16 Illinois Craft Brewers Compete At Great American Beer Festival

ILLINOIS — More than a dozen of Illinois' favorite brewers are competing this week at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. At the Thursday-Saturday event, they’ll be competing for gold, silver, or bronze medals and the coveted “Brewer of the Year” title.

Now in its 40th year, the festival will feature more than 2,000 beers from 500 breweries. Among them are the following breweries from around the greater Chicago area and from the Land of Lincoln:

• Brickstone Brewery, Bourbonnais: Belgo APA, Brickstone APA, Brickstone Lager, Dark Secret, Dark Secret with Raspberries, HopskipNImDrunk, and Permanent Vacation
• D& G Brewing, St. Charles: Archangel Red, California OJ, Kolsch, Level C Cleic, Rust Belt Rye
• Hailstorm Brewing, Tinley Park: Big Beautiful Wheat, Hotel Life, Pinocle Porter, Prairie Madness
• Kishwaukee Brewing, Woodstock: Baltic Porter, Brown, Doppelbock, Oktoberfest, Saison
• Maplewood Brewing, Chicago: Double Charlatan, Fat Pug, Festbier, Fizzle Drizzle Cherry Limade, Moon Fruit
• Midwest Coast Brewing, Chicago: English Sporting Beer, Oktoberfest, West Town Brown
• Moody Tongue Brewing, Chicago: Aperitif Pilsner, Oktoberfest, Oak Barrel Aged Flanders Red Ale, Orange Blossom Belgian Blonde, Toasted Rice Lager
• MORE Brewing, Huntley: Barrel-Aged Henna: Birthday, Henna: Hazelnut Latte, Javalin, Moreover, Watermelon Chula
• Noon Whistle Brewing, Lombard: Bruski, Cozmo, Frothie, Fuzzy Smack, Hop Prism Blue, Liesel Weapon, Squishy Gummy
• Old Irving Brewing, Chicago: Barrel Aged Gammelhjarted, Beezer, Double Beezer, Scentinel, ‘Til Death
• Pollyanna Brewing, Lemont: Fruhauf, Humpenscrump, Lite Thinking, Pollyanna Pils, The Fully Lemony
• Revolution Brewing, Chicago: Coconut Deth, Freedom Lemonade, Oktoberfest, Thundertaker
• Short Fuse Brewing, Schiller Park: Dark Gourd, Golden Age, Last Stand, Spring Thaw, Strange Design, Tropical Hurt Locker, Vocal Jam
• Tangled Roots Brewing, Ottawa: Blueberry Yum, Intercontinental Pilsner, Jam Session, Mr. Tangerine Man, Subject To Change, Sunkissed Blonde Ale
• Tighthead Brewing, Mundelein: Bear’s Choice, Boxcar Porter, Five Eyes Honey Ale, Longsnapper IPA, Scarlet Fire
• Une Annee Brewing: Niles: Hubbard’s Cave: El Zacation, Hubbard’s Cave: Fresh IIPA One Hop Mosaic, Le Grande Monde, Milk of the Murder Hornet, No Regrets

In 2021, a number of Illinois brewers claimed medals at the Denver event.

Gold

• Bamm Bamm Loves Pebbles, Will County Brewing, Shorewood
• DeadHead IPA Series: Tour Bus, DESTIHL Brewing, Normal
• Roselle Red: Pollyanna Brewing, Roselle

Silver

• Low Country Belgo American Pale Ale, Tribes Beer, Mokena
• Vocal Jam, Short Fuse Brewing, Schiller Park
• Tropical Hurt Locker, Short Fuse Brewing, Schiller Park
• ALT 140 Sew Hop’d Brewing, Huntley
• Della, Old Irving, Brewing, Chicago
• Dark and Down, Mickey Finn’s Brewing, Libertyville

Bronze

• Midwest Royalty, Alarming Brewing, Chicago
• Matilda, Goose Island, Chicago
• Sunkissed Blonde, Tangled Roots Brewing, Ottawa
• Too Much Cologne, Crystal Lake Brewing
• Deadhead IPA Series: Haze of the Dead, Destihl Brewing, Normal
• Dank Meme, Triptych Brewing, Savoy
• Party Penguin, Pollyanna Brewing, Lemont

Hosted by the Brewers Association, the trade organization representing more than 5,600 small and independent American craft brewers, the festival is once again an in-person event at the Colorado Convention Center after two years of a pandemic-imposed hiatus.

The festival’s craft beer and food pairing event, PAIRED, is back with the in-person event. It pairs 25 chefs and 25 breweries collaborating on a tasting menu. Illinois is represented by Chicago chef Lamar Moore, the former sous Chef of the Chicago Bears before moving on to a line of successful stops at restaurants around the city.

Moore will be paired at this year’s competition with Great Divide Brewing in Denver and will be working with the brewing company’s Hoss Oktoberfest beer. He will be preparing a braised short rib with cranberry bean and collared green chimichurri.

The craft beer festival, considered a beer lover’s bucket-list item, has grown exponentially over its 40-year history. Just 24 brewers brought 47 beers to the first Great American Beer Festival in 1982.

If you love beer and happen to be in or traveling to the Denver area, check for ticket availability.