Illinois Breweries Shine At US Open Beer Championship In Ohio

To paraphrase the late, great Mitch Hedberg, I used to drink beer. I still do, but I used to, too.

However, what I haven't had much of over the years is beer brewed at an Illinois brewery. Like many people, I'd have some national or regional brews, but I haven't paid as much attention to the incredibly great offerings from Illinois' over 300 breweries.

After reading the results of the recent US Open Beer Championship which was held on July 15th in Oxford, Ohio, I think that any beer-loving (or even beer-liking) Illinoisan should definitely start grabbing some of our state's medal-winning, locally crafted, something-for-everyone's-tastes beers that have been proven to be outstanding.

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Illinois Breweries Came Away With 20 Medals, And Some Of Those Breweries Were Even Awarded More Than One Medal

Brothership Brewing in Mokena and Werk Force Brewing Co. in Plainfield, both picked up not one, but three awards at last week's competition. Adams Street Brewery in Chicago's Loop grabbed two gold medals, as did More Brewing Co, which has multiple locations throughout the state in Bartlett, Huntley and Villa Park.

Here's the full list of Illinois' award-winning breweries, along with the brews that earned them medals at the US Open Beer Championship:

Hazy/Juicy Strong Pale Ale

Gold: AntiMatter from Brothership Brewing

New England/Juicy DIPA

Gold: Indistinguishable From Magic from Triptych Brewing

Milkshake IPA

Silver: Strawberry Double Marbles from More Brewing Company

Foreign Stout

Gold: Der Reisende from Adams Street Brewery

Pastry Stout

Gold: Kodiak’s Revenge BBA /Raspberry Pâczki from Ike & Oak Brewing Co.

English Summer Ale

Gold: Farmhouse from Crystal Lake Brewing- Illinois

Imperial Stout/Porter

Gold: Thick Thighs and Luscious Eyes from Hop District Community Brewing Co.

Belgian and French Ale

Silver: If You Want Blond… from BBGB Brewery and Hop Farm

Belgian Tripel

Gold: Bel Ringer from 9th Hour Brewing Company

Italian Pilsener

Silver: Antonio from Brother Chimp Brewing

Mexican Lager/Pilsener

Gold: San Carlos Especial from Riverlands Brewing Company

Bronze: El OVNI from Brothership Brewing

Chili Pepper Beer

Gold: Barrel Aged Hell Bear from Werk Force Brewing Co.

Barrel-Aged Strong Stout/Porter

Silver: 3 year Barrel Aged Family Reserve Sleepy Bear from Werk Force Brewing

Barrel-Aged Strong/Porter Extreme (12.5%+)

Silver: Sir Blends A-Lot #5 from Mikerphone Brewing

Barrel-Aged Quad/Belgian Dark Ale

Silver: Muese Valley from More Brewing Company

Kentucky Common

Gold: Steam Engine from Adams Street Brewery

Grodziskie

Silver: Grodziskie from Goldfinger Brewing Company

LOOK: Best Beers From Every State

To find the best beer in each state and Washington D.C., Stacker analyzed January 2020 data from BeerAdvocate, a website that gathers user scores for beer in real-time. BeerAdvocate makes its determinations by compiling consumer ratings for all 50 states and Washington D.C. and applying a weighted rank to each. The weighted rank pulls the beer toward the list's average based on the number of ratings it has and aims to allow lesser-known beers to increase in rank. Only beers with at least 10 rankings to be considered; we took it a step further to only include beers with at least 100 user rankings in our gallery. Keep reading to find out what the best beer is in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C.

Gallery Credit: Angela Underwood

Filed Under: Illinois Breweries