The Beer Cellar plans move to bigger spot in downtown Glen Ellyn

Dave Hawley knew he had a loyal following when commuters began making an abrupt detour to his Glen Ellyn shop.

His selection of craft beer is so sought-after that some Metra riders hop off the train, pick up a six pack or some bombers and then resume their trip home to Geneva.

Not your typical beer run, eh?

"We have had a huge customer base," the owner - and curator - of The Beer Cellar says.

It's become so big, in fact, that Hawley plans to move the store below his former apartment to a higher-profile spot downtown where he can expand his offerings.

"It will still be a small, well-curated selection of beer, but we're moving from a basement to a street-level location," Hawley said.

Hawley hopes to open the new Beer Cellar - part tap room, part bottle shop - by early September after renovating a former yoga studio at 488 Crescent Blvd. Hawley says he's close to finalizing a lease of the now-vacant space.

Once that deal is finalized, Glen Ellyn trustees are expected to create a new type of liquor license to allow Hawley's customers to drink craft beer - not just samples - in the new store.

Hawley also says he's prepared to meet the village's proposed rules for the license. Those include:

• Dedicating half the floor space to the sale of packaged craft beer;

• Offering a menu that includes food more substantial than bar snacks;

• Restricting on-site consumption to containers of up to 16 ounces; and

• Paying a $2,000 annual license fee.

With a bigger space, Hawley will be able to offer 75 to 125 varieties of craft beer out of a cooler, or double the amount he now sells cold.

He also will be able to double the capacity of "Books on Tap," a popular book club the shop hosts with the Glen Ellyn Public Library.

The Beer Cellar's intimate vibe will carry over into the tap room, where patrons will be greeted by an approachable Hawley.

"I like to engage with my customers," says Hawley, who now lives in Wheaton.

Indeed, he gets a kick out of converting customers who walk into the store and declare they're - gasp! - not a beer drinker. If you prefer white wine, Hawley will introduce a Belgian Lambic. Or maybe you're into red wine? Then Hawley will hunt down a porter or stout.

"We do have a focus on local beer," he says.

Even before he started his first retail business, Hawley refused to settle for the stale stuff at big box or liquor stores and ended up driving into Chicago to bottle shops that "treated the beer well."

But with no such retailers close to home, Hawley opened The Beer Cellar in November 2013, taking pride in selling fresh beer, the way the brewer intended it.

And in the new store, customers will enjoy a pint, not just at home, but while they shop around.

"It will just be a nice, quaint little place to get a beer," he said.