Benson's Wine Bar to host 'Tap Takeover'
<span>Benson's Wine Bar in Chester will be hosting a unique event on Friday.</span>
<span>The establishment will be holding a "Tap Takeover" with Du Quoin-based St. Nicholas Brewing Company as the featured brewer.</span>
<span>"It's an event that a place will have where they only put on tap the beer from a particular brewer," said SNBC part-owner Tom Welge. "It took on popularity a few years ago with the rise of craft brewing."</span>
<span>SNBC gets its name from the St. Nicholas Hotel, a downtown Du Quoin landmark which operated from 1879 to 2005 in various uses before closing its doors.</span>
<span>Saved from demolition by historic site status and the vision of the Gene Gross family, SNBC opened in the old railroad hotel in April of 2014 after nearly $1 million in renovations.</span>
<span>"Our big part of the identity of the business is the building," Welge said. "It was the St. Nicholas Hotel for years and years and it was purchased a couple of years ago.</span>
<span>"The group that relaunched it is very committed to the name and the building. We all have an interest in cycling, so you'll see a lot of cycling memorabilia in there."</span>
<span>As for the event at Benson's, which starts at 4 p.m., Welge said SNBC is planning on having six of its products on-site - Blond Ale, American Pale Ale, Porter, Wee Heavy (Scotch Ale), Imperial IPA (limited release) and Raspberry Wheat (limited release).</span>
<span>"It's a very casual thing," Welge said. "We're going to have six of our beers there and the BBQ truck from 17th Street is coming up.</span>
<span>"There's no big program, but our brewer (James McCoy) and assistant brewer (Paul Plett) brewer are coming over from Du Quoin to talk about the product and meet people and answer any questions."</span>
<span>According to craftbeer.com, the craft beer industry grew 18 percent by volume in 2014 and 22 percent by dollar shares, with an average of 10.9 percent growth over the past decade.</span>
<span>The number of craft breweries in the U.S. numbered 3,464, the highest total since the 1880s.</span>
<span>"I think there's a sense of pride and I think there's a half-dozen craft breweries around now in Southern Illinois," Welge said. "I call them 'Beer Geeks,' not as an insulting term, but they're really into it."</span>
<span>Welge said he is excited to form a partnership with Benson's, which is co-owned by Micah and Lauren Reiman. Benson's is located in its own historic building, which was formerly a men's clothing store, auto parts shop and was the spot of a general store during the Civil War.</span>
<span>"We're really excited to partner with Micah," Welge said. "He's been a big supporter of our beers.</span>
<span>"It's great that two local businesses can partner together in something like this."</span>
<span>Reiman also spoke highly of the partnership.</span>
<span>"It's great exposure for one of our local residents and to get that for this side of the county is pretty neat," said Micah Reiman. "We'd like to see a lot more of these older buildings revived, so it's good to have a couple of good examples."</span>
<span>Providing entertainment for the evening will be St. Louis band "Soul Punch."</span>
<span>"It's just another event we're pleased to bring to the community," Reiman said. "It's important to have some social options for our town."</span>