The 10 Best Craft Breweries in Illinois

Located in Chicago’s vibrant North Center neighborhood, Half Acre Beer Company is the brainchild of founder Gabriel Magliaro who set up the company in 2006. Initially contract brewed out of a brewery in neighboring Wisconsin, Half Acre established its current 15 barrel brew house in 2009 and has since added a taproom and store. Half Acre offers four year-round beers complemented by a number of seasonal and one-off brews and in 2010, became the first craft brewery in Chicago to can its beer.

Founded in 1996 by owners Dean and Carolyn Armstrong, Flossmoor Station Brewing Company is a restaurant and brewery uniquely located in a restored turn-of-the-century train station. Within its first ten years in operation, it had racked up an impressive number of accolades including Chicago Magazine’s Best Brewery of 2002 and Best Small Brewpub and Brewer at the 2006 Great American Beer Festival. Brewery tours are available upon request and Flossmoor Station’s brewpub offers seven year-round beers on tap and a rotating fruit beer alongside hearty pub fare including a number of specialty dishes with specific beer pairings.

Its motto is ‘beer with no boundaries’ and with unique brews like Cherry Pippins (an amber ale made with coca powder and organic white Napa peaches and aged on sour cherries) and Joe Daddy (a coffee stout made with molasses, brown sugar and Guatemalan coffee), Pig Minds Brewing Company certainly delivers. Launched in 2012, Pig Minds’ microbrewery – headed by brew master Carson Souza, who brings over seven years brewing experience to the role – is complemented by a brewpub featuring daily growler specials, live music and, quite uniquely for a brewpub, a solely vegan take on traditional pub grub.

A popular brewpub located in Chicago’s hip, bustling Logan Square neighborhood, Revolution Brewing is a labor of love for founder Josh Deth. Deth’s first foray into the world of craft brewing came in the mid-1990s with stints working at local breweries, and after spying the perfect location on Chicago’s Milwaukee Avenue and spending a long three years raising funds and dealing with red tape, he set up Revolution Brewing in 2010. A production brewery – one of the largest in Illinois – and taproom was added in 2012, and today Revolution Brewing produces around 50 different beers annually including Great American Beer Festival Award winners Cross of Gold and A Little Crazy.

When craft brewing legend Pete Crowley is involved, you’re pretty much guaranteed first-rate beers. Specializing in classic Belgian and contemporary American brews, Crowley – who has won over 50 local, national and international brewing awards – opened Haymarket Pub & Brewery in Chicago in late 2010 and the brewpub has since scooped two gold medals at the Great American Beer Festival. Haymarket offers ten of its own house-brewed beers (including Crowley’s American Irish Stout and the chocolate malt and coffee-flavored Cuppa Joe Hill Coffee Porter) alongside a selection of craft beers from other brewers and regularly takes part in local events like Chicago Craft Beer Week.