It’s no hoax: a brewery in Westmont has changed its name for the second time in about two years.
Screengrab taken from the Myths & Legends site.
The Myths & Legends Brewing Company has now passed into legend.
Yes, the Westmont brewery has changed its name…again. They’re now known as Whiskey Hill Brewing, but the bigger change is that this time it’s not just the name changing — the ownership has traded hands as well.
After running social media in parallel for the past couple months, the changeover took place on August 31 and the official “launch” of the new Whiskey Hill Brewing brand took place this past weekend as part of an anniversary celebration for a nearby restaurant in Lisle.
https://www.facebook.com/whiskeyhillbrewing/posts/411560272707485?__xts__[0]=68.ARA1vZnRIDz_Q_7ebFqRF8C1B77zonW-GAcSkSTJBDkZa8RSn5RblploueVX4TysPcSsaUrBAlw8MEHA5tU79_v5RiUELP_RUH8Mgbury17JV3ZKyWcsodKeNhKMKLDMxsirhF45pkRrfkmnQNlr4BnExFOElKgXJ_oiO7tWHPQjjYhynRgQ&__tn__=-R
https://www.facebook.com/whiskeyhillbrewing/videos/263432917842730/
We understand that the new owner’s name is Matt Weil, who also owns Firewater BBQ in Crest Hill and Lombard. We’ve reached out to both the former and new owners for comment but at press time, we’ve received no response. There’s also no BeerAdvocate listing for the brewery with any info about available beers, nor an Untappd listing or even a Beers page on their website.
Why “Whiskey Hill”?
According to a 2014 Chicago Tribune story, Westmont’s nicknames during Prohibition were “Whiskey Hill” and “Wet Mont” since liquor was easy to acquire in town compared to the drier surrounding suburbs.
As mentioned above, this isn’t the first name change for the beer company. They started life in June 2013 as Urban Legend Brewing Company, but were forced to change their name about three years later after a trademark conflict with a California winery. The rebrand to Myths & Legends happened almost exactly two years ago, in mid-August of 2016.
But…there’s another Whiskey Hill? Well, sorta.
Ironically, the now-defunct 51st Ward Beer Co. also made a barrel-aged porter named Whiskey Hill. The 51st Ward brand got its start thanks to Urban Legend as well — the original brewer for UL, Tim Hoerman, split off from the brewery due to a dispute with the other UL owners.
Many other area breweries have changed names once — Mercenary to Maplewood, South Loop Brewing Co. to Hop Butcher, Atlas into Burnt City. This is the first we can think of that has switched identities a second time. Will this one stick? We’ll check back in about 2-3 years, which seems to be the life cycle for this location so far.
Until then: Welcome, Whiskey Hill.
UPDATE (9/19/18):
A recent Facebook post from Whiskey Hill’s brewer explains things a little further. With the brewer stating that no more M&L beers will be produced, it appears that the brand is now fully defunct:
