Lemont's Pollyanna Competing At Great American Beer Festival In Denver

LEMONT, IL — Lemont's Pollyanna Brewing Company will compete at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver on Oct. 6-8. More than a dozen of Illinois' favorite brewers, including Pollyanna, will compete for gold, silver, or bronze medals and the coveted “Brewer of the Year” title at the event.

Now in its 40th year, the festival will feature more than 2,000 beers from 500 breweries.

Pollyanna is featuring its Fruhauf, Humpenscrump, Lite Thinking, Pollyanna Pils, and The Fully Lemony at the festival.

Other area breweries competing include: Brickstone Brewery in Bourbonnais, D& G Brewing in St. Charles, Hailstorm Brewing in Tinley Park, MORE Brewing in Huntley, Noon Whistle Brewing in Lombard, and Tangled Roots Brewing in Ottawa.

In 2021, Pollyanna claimed bronze for its Party Penguin in the Other Strong Beer category. Pollyanna's Roselle location claimed gold for its Roselle Red in the Vienna-Style Lager category.

Hosted by the Brewers Association, the trade organization representing more than 5,600 small and independent American craft brewers, the festival is once again an in-person event at the Colorado Convention Center after two years of a pandemic-imposed hiatus.

The festival’s craft beer and food pairing event, PAIRED, is back with the in-person event. It pairs 25 chefs and 25 breweries collaborating on a tasting menu. Illinois is represented by Chicago chef Lamar Moore, the former sous Chef of the Chicago Bears before moving on to a line of successful stops at restaurants around the city.

Moore will be paired at this year’s competition with Great Divide Brewing in Denver and will be working with the brewing company’s Hoss Oktoberfest beer. He will be preparing a braised short rib with cranberry bean and collared green chimichurri.

The craft beer festival, considered a beer lover’s bucket-list item, has grown exponentially over its 40-year history. Just 24 brewers brought 47 beers to the first Great American Beer Festival in 1982.

If you love beer and happen to be in or traveling to the Denver area, check for ticket availability.