Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 26, 2024

Happy Friday, friends! The World Beer Cup awards were announced Wednesday night and I’m always thrilled when the most competitive award goes to a Midwestern brewery — even more so when it’s one of my favorites in Chicago. Old Irving Brewery’s Beezer beat out 325 other beers to earn the Gold Medal for Juicy/Hazy IPA. Between this award and their GABF Gold, Beezer is the beer that all other hazies are being judged by at this point.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 24, 2024

Howdy, friends! I’m getting ready for a little travel this week and next — more on this on Friday — but my packing and prepping doesn’t get in the way of label-hunting. Premium Subscribers this week will see the Midwest’s next new heritage-style lager, an early-but-not-really brown ale, an Old Saundustee and some Electric Jelly, plus two beer labels with a pro wrestling connection or reference.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 22, 2024

We’ve had a bit of a pause on the brewery-closing front in the last few months, but it appears to have kicked back in this week. As you saw last week, Orkenoy announced that their last day was yesterday (see below for Block Club’s story). I missed this social update last week, so I’ll include it here and thanks to FoGDB Russ for sharing it with me: Carol Stream’s 206 Brewing announced on Facebook that they will also be closing at the end of this month , having only just o

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 19, 2024

It’s been a while since we had one of these ( that we immediately believed , anyways) but we’re starting today’s email with a closure announcement. On Wednesday, Orkenoy, the Nordic-inspired brewpub near Humboldt Park, announced that they’d be closing this Sunday. If you enjoyed their beers, good news — they already have plans to keep popping up around town.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 17, 2024

They teased us with the OG BCBS a month ago, but now Goose Island has sent through another array of Bourbon County Labels, which will be shared (along with my thoughts, considerations and educated guesswork) exclusively with our Premium Subscribers. We’ve also got two new non-beer products from two of the biggest Michigan breweries, a cool-looking new collab between big Minnesota and Chicago breweries, plus rainbows, camouflage and what could be the next Ultra Right Beer to hit the market.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 15, 2024

To the industry members of our audience, I wish you good luck surviving next week’s Craft Brewers Conference in beautiful Las Vegas. I want to believe at least one person reading this is already packing for a visit to Fremont Street, so allow me one recommendation: Atomic Liquors. All due respect to Anthony Bourdain, but it’s way better than the Double Down Saloon , IMHO.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 12, 2024

Was this a long week for the rest of y’all, or does it just seem like the Salt Shed opening date news came out forever ago? I know in my head that it was just last Friday because we have these poll results to look at…but it doesn’t feel like it: A majority of “I’ll get there at some point” kinda sums up a lot about craft beer at the current moment, doesn’t it?

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 12, 2024

I recently realized that I started emailing people beer news almost exactly ten years ago. Just for fun, I thought I’d share that original email exclusively with my Premium Subscribers this morning.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 10, 2024

Welcome back, friends — it’s labels. This week our Premium Subscribers get to put their eyes on: A beer that forces me to reference Limp Bizkit A beer that put a decades-old earworm from Hanson in my head An unexpected new -Hearted from Bell’s Two labels from Missouri breweries that take us Back To The 80s A new N/A brand to Partake Some interesting new flavor-shifting taste “tech” on the horizon …and more!

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 8, 2024

Depending on where you are at the moment, Eclipse Day is almost certainly over. (Do we have any readers up in northern Maine or Nova Scotia?) It’s also the final day of relevancy for the many eclipse-themed beers that have emerged over the last few months. See ‘ya in 2044, all you beers named Path of Totality! Publications like Food & Wine and Forbes and even Space.com have roundups of eclipse beers from around the country; I would point you towards our Preferred Subscriber archi

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 5, 2024

Breaking this afternoon: Goose Island just announced that we’re less than a month away from their new Salt Shed brewpub: The opening date is set for May 3rd To the 34% of people who answered our poll in February saying yes, I think it’ll open this year, congratulations: You were right! One good poll deserves another, right? April is a busy month, so let’s get straight to our… First up: Tomorrow morning, The Beer Temple will sell tickets to this year’s Cantillon Zwan

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 3, 2024

Here’s something most people don’t know about me: One of my favorite buildings in Chicago is the Monadnock Building. 1 It’s the tallest load-bearing brick construction on Earth (so sayeth Wikipedia , anyways), and it’s just such an unapologetic, imposing beast of a structure. I’ve also always loved this part of the South Loop, a chronically underappreciated area that’s home to beloved nearby bars and restaurants like the Sky Ride Tap and Chicken Planet. 2 A bi

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 1, 2024

It’s April 1st on the Internet. You know what that means. I’m not against having some fun with your social media channels, but it didn’t take long to remember that today — April Fools Day — is always a bit of a mess online. Some social teams know how to do it well, because they make it obvious that they are joking. For example, this short film 1 from Short’s Brewing announcing a beverage called “Midwest Gravy” is obviously not real.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

APRIL 1, 2024

Is it possible for a bar to feel like “a secret” when it operates just steps from one of Chicago’s biggest tourist destinations and one of the most well-attended parks in baseball? Somehow, Lucky Dorr does — at least for me. Sitting in the literal shadow of Wrigley Field, Lucky Dorr has poured a vast array of exclusive beers made in collaboration with local breweries for years, and somehow manages to also survive a months-long annual seasonal closure that most other bars

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 29, 2024

For a few years, this was all the info we had about Demo Brewing in Ravenswood: A logo, a window, and a bunch of brick. Today, they open up the doors and welcome us all inside. With their Grand Opening today, we’d like to officially welcome Demo to the Chicagoland beer scene! You can swing by today or tomorrow and try to drink them dry on their first days open.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 27, 2024

Like usual, Substack is telling me this is too long for your inboxes (fingers crossed they’re wrong!) but we’ve got a ton of fun stuff for Premium Subscribers to look at this week, including another big entrant into this year’s Battle of the Fruity Summer Beers. Want to see? Join our awesome cadre of Premium Subscribers to get a look at this and much more: Subscribe now But for now, let’s all collectively enjoy … The New Illinois Beer Label of the Week: Printers Row

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 25, 2024

Hey, y’all! Happy Oberon Day!

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 25, 2024

Happy Oberon Day to all who celebrate! After living in Michigan for a few years 1 , I think I’ve realized why Oberon Day became such a big deal: Spring in Michigan kinda sucks. It’s damp, it’s grey, it’s not immediately warm and sunshiney like in other places. It’s just the time of year when there’s no more snow on the ground for you to enjoy on a set of skis or a snowmobile.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 22, 2024

Most everyone I know already has their OOOs set for Spring Break and my world’s feeling fairly slow heading into this weekend, but I do have a barrel-aged Odd Side stout with hazelnuts and bacon in my fridge, so I should probably tend to that today, huh? Beats shoveling the driveway. If you’re looking to get out and about over the next few weeks, the events calendar is still pretty dang full while breweries wait for warmer, more beer-friendly weather to arrive.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 20, 2024

Welcome to…spring? Technically? It’s snowing in my neck of the woods today and I’ve got my curling league later tonight but hey -- Oberon Day is just a few days from now, which says “springtime” loudly enough for me. The New Illinois Beer Label of the Week: It’s been a minute since we’ve seen a new Noon Whistle label come into the world, and this one almost certainly has a cool story behind it.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 18, 2024

Untappd announced their new Community Awards last week and I spent some time poking through them — before quickly realizing that it’s an absolute firehose of beer ranking data points. It’s definitely fun to have an objective program like this; ever since the RateBeer Best Awards threw in the towel a few years ago there’s been a bit of a blank space in the world of online beer popularity medal distribution.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 15, 2024

Sláinte, friends. If you’re motivated by the holiday spirit this weekend, Time Out Chicago has a big list of St. Paddy’s Day doings with one massive omission: The Tossers, Chicago’s favorite longtime Celt-punk troubadours aka The World’s Loudest Folk Band, are playing Metro tomorrow night, which is exactly where I’ll be.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 13, 2024

Sometimes when the universe gives you an opportunity to title your weekly email with a bit of wordplay, you gotta take it. That’s why this is… The New Illinois Beer Label of the Week: On Monday, we showed you a news story about Excel Brewing & Bottling Company in downstate Breese, and today we see this label drop into our laps. It’s been a while since we’ve seen anything from this team, so maybe they’re gearing up for a more beer-y summer?

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 11, 2024

If the amount of news is any indication, taprooms will soon start filling up and plenty of beer will be flowing from draft lines across the country, because we have over four dozen pieces of beer news in this week’s email (and that doesn’t include the handful of links that got left on the edit room floor). That’s a lot. Go outside, have a beer in the sunshine and celebrate all this aggregation that you don’t have to do, thanks to all of our efforts. 😉 Speaking of

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 8, 2024

Hi, all — Sharing this one with you a little early as I’m currently on the way to Kalamazoo, where I’ll be attending a pre-Oberon Day media event at Bell’s. Will keep you posted via Instagram stories. Also, any/all important news that comes from this little gathering will go to Premium Subscribers first. Premium Subscribers already have a good idea of what’s coming this summer from Bell’s from the labels for new Oberon options that we’ve shared, but I

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 6, 2024

It’s kinda feeling springtimey, which is always a weird time for beer. Everyone’s gearing up for summer and getting rid of their winter beers so things feel a little all over the place right now. As such, Premium Subscribers scanning this week’s email will see: A grapefruit hazy A dry-hopped pilsner with flaked maize A Schwarzenegger lentenbock A mead, because hell, why not A light lager A NA IPA Two seasonal styles for way out in the future A potential revival of a truly class

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 4, 2024

I realized midway through last week that I didn’t update y’all on the results of my expedition to find signs of life in five Chicago-based beer brands. After emails and social media messages, I am sad to report that not a single one responded to let me know they were just taking a break, on a pause, planning to return, or still kicking at all.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

MARCH 1, 2024

Remember when we chatted with SOB’s Charolette Converse about the Vibes Since 1920 project ? That beer comes out one week from today, March 8, on International Women’s Day. You’ll find it at both Solemn Oath locations, The Open Bottle in Tinley and in Lockport , and probably a bunch of other places that haven’t posted to Instagram about it yet.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

We’re going to do something this week that I don’t think we’ve ever done before. Now that the news is in the world about Three Floyds introducing a line of ready-to-drink cocktails , I figured it would be a good time to pull back the curtain and show everyone the things that Premium Subscribers got to see back in November when these emerged via the TTB in not just Indiana, but Missouri as well.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Today, we’re bringing you an exclusive first look at this year’s Craft Beer Week pint glass, courtesy of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. We understand that a lot of y’all have begun collecting each year’s respective glass, so without further ado, behold this year’s theme: “Adventure Crafted in Illinois.” The ICBG is working with their Associate Member partners at Boelter Beverage for Illinois Craft Beer Week’s “Pint Day 2024 ” Each ic

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

First up: A quick correction. Monday’s email incorrectly stated that Byron’s Hairy Cow Brewing was relocating to Box Elder, South Dakota. This was incorrect. They are opening a second location in South Dakota, as one does. Thanks to everyone who reached out to clarify the situation, and I am certainly not the only one to have been confused by the original story: Regardless, GDB management regrets the error.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Welcome to another New Label Wednesday with fresh looks at new beers from Minnesota to Missouri, over to Ohio and all spaces in between. Substack says I’m already pushing the limit on email length here so let’s get straight to… The Illinois Beer Label(s) of the Week: I rarely include labels that come to us via a brewery’s newsletter but if Hop Butcher is honoring Tom Freaking Skilling with his own beer as we celebrate his retirement next week, then dammit, we’re goi

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

Every now and then we take a skim through our list of breweries , and I’ve realized that there are a handful which haven’t shared any updates or news in quite a while. It’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen an official closure announcement, and trust me, I’m not burning to see any more. But still, you probably trust us to maintain an accurate outlook of the Chicagoland craft beer scene.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Here’s an update we’re happy to see: After many months of waiting, Demo Brewery has finally announced an opening date. They’ll throw open the doors for a Grand Opening weekend on March 29th and 30th, about 60 weeks after originally posting their approved brewer’s license. Good things take time. Looks like a nice space, too ! Elsewhere, Industry Ales also appears to be coming along, and we’ve got updates below on the new spaces for both Homewood Brewing and Burn̵

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

First, a little bit of breaking Midwestern beer news this afternoon: Minneapolis’ Fair State Brewing Cooperative just announced that they had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. “This does not mean we are shutting down,” according to CEO Evan Sallee in a post on their website. “[W]e are just restructuring our debt and will emerge on the other side stronger for it.” Let’s hope so.

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

Tomorrow, over a hundred people will be gathering for the brew day of Vibes Since 1920 , a collaborative beer slated for release in March for Women’s Month. All of them have been gathered together for a project that’s the brainchild of Charolette Converse that will see 113 women, non-binary or trans participants (as of publish time) joining together to not just make a one-off beer, but to create a community to “network, educate and inspire their fellow women in the craft beer i

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Guys Drinking Beer - Beer News

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

Online popularity contests count as a sort of social function, right? USAToday’s 10Best.com regularly runs a variety of craft-beer focused competitions and there are a wide array of Midwestern contenders for the awards currently being discussed. Obviously these are for bragging rights only, but for any brewery operating in the midst of winter in a category-wide downturn, any reason to impel a visit would be welcomed, I’m sure.

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