Illinois Beer Among 101 Best In America

It’s a debate sure to leave some scratching their heads and others in tears. And no, this isn’t Yanny or Laurel (but it was Laurel).

This is about bragging rights for beer.

The Daily Meal did the impossible and came up with the definitive 101 best beers in America. So when your buddies want to start a bar fight over the top picks in Illinois, do us a favor: Tell them to take it up with the food and drink website.

In Illinois, just one beer was listed among America’s best.

• Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout
  • ABV: 14.1 percent
  • Category: Stout
  • "One of the OGs of limited-release bourbon barrel-aged beers, Goose Island’s signature Bourbon County Brand Stout still holds up after all these years. This 14 percent beer pours a thick, oily black. Despite the intimidating color, this stout is insanely balanced with rich notes of dark chocolates, raisins, and dates. Just a little finish of smoky flavor makes this beer one of the true best in the world."

Fans of Bourbon County eagerly await the release each year — which, fittingly, takes place on Black Friday. In 2017, Goose Island issued a whopping seven variants of Bourbon County. The Chicago brewery sells tickets and fans wait in line for hours to be among the first to taste each year's creation.

Even before the 2017 release, Goose Island was teasing the release of 2018 Bourbon County Stout, set for Black Friday 2018 (mark your calendars for Friday, Nov. 23).

If you’re into the beer you might recognize some of the more popular or highly rated brews on the list, including Russian River Pliny the Elder — and Younger, of course — Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Allagash White, Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout and The Alchemist Heady Topper.

Overall, beer sales volume was down 1.2 percent in 2017, according to the Brewers Association.

But craft beer sales jumped 5 percent and accounted for 12.7 percent of the overall beer market. In Illinois, there are 200 craft breweries, the group found.

Good brewers and ingredients are essential to any great beer. But other factors — including something as small as the tap used to pour the beverage and the glassware used to drink it — also play a role.To figure out which beers are America’s best, the authors cross-referenced beer ratings on the app Untappd and the sites BeerAdvocate and RateBeer. The site looked for beers that got the highest marks from both average joes — including your tatted up, bearded friend — and beer-tasting professionals. The authors also used their own “extensive tasting experience and knowledge,” giving preference to the best beers the site’s editors have had in the last year.

The Daily Meal also gave special consideration to states with a smaller number of brewers, including North Dakota and New Mexico.

“Thus, nearly every state in the union is represented on our list of the 101 best beers in America,” the authors wrote.

The beers are not ranked in any particular order, noting that it’s “frankly impossible” to compare one style against another.

So don’t worry, you can still debate which is actually the best. And Patch encourages you to do so. Head over to our Facebook page and let us know: Do you agree with the beers on this list? What's the best beer in Illinois?

Click here to read the full article at The Daily Meal.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Main photo via Shutterstock / Natalya Okorokova.