TINLEY PARK, IL — A familiar brewing face is back on the scene at Tinley Park, and in a place he knows inside out. Erik Pizer, co-founder of the former 350 Brewing, returned behind the bar at the same location, 7144 183rd St. in Tinley Park.

Pizer returns with its very own Flipside Brewing, a turning point in its brewing journey which is set to open later this month.

The road has been long, with a few detours before this last stop. After leaving 350 in 2016 after two years there, he became head brewer at Rock Bottom for three years, followed by Milk Money Brewing in LaGrange.

The first and last didn’t work out for various reasons, Pizer said, and now years after he first opened the 350 door at the Cornerstone Center mall, here he is, back where he started. Pizer signed the lease in April 2022.

“I didn’t tell anyone at the time because everyone would have thought it was an April Fool’s joke,” he laughed.

Since then, it’s been a whirlwind to prepare for the opening – a deliberate and educated whirlwind. Pizer knew exactly what he had to work with in the facility and everything he had to do.

“I had to put lipstick on the pig,” he said. “I just had to make it different.

“A lot of cleaning, a lot of painting. It was just to make it different, because it’s not 350.”

350 Brewing was a big part of his past, he said, but he’s ready to take that next step on his own, leaving what was behind and seeing what’s to come.

“350 was what it should be,” he said. “The 350 was our address at the university, it was a university party place. It became a bit of a punk rock bar. It matched the atmosphere, and it was good.

“But I don’t want that anymore. I’m 6, 7 years older now, I’m more mature in terms of being around beer longer. I know what I’m doing a bit more, so I want to make it look a little different.”

Everything is more polished. Sharper colors, sharper, crisper edges with pops of color. Gone is the dark, bold red paint and stickers that cover the walls. With cool-toned gray paint, a bold logo on the back wall, and a more subdued use of color.

The look may be different, but it stays true to its tradition of clean, crisp beers that pair well with food. The menu will include burgers, wings, chicken sandwiches and salads, a little something for everyone, Pizer said. As for beer, he knows what he’s doing.

“I’m going to stick with the things that have worked for me,” he said.

It will open with an American Flipside Lager and Last Stop IPA lager, similar to its 350-Day Crook County IPA. It will also offer sodas, cocktails, wine, ciders and non-alcoholic beers from Filbert.

“My beers were never the problem I moved on to the next place, it was always something else so if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” Pizer said.

Think like a smooth ale, Witbier, hazy IPAs and a milky stout. It will also feature a collaboration with WerkForce Brewing, a West Coast IPA dubbed Howdily Doodily Neighborino.

More collaborations are on the way, as he hopes to tap into the network he’s built over his years at the company.

Pizer is ready for it. Apparently he’s been ready for a while. The Palos Heights resident and father of daughters Alice (8), Evelyn (11) and Clare (13) knows he is testing his wife Katie’s patience with the opening of his third brewery. But it seemed like that was where he was supposed to be.

“It’s fun to be back in Tinley,” Pizer said. “I always thought it was a great place. It’s exciting to be back and doing it again, this time with a little more control.

“I’m not a super religious person, or spiritual or anything like that, but the universe gave signs along the way that it was the right thing to do. The fact that he was available, the fact that Milk Money didn’t get by…just that everything worked out to get me here, must be for a reason, so we’ll see what’s on the other side.

Pizer hopes to open the last weekend of July, but impatient customers can follow Flipside on Facebook for the latest updates.