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The State Of Craft Beer At Chicago's Ballparks

By Anthony Todd in Food on May 23, 2013 8:20PM

A common complaint about many popular tourist destinations and sports arenas is that the food and drink options aren't... great. Both of Chicago's baseball stadiums have been making some progress in recent years, with expanded vegetarian and gluten free options, but they've never quite reflected the glory that is the local Chicago food scene. This has been especially true for beers, as both stadiums have been slow to add craft brews to their lineups. This year, however, things are looking up for baseball fans.

The Tribune's Josh Noel spent time drinking at both Wrigley and U.S. Cellular fields (what a hard job) and compared their craft beer options. For 2013, U.S. Cellular took home the prize with their new "Midwest Beer" kiosks. These kiosks offer beers like Mad Hatter IPA from New Holland, Barfly IPA and Windy City Wheat.

The beer selections aren't particular risky, but at least they are there.

Though fairly broad, the Cell isn't exactly brave in its options: Most of its better beer is lighter summer fare, such as Oberon (another Midwestern classic, from Bell's Brewery), Summer Ale (a tasty golden ale from Minnesota's Summit Brewing) and Ebel's Weiss (a zesty wheat beer from Two Brothers Brewing in Warrenville).

Noel found fewer options at Wrigley, which is dominated by bad beer. The most exotic thing he could find was Red Stripe which is brewed by Bud. If you're desperate, head to the Captain Morgan Club, where they have a few Goose Island beers on draft.