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This year's edition of the Great American Beer Festival is in the books, and Illinois breweries racked up an impressive 16 medals. Both Pabst (their corporate headquarters are in suburban Woodridge, so they qualified as an Illinois beer company) and Goose Island took home four medals each. Pabst earned respective gold and silver medals for Lone Star and Old Style (American-style cream ale or lager), and repeated the feat for Old Milwaukee Light and PBR Light in the American-style light lager category. We aren't light beer drinkers, so we'll have to take the judges at their word. Pabst and chief brewer Bob Newman also took home the award for large brewing company and brewer of the year.
Among Goose Island's medals is a second consecutive gold for "312" Urban Wheat Ale. Other local breweries that took home awards were Flossmoor Station (gold, "Killer Kowalski" Baltic-style porter); Piece (silver for Dark 'N Curvy Wheat, bronzes for Top Heavy hefeweizen and Full Frontal Pale Ale); Two Brothers (bronze for Domaine DuPage); Three Floyds (silver for their Gorch Foch Munich-style Helles lager) and Emmett's Tavern & Brewing Company (bronze for their McCarthy Red).
Congratulations are in order to all the winners, although we're still floored that Old Milwaukee Light can be considered an Illinois beer.
Image via joelogon on Flickr.
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I love cheap, disgusting beer, but PBR Light is an abomination.
I am not a fan of 312 at all. Sure it is much better to have a street fest than Bud or a Miller, but I find it to be not much better. It does not taste like most wheat beers to me, much more summer aley. I never quite understand why its found everywhere here in the summer.
I think it's worth noting Goose Island's other awards, since (personally) I'm tiring of the 312 hype. Their Bourbon Wheatmiser took a gold medal for wood- and barrel-aged strong beers, also Wheatmiser (bronze - American-style wheat wine ales), and IPA (silver - English-style India pale ales).
Since when does Pabst qualify as "beer"?
Finally some recognition for my Old Style.
After college, a few friends and family started methodically revisiting the "cheap" beers that were bought for us in high school by kind strangers.
We went through dozens, and most of us came to the conclusion that Old Style is sorta like a perfect American beer.
Just gotta get over the stigma of being one of the cheap beers ya drank in high school.
And, I should note, that someday you will miss it when, for example, you move to the east coast where its not sold.
With those Goose Island medals, there was a distinction between the brewery and the brewpub. The regular and Bourbon Wheatmiser won awards for the brewpub. So load up your strollers with growlers and head down.
One other notable awardee I forgot to mention: Louis Glunz Beer Company took home the Craft Beer Distributor Achievement Award, given by the National Beer Wholesalers Association and the Brewers Association.
nothing for Two Brothers?
One tidbit about Old Style that didn't make the cut on the cheap beer chart I wrote for another publication, JP: Old Style isn't the beer we (or at least I) remember it to be. Pabst doesn't own the original Old Style "krausened" recipe; that distinction goes to LaCrosse Lager.
And to the guest who managed to get in, Two Bros. was listed. I forgot the link to the site.
I don't like old style that much. it's too malty tasting - though my dad drank it by the case. (ditka!)
i like PBR - it's crisp, refreshing and delicious.
even better with a lime - that's called a pbrito.
and i agree about pbr light.
why don't we just do away with all lite/light?
as in "beer"
nice to see Three Floyds in the competition!
One great local brew that was not mentioned was the Bronze that Pete Crowley from Rock Bottom-Chicago received for his Terminal Stout. Congrats Pete!
When I go cheap I gotta go with the Champagne of Beers.
Pabst was, and always will be, a Milwaukee beer.
(It is still contract brewed at Miller breweries in Milwaukee)
When I go cheap, its all about the Mickey's wide mouth, whooot!