Illinois Beer Reviews

Beer is booming in the state that so famously defied Prohibition.

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Goose Island Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout

by Tom Smillie | Goose Island Beer Company, Illinois, Pint Glass, Russian Imperial Stout, Snifter, Spirit-Aged Beers, United States | 0 comments

Goose Island BCS Rare! The last of three special BCS beers released in 2010. What makes this beer different is that it was aged for two years in Bourbon barrels that had previously been filled with spirits in 1985 and emptied in 2008. I was lucking enough to get a few...

Wild Onion Paddy Pale Ale

by Matt | American Pale Ale (APA), Illinois, Mug, Pint Glass, United States, Wild Onion Brewing Company | 0 comments

It has been a long time since I’ve written about beer. Life has been chaotic in my world, but not chaotic enough to give up drinking beer, just a bit tough to consistently write about it. Here I am reviewing a beer that is local to Chicagoland, brewed by the Wild...

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout

by Team | Goose Island Beer Company, Illinois, Pint Glass, Russian Imperial Stout, Snifter, Spirit-Aged Beers, United States | 5 comments

Tom: When Goose Island announced that they were going to release variations of their famous Bourbon County Stout in 2010 I’m sure a lot of craft beer fans around the world got excited. Surprisingly, it did not produce a wellspring of emotion (positive or negative)...

Wild Onion Pumpkin Ale

by Team | Illinois, Mug, Pint Glass, Pumpkin Ale, Spiced / Herbed / Vegetable Beers, United States, Wild Onion Brewing Company | 5 comments

Taylor: Last weekend Michael, Tom, Barry and I went to a beer tasting at Binny’s in St. Charles, Illinois. We anticipated a bunch of Oktoberfest/Marzen/Pumpkin brews, and were not incorrect in our anticipations. We sampled from serious, well-established brewers...

Half Acre Sticky Fat

by Tom Smillie | American Brown Ale, Cascadian Dark Ale / Black IPA, English Brown Ale, Half Acre Beer Company, Illinois, Mug, Pint Glass, United States | 0 comments

Sticky Fat! What is that? I had the same question when I read Half Acre Beer Company’s blog about a month ago. According to the legend, it is a bear that loves to steal ready-to-pick hops right off the vines. This beer is only available on-tap on the brewery and is an...

Half Acre Gossamer Golden Ale

by Noel | Blonde Ale, Half Acre Beer Company, Illinois, Mug, Pint Glass, United States | 4 comments

As the weather undeniably fades to Fall here in Chicago, and beer interests begin to turn to Oktoberfests and Pumpkin Ales…there comes a brew to salvage the waning memory of the hot, humid, and hoppy Summer that was. To be fair, Half Acre’s Gossamer Golden Ale is...