Your Chicago: Solemn Oath Brewery

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) -- In case you didn't know it, the beer business is booming.

Microbreweries are the rage right now, cranking out specialty beers in neighborhoods everywhere. One of the newest microbreweries on the block is in Naperville, CBS 2's Rob Johnson reports.

In a non-descript section of warehouses, there is a place called Solemn Oath. It's not a bar, it's a microbrewery, and five nights a week they come for the craft beer -- 35 different types and counting since they opened in May.

"It's unique because you're sitting in a brewery and there's only 12 barstools, and it's very hard to find, kind of like an exclusive place," customer Lisa Trychta says. "Really only the passionate beer drinkers know about this place."

Some might argue this is the biggest thing in Naperville brewing since Adolph Coors worked at a local brewery briefly in the 1870s before heading to Colorado to become famous.

Solemn Oath's man in charge is John Barley -- seriously.

John grew up in Naperville, and after graduating from DePaul University he started visiting Belgium, where his parents had moved. That's when he really became a beer aficionado.

John had his head brewer Tim Mitchell experiment, putting the finished product in barrels for several months. But before it gets there, it must first be brewed, blended, and fermented for roughly 2 ½ weeks before going into the kegs.

"We're dialing in the beers and getting them exactly to the point where we want them, and once that happens we'll make as much as we possibly can," Tim says.

The entire brewing facility is within yards of the tap room.

"Essentially you're drinking a beer that's made about 15 feet away from where you're drinking it. Nothing can really be more fresh than that," John says.

So far, Solemn Oath services 140 Chicago bars and restaurants – all draft beer.

To read reviews of Solemn Oath on Yelp, click here.