Wolfden Brewing Firm: America’s Most Haunted Brewery?

A spirited dialog with Wolfden proprietor Katie Wolf

Be aware: This Halloween-y put up about Wolfden Brewing Firm is somewhat totally different than common, and it’s not terribly beer-y, nevertheless it’s on the very least beer-adjacent and I assumed it’d be enjoyable.

Most of you learn this through e-mail, however this put up additionally has audio of alleged spirit encounters which are solely out there exterior of the e-mail format.

We’ll return to our regular information roundup subsequent week, however till then, for the complete expertise we advocate you click on over to our Substack web page.

“This yr we went all out.” That’s how Katie Wolf, co-owner of Bloomingdale’s Wolfden Brewing Firm, describes how they’ve been dealing with spooky season, contemplating the very haunted nature (assuming you consider in such issues) of the Nineteenth-century farmhouse that at the moment is house to their brewery and taproom.

Katie and her husband Krystov opened Wolfden in 2018 and have at all times been completely satisfied to share tales concerning the spirits that may be heard – and typically seen – at their area. Their constructing dates again to 1851, and in response to the lore documented on their web site, a number of individuals could have been buried and even died there over the a long time.

As Halloween approached this yr, they’ve elevated the variety of Ghost Excursions that they host at their brewery, with all of them shortly promoting out. Extra about these excursions shortly, however you need to know that the ultimate Ghost Tour for the month is already offered out. You’ll be able to nonetheless attend their Black & White Howl-O-Ween Social gathering on Thursday, although!

I needed to know extra about what it’s like working a haunted brewery, so Katie and I chatted not too long ago about her spooky experiences. When you’re impressed to go to Wolfden and hunt for ghosts, they do produce other Ghost Excursions all year long, so keep watch over their Occasions web page on Fb for extra.

Within the meantime, go drink their beer and see what occurs. (See the video beneath for proof that something may occur at any time.)

For now, right here’s the story behind essentially the most haunted brewery in Chicagoland, the place, because of spirits named Jack, Brian and possibly Rupert … you by no means drink alone…

GDB: What had been you in search of while you discovered this location? And what made you say, “Yeah, we wish to open a brewery right here.”

Katie Wolf: My husband and I had been in search of a spot that we may make our personal. We actually needed one thing very totally different from the whole lot else that we had been seeing pop up within the burbs. , the whole lot was actually industrial and sort of chilly feeling, and we actually needed it to really feel extra like Cheers. Like a heat hangout.

We took a whole lot of inspiration from the Leinie’s Lodge, as a result of that was our first brewery [visit], and it was such an exquisite expertise that we had collectively. We simply cherished it a lot. That’s sort of what introduced us into this trade. And so once we discovered this constructing, at first, we had been like, “That is loopy. We will by no means do that. There’s a lot renovation wanted within the constructing.”

However the constructing was from 1851, and personally, my father and all my uncles had been carpenters, metal staff; all of them had been in development and improvement and I sort of have that in my blood. So after I confirmed my dad, he acquired tremendous enthusiastic about it. He’s like, “We will do that.” So it was the primary household undertaking that I acquired to do with my uncles and my dad and my husband, and it was simply such a cool expertise. They actually made it occur for us, as a result of we wouldn’t have been in a position to with out them.

However I additionally grew up actually loving antiques. We at all times had antiques in our home; it was at all times lovely and I at all times cherished them. So after I noticed this place, I used to be identical to, “Oh my god, I may put my aesthetic on this so simply.” So it simply labored out. And town actually needed us there. They actually needed a brewery, in order that they had been tremendous supportive. We tried a pair different villages across the space and they didn’t assist us, so we undoubtedly had been actually completely satisfied to be right here.

GDB: So is the unique 1851 farmhouse nonetheless a major a part of the construction? I assume it’s been added on to through the years.

KW: The unique construction is all nonetheless there. We we tried to maintain it as authentic as we may. I actually love renovating issues and conserving that soul to it. I didn’t wish to knock down the whole lot. [The previous owners] by no means registered [the building] as historic, as a result of they thought whoever was going to purchase it was going to knock it down. And once we got here by means of, they had been much more excited to listen to that we didn’t wish to knock it down. We needed to attempt to preserve it authentic as potential.

So while you stroll in, you possibly can see the ceiling is all authentic. You’ll be able to simply inform it’s actually, actually outdated. I left the ceiling uncovered, and the cellar is authentic, and you may see the stone partitions that had been constructed there in 1851. Every little thing’s strengthened now with cement, and clearly we strengthened all of the wooden within the constructing. And since it’s all authentic wooden, we needed to sprinkler the shit out of it. There are sprinklers in all places in that constructing. It’s by no means gonna burn down.

GDB: And I perceive that you simply’ve taken a number of scars away from from this specific haunting as nicely, in response to the story in your web site?

KW: Right. Once we had been excavating the yard, we discovered what appeared like some form of outdated bullet or one thing, nevertheless it was made out of clay. So I did some analysis, and I discovered that it’s a soldier’s marble. They’re really fairly well-known; when you look it up, you possibly can see they give the impression of being the very same as what I discovered. It’s like a clay ball, I feel it’s three quarters of an inch or one thing.

So I took it house with me, so I may construct this shadow field to doc the historical past of the constructing and the issues we present in it. And instantly, all this bizarre stuff began occurring to me. I ended up nearly dying in a Menards. I had 12 paint cans, like a giant field of full paint cans fall from 20 ft above me.

Inside one week, I sliced my Achilles tendon on one of many wires that they had been utilizing to construct the fence across the constructing. There was simply a lot bizarre stuff. So I randomly had a good friend of mine who – I didn’t know this on the time, [but she] was a medium. She texted me and stated, “I do know that is actually bizarre, however I’ve a spirit telling me that that you must convey again no matter marble that you simply took away.” And she or he didn’t find out about it.

So for me, that solidified it. Like, there’s no different rationalization for that. I don’t know. It was loopy to me that that occurred, and immediately I used to be identical to, “Okay, nicely, that is very actual.” And since then, we’ve had individuals expertise scary issues, however nothing too loopy.

[Ed. note: She did put the marble back.]

GDB: I do know it’s out there in your website, however when you don’t thoughts, please simply give me the Cliffs Notes of what you perceive The Haunting of this property to be.

KW: We’re fairly certain we now have one major spirit whose identify is Jack. We expect he was a soldier due to the marble, and when he’s [appeared] to individuals at our enterprise he’s portrayed himself as a really tall, skinny, darkish, shadow determine. And many individuals have seen him.

He comes out once we’ve requested for him to work together with us; he’s really come out through the Ghost Adventures and spoke by means of a few of our gear. After which issues simply occur once we begin speaking about him across the faucet room. So we at all times really feel like he’s essentially the most current.

GDB: And while you say, ‘converse by means of your gear’ what does that imply? Like a voice coming from the brewhouse or one thing?

KW: Now we have a bit of kit referred to as a spirit field, and it mainly flips by means of radio frequencies, like 100 a second. So that you simply hear the static of the frequencies flipping, and when you hear one thing converse by means of it, it’s mainly [the box] giving the spirit sufficient power to have the ability to talk. That’s the idea.

So we use that and we undoubtedly get responses. The primary time I attempted to speak to him, and I stated, “Is your identify Jack?” He stated, “I’m Jack.” And we now have that recorded. Two weeks in the past, we had a ghost hunt and we now have a really clear sound clip of a girl asking him what his identify is. And he stated, “Rupert.”

It’s so loopy as a result of it’s so clear – and we’ve by no means had a Rupert. We don’t find out about Rupert, however we now have a portal, we’ve been advised, the place spirits can come out and in upstairs. It was once our social gathering room, however now it’s our “Portal Room,” and due to that, I feel we now have a fairly good quantity of spirits that come by means of on a regular basis.

Go to our Substack to take heed to Rupert and Jack.

That’s additionally been sort of verified, as a result of we now have mediums are available in and say they’ve by no means seen this many spirits in a single place. And typically they actually wish to go away as a result of they’ll hear everybody speaking, and I’ve had a number of individuals say this to me. I do know it sounds loopy, however while you hear it from a pair totally different individuals they usually don’t know one another … that’s very arduous to debunk. I imply, it’s fairly loopy. They’ve stated that they’ve seen individuals from the 1800s strolling by means of the faucet room carrying, like, a bustle skirt. It’s loopy.

We expect we now have a youthful spirit named Brian that likes to joke round with individuals. We’ve been advised he’s too younger to drink, so he simply sort of fucks with everybody on the bar as a result of he’s jealous. We simply have so many alternative experiences, and the spirit field actually helps them speak to us.

GDB: And while you had been this place initially, was the the haunted nature of it disclosed? Or was that one thing that you simply found later?

KW: So once we first did our stroll by means of with the village, we went into the cellar they usually joked round that, “That is the place the ghosts stay.” And , all of us laughed, had a very good chuckle. And just about proper after that was once we sort of began experiencing issues.

I’ve by no means … I’ve by no means skilled something [supernatural] earlier than this. So I can’t say I used to be a believer or a non-believer. I used to be simply open to it. So I used to be enthusiastic about it, and I’ve been excited since day one, I nonetheless find it irresistible. I feel it’s the good factor ever. Nothing actually scared me ever. I simply wish to expertise as a lot as I can.

GDB: You’ve talked about the portal room, however what do you employ the oldest components of the of the home for? Is that the place the faucet room is, is that the place the brew home is?

KW: The cellar. The cellar is the oldest half, and the one approach to see it’s to go on the ghost tour, as a result of it’s storage. It’s the place we preserve, , all our dry inventory, and there’s three creepy little rooms. One of many rooms, we had been advised, could have been used for the Underground Railroad, as a result of it’s very, very small. There’s a whole lot of cool historical past down there.

We additionally really feel like we could have Native American spirits, as a result of the put up workplace in Bloomingdale [is on] a Native American burial floor, per the general public library. So we are likely to assume that we now have some Native American spirits, and we’ve been advised that we now have one within the cellar that basically doesn’t like when individuals come down. So lots of people get very uncomfortable within the cellar.

GDB: I as soon as lived in a home in downtown Naperville that was constructed within the 1870s or so, so I can completely image the kind of cellar you may have. Weirdly, I used to be advised the identical factor about that home – we had a semi-enclosed area within the basement that was additionally “as soon as used on the Underground Railroad.” And I had some spooky issues occur to me there as nicely. I’m as skeptical if not moreso than the following man, however as you stated – when these comparable occasions occur to individuals who haven’t any relation, or don’t know that one thing is perhaps happening … nicely, I get why somebody would select to lean into that feeling.

KW: I imply, it’s lots primarily based on emotions. When I’ve my ghost hunts, , I at all times ask, who’s delicate? And it’s loopy, as a result of the individuals who are delicate, they get legitimately essentially the most response on out of anybody once we do our ghost hunts. We’ll actually simply give them the gear, and they’ll get a lot extra response than anybody else. So I’ve seen the whole lot with my very own eyes. , I’m undoubtedly a believer at this level. Like, there’s little question in my thoughts. It’s too actual.

It’s loopy too, as a result of typically we’ll go for a pair months and we gained’t really feel something, we gained’t hear something. And we’ll have a ghost hunt, and nothing will occur, which is horrible, as a result of it at all times simply feels so disappointing, despite the fact that individuals have such a enjoyable time. And we at all times say, , if nothing occurs, that’s simply the way in which it’s. We’re not gonna faux something.

However then the final couple instances we’ve finished it, oh my gosh, there’s been a lot extra response than final yr. I assume typically there’s extra spirits within the constructing than others. We additionally sage lots. So typically we could have saged them out.

GDB: Inform me extra about your ghost excursions. I don’t bear in mind seeing them in previous years – clearly you’re busy in October however are these out there yr spherical?

KW: Sure. We normally do them within the winter months once we’re slower. And it will depend on staffing, it relies upon the place I’m at in life, if I can deal with doing, , these two hour excursions. We used to do them at 11pm until 1am, after we closed, however then I made a decision, “I’m too outdated for this.” So now we do them somewhat bit earlier, however we now have to attend till the solar goes down.

And it’s sort of simply developed. At first, we didn’t have as a lot gear, now we now have extra gear. Additionally, if my workers isn’t into it, I can’t throw these occasions. The workers I’ve proper now, they’ve all had experiences, they usually’re like, ‘“Fuck yeah, we’ll do that.”

GDB: Is {that a} query that you simply’re allowed to ask at a job interview? , When you’re you’re in search of assist, are you able to ask, “How open are you to bizarre, spooky stuff?”

KW: I actually ask that at each single interview. “Are you okay with spirits?” I’m not kidding. I do. It’s a critical query each time, as a result of if someone is absolutely freaked out, they’re not going to make it. As a result of I’ve had grown males run out the door at evening once they’re closing. So my workers proper now could be very courageous. They’re superior.

GDB: With out giving freely an excessive amount of, give me a way of what you do at these Ghost Journey occasions.

KW: We do excursions across the constructing, and we cease in several areas the place we get extra responses. And we keep at every location for 10 to fifteen minutes, and we ghost hunt. We see if we will get the spirits with, at this level we now have six or seven items of kit that we use.

We break off, we go into the yard, as a result of we’ve been advised that we now have many buried our bodies in our yard. [laughs] So we ghost hunt within the yard too. We go everywhere in the constructing.

We’ve really been advised the entire downtown space could be very, very haunted. The constructing proper subsequent to us was the coach home for our constructing in 1851 and it’s vacant proper now, nevertheless it’s additionally actually spooky. You’ll be able to inform that the realm could be very outdated.

GDB: Closing query, simply to convey it again to beer: Has this venue affected the the alternatives that you simply make within the beers that you simply produce, or the names of any of your beers? It’s sort of acquired to infuse itself into some stuff, I think about.

KW: Oh yeah, it’s a enjoyable theme to play on, however truthfully, I’m very cautious about it, as a result of to start with I actually didn’t need anybody to assume we had been faking it. I didn’t wish to make it a joke. Individuals have stated, “Oh, why don’t you make a Jack’s Beer,” and, nicely, we may, however I need individuals to take it critically, as a result of it truly is. It’s not a joke. It’s enjoyable, nevertheless it’s not a joke.

So with the beer, I’m attempting to assume … we don’t actually do lots with the ghosts and our beer. A lot of the stuff we do [with] our beer is Wolf themed, or woods themed, so, possibly we would do one ultimately, however … we don’t wish to provoke [the spirits] an excessive amount of.

You’ll be able to, and may, go to Wolfden Brewing always of yr (not simply the spooky ones) at 112 W. Lake Avenue in Bloomingdale, IL. Inform them Rupert despatched you.

Searching for one thing else scary? This is perhaps the spookiest beer I’ve ever tried.

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