In the latest sign of consolidation sweeping Chicago’s craft beer industry, Lemont-based Pollyanna Brewing & Distilling has purchased Alarmist Brewing, with plans to reopen the shuttered Sauganash taproom and bring back its acclaimed beers before the end of the year. The acquisition, announced July 9, 2026, marks Pollyanna’s first foray into the city of Chicago and reflects a broader trend of stronger breweries acquiring struggling competitors in a flat post-pandemic craft beer market.
Alarmist Brewing, best known for its flagship Le Jus, an award-winning Hazy IPA, closed its 12-year-old Peterson Avenue brewery and taproom in February 2026 amid a challenging craft beer landscape. The closure was one of several in Chicago’s once-thriving craft brewery scene, which has seen dozens of closings and consolidations in recent years, including Metropolitan Brewing, one of the city’s oldest craft breweries, which filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2023.
“Our long-term strategy was to get into the city in some capacity, but in a way that we could be relevant to our community,” Ryan Weidner, president and CEO of Pollyanna, told the Chicago Tribune. “Finding out what Alarmist had built in that Sauganash neighborhood was really a perfect alignment for us.”
The acquisition includes Alarmist’s 11,000-square-foot brewery and taproom, its beer brands, and intellectual property. In addition to a six-figure purchase price, Weidner said Pollyanna will make a significant investment in upgrading the Alarmist facility. Plans include expanding the courtyard, converting 4,000 square feet of warehouse space into a private events venue, and building an artisanal pizza kitchen from scratch. Weidner hopes to reopen the enhanced taproom and brewery by the fourth quarter of 2026, with three Alarmist beers on tap: Le Jus, Pantsless, and Crispy Boy.
“The only change is the sign on the building in the Sauganash neighborhood will be a Pollyanna sign,” Weidner said. He is hoping to get the Alarmist beers back in distribution by Labor Day to bars, restaurants, and stores, initially utilizing a contract brewer. Once the Peterson Avenue facility is upgraded and approved by regulators, Alarmist production will move back to its old home, along with some high-volume Pollyanna beers.
The deal highlights the economic pressures facing the craft beer industry both in Chicago and nationally. The number of craft breweries in Illinois fell to 288 last year, down 5 percent over two years, according to the Brewers Association, a Colorado-based trade group. The economic impact generated by Illinois craft brewers has dropped 10 percent to $2.8 billion as beer sales decline across the industry.
Pollyanna, also founded in 2014, has weathered the industry downturn better than many of its peers. The company started with a taproom and brewery in southwest suburban Lemont, added a satellite operation in Roselle in 2017, and opened a microdistillery in St. Charles in November 2019, just before the pandemic hit. In 2022, as business recovered, Pollyanna opened a fourth location, a cocktail lounge and social club in Lemont. While sales across the company have been flat in recent years, Weidner has been looking to acquire struggling breweries that align with his expanding operation.
“There have, unfortunately, been plenty to choose from,” Weidner said, referencing the wave of craft brewery closures in the Chicago area. In March 2026, pioneering Chicago craft breweries Half Acre and Maplewood merged under one corporate umbrella, maintaining separate brands while sharing brewing facilities to better navigate the challenging craft beer industry.
Alarmist founder Gary Gully opened the brewery in 2014, and it quickly became a fixture in the Sauganash neighborhood and a major player in the Chicago craft brewery scene for its whimsically-branded beers. Le Jus was the first Hazy IPA to win gold at the Great American Beer Festival in 2018, cementing the brewery’s reputation for quality. However, post-pandemic sales never fully recovered, and Gully made the decision to close the doors and cease production on February 1, 2026.
“We are thrilled that Pollyanna is continuing Le Jus, Pantsless and our other beers,” Gully said in a news release. “The reopening of the taproom with a restaurant will be a game-changer for our friends in the Sauganash neighborhood.”
For Chicago’s craft beer industry, the Pollyanna-Alarmist deal represents a glimmer of hope in an otherwise challenging landscape. While the overall number of breweries has declined, the consolidation may lead to stronger surviving operators with the scale to compete against national brands. The addition of a pizza kitchen and events space at the Alarmist location also reflects a broader trend of breweries diversifying their revenue streams beyond beer sales, which have been under pressure from changing consumer preferences and increased competition from other beverage categories.
For the Sauganash neighborhood, the reopening of the taproom will restore a community gathering spot that had become a local institution over its 12-year run. Gully revealed a personal incentive that may have helped close the deal: “I’m also thrilled that Ryan has offered me free lifetime beer and pizza.”
