(Photo by Jake Williams)
Matt Monahan didn’t really plan on opening a brewery, let alone a brewpub. Now, he owns one, and is about to open The Blind Pig Brewpub at 301 North Neil Street.
The final (soft) opening date, along with daily hours, will all be dependent on the receipt of a city liquor license. Once that’s in hand, Monahan says he’s ready to open the doors.
The new brewpub occupies the space left vacant by Destihl BrewWorks in 2020 when the Normal-based brewery closed their Champaign outpost in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Blind Pig Brewpub will be a place focused on locally-made items “where we can celebrate local beers,” Monahan said.
With 24 taps, the brewpub will feature their own beer, as well as other local beer, kombucha, mead and cider. They’ll also serve coffee and tea from Columbia Street Roastery, and spirits from Silver Tree Spirits in Paxton.
And, of course, the brewpub will serve food. The menu will be limited at first and then expand as operations continue to grow.
‘Dang it, you’re right’
An Arcola native, Monahan had a successful career in manufacturing as the president of a filament company and a machine warehouse. He was also an active homebrewer and involved in Champaign-Urbana’s B.U.Z.Z. Brew Club.
But then, The Blind Pig was up for sale.
While previous owner Chris Knight’s bar operation went to Jim and Kristen Enderle (who rebranded the bars as Hound’s Court, Hound’s Rest and Dandy Hound), the brewery was next.
Monahan had previously seen the offer, as well as the asking price, and didn’t even think about actually purchasing. But when another potential sale fell through, things started to line up.
“I was doing fine, I didn’t really have a strong desire to have a brewery at all,” Monahan said. “My friend called me up and said, ‘you know, you’d be the best person to own this brewery.’ And I said it’s way too much, and he said ‘you might want to take another look.’”
Take another look, he did.
“Dang it, you’re right,” Monahan told his friend. “I am the best person to take this over.”
(Photo by Jake Williams)
In May 2024, Monahan officially took over The Blind Pig Brewery brand, as well as its brewing facility on Market Street in Champaign. He recruited “the best brewer” he knew, Larry Bolton, who Monahan knew from B.U.Z.Z., along with B.J. McCabe, who worked at The Blind Pig under Knight.
“I was joking with [the brewers], like, I think this turned out better for you than me,” Monahan said. “I’m in here doing all the paperwork and the not-fun part that has to be done behind the scenes and you guys are out there doing the fun stuff.”
After opening the brewery last year, the early focus was getting iconic Blind Pig beers back on shelves in the area, but after that, the focus turned to the brewpub.
At the time of purchase last year, Monahan had planned to build out a space for a taproom as part of the Market Street brewing facility. But the former Destihl space was vacant, and presented the opportunity for a remodel instead of a full build-out.
“With the time it took us to [open the brewpub], and the amount of money, it was a much better situation for us to get to market a little quicker,” Monahan said. “Things might change. If we stay up there, then we could revisit [a taproom]. Taprooms are always going to be something attached to a brewery, but a brewpub gives us the ability to have liquor and wine.”
(Photo by Jake Williams)
Ambassador Pig
Monahan sees the beverage program of the brewpub as “sort of an ambassadorship” for all things brewed in the greater Champaign-Urbana area.
“I consider the guys from Riggs and Triptych all really good friends,” Monahan said. “We’re the first place you’re going to see when you’re at the [Hyatt Place], so we’re going to have those guys on tap as much as possible, and then we’ll also rotate through all the other local people that will work with us.”
There will also be taps devoted to Cloud Mountain Kombucha, as well as cider and mead brewed by Treehive in Brocton, Illinois.
Inside the brewpub, the decor is simple and modular — the space is decorated in a simple, almost Tudor-style fashion. The decor is a nod to a long-running merchandise joke of Knight’s, which lists The Blind Pig’s establishment date as 1492.
“We wanted a warm feeling in here, just to open up people to have conversations and interactions, and be comfortable,” Monahan said. “[We all need to] take a little bit of time off and slow down and talk about stuff that isn’t so heavy. Everybody’s working so hard.”
Another key component of the brewpub vision will be the food menu, curated by head chef Ryan Batts, who previously cooked at Punch! Bar & Lounge and Destihl.
(Photo by Jake Williams)
Anchored by pizza made in-house fresh-made dough blistered in the wood-fire pizza oven that was previously used at Destihl, The Blind Pig Brewpub will also serve pub classics: a burger, fresh cut french fries, soft pretzels, “something beer-battered,” and maybe even fish and chips, Monahan said.
“We’re going to try to start our menu small and hone things in,” Monahan said. “And then just add and add and add.”
The kitchen in the restaurant is “one of the biggest kitchens” in the Champaign-Urbana food and drink scene, Monahan said, which opens up possibilities for a more expansive food menu down the line.
Potential future growth
The food menu isn’t the only expansive part of The Bling Pig brewpub vision.
Monahan has “first right of refusal” on the second half of what was Destihl’s space. Separated by only a door, if things go well, expanding into a larger space could be on the table.
That expansion could mean more rentable event space, games like shuffleboard and darts, and maybe even a golf simulator.
(Photo by Jake Williams)
In addition, in the area of the brewpub that was previously Destihl’s on-display brew area, Monahan’s team has carved out a small private meeting space that will eventually turn into indoor-outdoor space that can be used for small meetings, homebrew club meetups, or even live radio broadcasting with a view of Neil Street and Downtown Champaign.
Joe Bonilla, the location’s general manager, said his focus is on opening, and then letting customer demand drive additional growth.
“It’s sizable enough where we can see the business and we can see the clientele,” said Bonilla, who previously worked at Seven Saints, Cowboy Monkey and other downtown spots. “Our approach has been to serve the community, so we’re starting with the basics and going from there.”
With that model, the brewpub will follow the playbook first run by the brewery team a year ago, Bonilla said.
“They’ve got everything dialed in, but they’re also talking about different styles and what we’re going to do next,” Bonilla said. “The same is true with food. We’re going to produce a menu that’s going to be out there, but with that size of a kitchen, there are so many options, and that’s where we’re going to find out what our customers are looking for.”
Leaving happier
As both Monahan and Bonilla plan to open, they’re keeping their hopes and dreams for that future growth in their vision, but they’re focused now on the experience they can provide for customers on day one.
“What I’ve always told my staff is that I want our customers to leave happier than they came in, it doesn’t mean they have to leave happy, I just want them to leave happier,” Bonilla said. “If we get to that point where people are coming here, enjoying themselves and spending time, all the better.”
It’s also about carrying on the vision and legacy of what The Blind Pig has been for the community since it opened in 1990, and integrating that legacy into a changing downtown Champaign environment.
“It was important for me to buy the brand because it had the name and the recognition, and that's gone a long way,” Monahan said. “We want to zig where everybody else zags. We didn’t want to follow the thing. We wanted to do our own thing. I think we fit into that puzzle [of downtown] perfectly to sort of complete it.”
For the homebrewer-manufacturer turned brewery-and-brewpub owner and brewmaster, it’s all an adventure.
“It’s different from your average job,” Monahan said. “Someone asked what it's like owning a brewery, and I said, ‘It’s just like any other job, except for sometimes on a Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. I’m drinking a beer. And it’s work.’ That’s been a shift.”
Jake Williams is a journalist, editor and publisher, as well as the CEO of the Illini Media Company.