Every year, Karl Klockars, one of our freelancers and friends at Guys Drinking Beer, breaks down the RateBeer Best Awards for the Midwest region. This year, quite a few Chicago breweries came out on top.
Chicago had four of the top 100 breweries:
Flossmoor Station Restaurant and Brewery
Goose Island Beer Co.
Pipeworks Brewing Co.
Revolution Brewing
And two of the top rated 100 beers:
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Barleywine
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
Within Illinois, Goose Island Beer Co. remained on top as the best brewery with the best beer (Goose Island Bourbon County Stout). But surprisingly—or maybe not so surprisingly if you've tried a pint—Mikerphone Brewing won best new brewery in Illinois. Mikerphone recently secured a space in Elk Grove Village to brew from, but until the move, the brewery is using the Une Annee Brewing space in West Town.
As far as new beer releases go, Chicago had two come out on top—Goose Island's BCBS Rare and Pipeworks Brewing's Lizard King.
Chicago also won a few awards in specific beer categories:
Half Acre won in the "pale lager" category for its Gin Barrel Aged Pony Pilsner (a personal favorite)
Goose Island won in the "strong ale" category for BCBS Barleywine and the "strong stout" category for BCBS and BCBS Coffee