location.
“Our brands will stand independent of each other,” Megalis said. “However, there are opportunities for collaboration in the future.”
While Half Acre will take over the brewing, fans of Maplewood’s flagship Son of Juice India pale ale should not taste any difference when production shifts back to Chicago from downstate, Megalis said.
One change may be the availability of Maplewood brews at the Half Acre tap room, something currently not offered. Half Acre beer, such as its signature Daisy Cutter pale ale, may also find its way into the Maplewood Lounge.
Down the road, the synergistic opportunities are potentially more significant for building the profile of both brands, from summer festivals to new retail channels, Magliaro said.
“Daisy Cutter and Son of Juice are different beers, and Chicago is the opportunity for both of our breweries and beyond,” Magliaro said. “This makes it easier for outside markets, but definitely powering those two beers in Chicago, aligning production and making the most of our distribution partners. That’s the merit. And it’s pretty obvious.”
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
