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.