Our Beginnings
The Joliet Brewers Guild was founded in 2012 by Joel Rakoski, and our first meeting was held on March 13, 2013. We began with 13 members and have been growing ever since. We currently have meetings the 2nd Wednesday of every month at Chicago Street Pub located at 75 N Chicago Street in Joliet.
Our Purpose
- To hold monthly meetings where brewers and brewers-to-be can to get together to share homebrew, recipe tips, and advice with each other
- To have presentations about all things related to beer and brewing
- To host club only contests between members and encourage participation in outside competitions
- To encourage our members to become BJCP certified judges
- To organize and host special events for our members, including but not limited to, brew days, cookouts, pub crawls and brewery tours.
- To coordinate group buys of ingredients and equipment to save our members money
- To participate in and encourage member participation in local, Joliet area events, to introduce the public to the hobby of homebrewing
- To rule the Joliet area homebrewing scene with an iron fist!
Meet the Officers
Our club relies on the efforts of our dedicated club officers. Each of them volunteering additional time and effort to make this club the best homebrew club around.
Kevin Promis
President
JBG's President upholds the constitution and runs all of our meetings. He also represents the guild for all outside functions. Kevin is the JBG's 3rd president and has some great ideas for our club moving forward. In addition reigning supreme over the JBG, Kevin is also a BJCP Certified Judge and co-host on A Nice Place to Brew podcast
Louise Smithson
Vice President
2nd in succession the Vice President assists the President whenever needed. In addition to being a great homebrewer, Kyle is also a BJCP certified judge. Louise a lover of traditional European style beers is also our first female board member.
Jason Sullivan
Secretary
The secretary takes the minutes of all guild meetings and presents them for publication. 3rd in succession if President and Vice president are unable to chair the meeting. An avid homebrewer since 2015, Jason also makes wine and mead.
Kyle Vester
Treasurer
Administers the guild's finances, collecting and documenting all monies owed to the guild. Treasurer is responsible to submit a finance report to the inner circle on a quarterly basis.
Bill George
Technology Director
Research, design and maintain the club's online presence. To promote the guild in the media and public at large, as well as assist with social media and digital communications. Homebrewed 161 batches in three year after an original goal of 52 five gallon batches in 52 weeks. As small as one gallon, as big as 65 gallons, in five states, with the most aggressive pace of 20 five gallon batches in three weeks. Knows a thing or two about technology.
Sean McTighe
Competition Officer
Arrange and organizes the club competitions, overseeing competition rules and prizes. Encourages members to enter outside competitions in order to spread the JBG name. When he is not slinging bears as an owner of Mad Hatchet Brewing you can often find Sean dancing shirtless at the Drunken Doughnut!
Doug Walling
Sergeant at Arms
Sergeant at arms is responsible for setting up before and making sure that our meeting place is cleaned up when we are finished, they also proctor all nominations and elections.