ABV Chicago: Ryan’s Top 40 Beers of 2025

Of course there are plenty of stories of contractions and closings in the current reality of craft beer, but I truly believe this one thing: the best beer in history is being made right now. There’s never been greater technical skill, advanced ingredients, and assistive technology at any point, but the true MVP is that at most breweries you visit these days, the people making your beer have put in decades of experience to fine-tune their abilities. We remember ten or fifteen years ago where you’d really want to like a brand new brewery but would have to tiptoe around the fact that some of their beer was downright undrinkable. In this entire calendar year, I didn’t purchase a single beer that I thought would be good but was actually bad. Sure, there are always disappointments of beers that don’t reach the heights you’d hoped, but it’s almost impossible to find beer that is so flawed at its core that it requires dumping. Or maybe I just know how to pick ‘em.

For this wordy list of forty beers, I always start with the preface that I missed out on just an unbelievable number of great beers this year. Having cut back my drinking to one fourth of what it was just five years ago, many of my experiences with great beer are for recording the podcast or attending festivals for the podcast. My wife and I do our fair share of brewery hopping when we can, so that’s reflected here as well. But the days of me going into a liquor store and leaving with a whole basket of new beers to “tick” are long in the rearview – so my apologies if I left off your personal favorite brewery or beer. 

Crunching the numbers on this list, my personal biases are on full display here: there are 18 “hop-driven” beers out of the 40 here, and only one of those is hazy. There are far fewer barrel-aged beers on this list than ever before – only 6 – which is likely due to my tolerance for super strong beers having declined drastically. Lagers continue to climb, as 11 of the 40 fall into that category. And the average ABV for all 40 beers is sitting at a bock-friendly 6.6% ABV – but I’d guess the “mode” of this data set would sit right at 5% ABV. 

Anyways, enjoy this list, check out some of our podcast episodes – and here’s to continuing to drink the best beer in existence in 2026.

40. NWB ESB | Extra Special Bitter | Noon Whistle Brewing | Lombard, IL | 5.2% ABV

There’s no place I go with the family more than Noon Whistle – mainly for their incredible cracker-thin crust “tavern-style” pizza (don’t come after me, Facebook pizza group people), but also because their beers are also beyond solid. I appreciate that the taproom variety goes beyond their wildly successful hazies (of which my wife is a big fan) to regularly include things like Italian Pilsners, hefeweizens, and English-styles, like this ESB. This one nails the caramel nut malt flavor that stops just short of sweet thanks to an earthy and floral hop bite that comes in for the second half of the sip. It took me about two days to burn through my to-go six-pack of this beer, and I didn’t even have delicious pizza to wash down with it. 

39. Schloss Tor | German-Style Pilsner | Helper Beer | Helper, UT | 5% ABV

From Ryan’s Top 40 Beers at GABF 2025 write-up:

We were tipped off by Jacob Sembrano of Cruz Blanca to try this brewery’s Japanese Rice Lager – and that beer was indeed impressive. But this pilsner won a Gold in a category that had 184 entries, and that’s no coincidence. This represents everything we love about pilsner: grain-forward malt notes and a good noble hop bitterness, clean and crisp with an even-keel grassy character. It’s no surprise head brewer Joran Anderson (who we interviewed on our GABF 2025 episode) spent time brewing with Kevin Templin of Templin Family Brewing.

38. HaHa Pils | Northern German Pilsener | Arbeiter Brewing Co. | Minneapolis, MN | 5% ABV – listen

Though I didn’t get to Arbeiter’s location when I was in Minneapolis, I did spend a lot of time browsing at the Wine Thief and Ale Jail in St. Paul, and it was enough inspiration for us to do an entire podcast episode on Minneapolis Lagers. The standout above a pretty excellent bunch of lagers was this multiple award-winning Pilsner which takes a Northern German approach with a cleaner and brighter malt body followed by a slightly more aggressive hop bitterness. There’s a bouquet of fresh grass and flowers that peeks out after a few sips. It’s delightful.

37. Lupula | Hazy IPA | Lolev Beer | Pittsburgh, PA | 7% ABV – listen

Thanks to our friend Aaron Keefner, we were able to blindly compare his choice of great hoppy beers from Pittsburgh against some of Chicagoland’s best – and The Steel City came out strong. I had never heard of Lolev prior to the show, but they’re definitely on my radar now with one of the best hazies I had this year. Teeming with New Zealand hops, this bursts from the glass with strong aromatics of wine grapes, pineapple, stone fruit, pungent earth, and mango. It drinks like a peach and orange mimosa with a decent amount of grassy hops to keep it from ending sweet.  When a hazy can nail propulsive aroma like this and bring a good amount of bitterness to fight off the usual sweetness of the style, it’s a winner in my mind. 

36. H.B.C. (Head Beer in Charge) | American Pale Ale | Homewood Brewing Company | Homewood, IL | 5.5% ABV – listen

This was my first pour when I finally got to the taproom this past June, and it was my first pour again when I visited in December. A pale ale this well-crafted is hard to pass up despite a bevvy of other great options on tap – beers like this used to hold down a flagship spot on a taplist rather than the “hey remember this” approach to pale ales breweries have had over the last six years. It’s a perfect entry beer for the hop curious, but it’s also well-crafted enough to satisfy the hop obsessive. It’s got a nice biscuity honey malt character mixed with bright citrus and earthy grass – but not one element dominates the others. It’s not breaking new ground, but it feels like a beer that’s been dialed in over many years which is an accomplishment in itself. 

35. Game Trail | Trail mix-inspired Porter | Wolfden Brewing | Bloomingdale, IL | 5% ABV

This may have been my number one beer from this year’s revamped Beer Under Glass, although I had a pretty great Maibock collaboration with Brother Chimp while enjoying the early Spring warmth on the incredible Wolfden patio as well. This beer captures exactly what it’s going for – it’s the perfect bite of raisin, nuts, and chocolate hitting the palate all at once. It’s a lightly sweet porter with an easy-drinking body but enough full flavor to make you forget it’s only 5 percent.

34. Kirkland Signature Hell-Style Lager | Helles Lager | Deschutes Brewery | Bend, OR | 4.5% ABV – listen (Patreon only)

Bad news everyone: the CostCo Lager is really, really good. Now, Deschutes is still an independent, family and employee-owned brand, so to me they’re not the problem compared to macro-owned “craft” brands. And hell, CostCo doesn’t seem to be evil beyond their basic existence as a monument to capitalism. Also I may have been known to say, “I wish Kirkland was a sovereign nation,” so perhaps I have some bias. This 12-pack is such a better option than that case of Yuengling in so many ways, as it accomplishes extreme drinkability while not shying away from a slightly more aggressive flavor profile than you’d expect. There’s a distinct plain wafer cookie sweetness that is quickly dried up by a grassy hop note that holds some slight bitterness for the finish. It also has a fullness to it that most Helles don’t, and it pairs well with 54 individually wrapped pouches of Cheez-Itz. It gets five Big Booms from me. 

33. Elevated IPA | American IPA | La Cumbre Brewing Company | Albuquerque, NM | 7.2% ABV – listen

This is another classic of clear IPA that we got to drink again thanks to our IPA All-Stars Blind series on the podcast, and the few times I had this when I was out west somehow didn’t do this justice. Pouring fresh from a can, this one is aromatically explosive, leading with earthy dank cannabis and juicy orange before a decent amount of caramel malt peeks in. In the flavor, it’s a balance of grapefruit and citrus mixed with some piney resin all atop a bready malt base. It leans towards the bitterness in the finish, making this ideal for drinking again and again. This is easily one of the best IPAs in the country.

32. Beer for the Future | Belgian Blonde Ale w/ Kernza grain | Off Color Brewing | Chicago, IL | 5.5% ABV – listen

One of the shows I was happiest to do this year was our Earth Friendly Beers show as it taught us a lot about some of the more sustainable ingredients and practices brewers can utilize to lessen their negative impact on the environment. Off Color made sure every step in this beer’s process made the more sustainable choice, including how they used carbon dioxide and where they composted their spent grain. The long-rooted Kernza grain is less destructive as a farmed product than other grains, though this beer uses it as one of many malt components. It does add something of a nutty flavor to what comes across like a paler version of an Off Color saison, but there’s more notes of melon and citrus that come in with later sips. Good for the planet and great in the glass? That’s an easy choice.

31. Camp Coffee Break | Imperial coffee stout | Triptych Brewing| Savoy, IL | 11% ABV – listen

Themes of nostalgia are running throughout this whole list, and this Triptych beer was one of the few stouts I had this year that had me missing the playlists on my iPod Classic. (God, why was there so much Vampire Weekend on there? I don’t even like them that much.) This beer is heavy on the roast from the malt alone – notes of black licorice and extra dark chocolate are there throughout, but the coffee comes in strong with more burnt roast and light smoke characters. Its magic trick is drying out just enough for the finish to not leave your palate decimated – you keep returning for more despite the 11% ABV. It’s too good.

30. Vibes from the Heartland | West Coast-style Pilsner | Hidden Hand | Naperville, IL | 5.2% ABV – listen (Patreon only)

For whatever reason, I’ll take a West Coast Pilsner over a Cold IPA any day – though some would argue there’s little difference between the two. I think this beer nails what I think stylistically separates the two. Brewed as a collaboration with the Vibes Beer Project and the women of midwestern craft breweries, this beer is more important than what some reviewers think of it – but that’s kind of what we do and we’re not good at breaking routine. But fortunately, this beer is great – it’s crisp and crushable, but it carries across a bold hop character that never goes aggressive. All of the citrus and pine of the hops exists in harmony with the airy cracker pilsner malt of the body. It’s exactly what I hope for whenever I order a West Coast Pilsner from now on.

29. So Fresh and So Green | West Coast-style Pale Ale w/ Cascade fresh hops | Mikerphone Brewing | Elk Grove Village, IL | 5.75% ABV

Even though Fresh or Wet Hop beers have been made for decades, it still feels relatively new to have local Chicagoland brewers releasing them. By using either local hop farms or increasingly-advanced packing and shipping methods, we can get a beer in Elk Grove Village that tastes like it was plucked straight from a Yakima vine. Mike had a Fresh Hop beer on my list last year, and though this one didn’t quite reach those heights, it’s still a beautiful expression of the Cascade hop with notes of grapefruit and pine. The “fresh” part comes in with a slightly more earthy and spicy punch from the hop, but it adds a rawness to this pale that feels authentically West Coast during harvest season.

28. Infinity Pils | West Coast-style Pilsner | Westbound & Down | Idaho Springs, CO | 5.4% ABV – listen

West Coast Pilsners had a pretty good year based on the sheer number of releases we saw locally, but they haven’t quite taken off like we thought they might by now. There’s still hope that it’ll move beyond a seasonal style because this one is a textbook example of great hops meeting a crisp and clean base beer, and why I could really use a beer like this in my life. By the end of the GABF awards ceremony, the crew from Westbound & Down had so many medals they looked weighed down like Harrison Bergeron. This won the silver in 2025 (and the gold in 2024) for Hoppy Lager, and the name is an accurate description of how long I could drink a fresh pour of this beer.

27. Barrel-Aged Adambier | Whiskey barrel-aged Adambier | Giant Jones Brewing Company | Madison, WI | 9.3% ABV – listen

I say this with great affection: the Giant Jones crew are some of the biggest nerds around, and we as beer drinkers are all the better for it. But really, they’re regularly blowing dust off books about historical beer styles to do things not many folks are doing anymore – and that’s cooler than hell. And since their execution is so immaculate, the Giant Jones version of that obscure style becomes my baseline for understanding a whole style. Like this Adambier, aged in whiskey barrels. It has flavors of dark wheat bread baked with cherries and prunes, a kiss of bitters, and some nutty bourbon notes to keep it dry in the end. It sometimes comes in like a bourbon cocktail, and at other times it’s a hunk of fruitcake – but at all times, it is delicious and complex without being overwhelming. 

26. Pub Ale | English-Style Pale Ale | Pilot Brewing | Charlotte, NC | 5.6% ABV

From Ryan’s Top 40 Beers at GABF 2025 write-up:

Pilot Brewing was previously unknown to us, but they are quite familiar to the awards stage. Though they were sadly shut out this year at GABF, they have the highest medal count of any brewery in Charlotte, including a Gold at World Beer Cup this year for their Czech Dark Lager, and a Gold at last year’s GABF for this Pub Ale. This beer is the perfect combination of breadiness, accented by a touch of fruity sweetness, before a lightly bitter finish that keeps it all clean in the end.

25. Thrillseeker | American IPA | Beachwood Brewing | Huntington Beach, CA | 7.1% ABV

I’m a little worried that local hop lovers don’t appreciate that one of California’s best West Coast IPA makers is semi-regularly dropping fresh cans in Chicagoland, and that in this age of contraction, we’ll lose access to some of the country’s best-made hoppy beers. Of course we here at ABV Chicago are all for supporting local – but for goodness sake, snatch up those fresh Beachwood cans whenever they show up! This was a new addition to the Citraholic and Amalgamator cans we normally see, and hot damn, it’s just as impressive as those two. It has just enough sweet caramel malt character to keep it from going too bright, and the hop bill of Chinook, Centennial, Summit, and Simcoe gives off crazy notes of pine resin, tangerine, onion, funky earth, and gassy cannabis. Let’s hope we see a lot more of this in the future.

24. From Earth to You | Gin barrel-aged Mexican lager w/ hibiscus, rosehips, and orange peel | Black Horizon Brewing Company | Willowbrook, IL | 5% ABV – listen

Since 2018, Black Horizon has won four FoBAB medals, all by using gin barrels. This beer has now won back to back golds in the Specialty/Experimental category, and they should take no shame in going for a Santana & Rob Thomas-like run of awards by entering this beer every year. Aromatically, you get perfume that’s a little more fruit than floral, and something like a brunch cocktail of pomegranate juice and cranberry sprite. On the taste, there’s an upfront essence of gin botanical, followed by fruit and some floral sweetness before it finishes bone dry, almost like licking a hibiscus leaf without the tinny character. Two sips will get you curious, but by sip five, you’re absolutely hooked. 

23. Furious | American IPA | Surly Brewing Co. | Minneapolis, MN | 6.7% ABV – listen

I’m going a bit nostalgia-heavy when it comes to IPAs on this list, but that’s our fault for doing the IPA All-Star Blind series we started this year for the podcast. This one actually helped build the concept for that series, as I happened to be in Minneapolis at the Surly taproom for the first time ever this year – and you know I started with a pour of Furious. It hits those aggressive pine and citrus hoppy notes that so many others do, but the difference maker for me is just how insanely malty this IPA is. It’s borderline English IPA or aggressively hopped Pub Ale with the amount of caramel wheat bread crust that is all over this thing, but the finish goes back the IBU route with long-lingering sticky pine resin.

22. Abzugbier 10° Austrian Lager | Abzugbier | Fair Isle Brewing Co. | Seattle, WA | 4.4% ABV  – listen (Patreon only)

Seeing cans of Fair Isle on specialty bottle shop shelves and having their beers poured at FoBAB this year is great news for Chicago locals looking for more options in the artfully crafted saison and lager categories. This unfamiliar-to-us lager style didn’t break new ground exactly, but it did present something like blending a stellar German Helles with an excellent Vienna Lager. It had some of that earthy and floral hop character of the Helles with a more bready malt backbone like a Vienna. Whatever the hell it is, I’ll take a lot more.

21. Terp Trail | West Coast-Style IPA | Brothership Brewing | Mokena, IL | 6.3% ABV 

Do breweries still release 4/20 beers now that THC beverages are a thing? I seem to remember more “weedy” beers prior to legalization, but maybe that’s just me. The folks at Brothership could’ve definitely sold this with some bloodshot-eyed alien throwing up peace fingers on the label, but they went Oregon Trail instead to evoke those ridiculously dank PNW hops. (And hopefully not dysentery.) This does smell and drink like a Wet Hop beer, with notes of eucalyptus and green onion alongside sticky Sour Diesel nuggets with a kiss of spicy orange sauce. It’s similarly aggressive in the flavor with a bit more sweetness to help even out some of the stronger green notes, but it doesn’t hold back much. I can see this appealing to a certain type of IPA drinker (i.e. me).

20. PILS | Pilsner | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Chico, CA | 4.7% ABV – listen (Patreon only)

Putting their newly released pilsner in 8.4 ounce cans and claiming the small format helps preserve the freshness and effervescence appropriate for proper enjoyment when poured from the can into a glass seems like some real clever marketing – and I bought it up, just an absolutely 100 percent rube. If it were any other brewery of this size, I might call B.S., but Sierra can do no wrong in my eyes. This Pils is pretty exceptional in its fleeting use of bitterness to add another level to this, as it’s otherwise a crisp and smooth easy-drinker with a bit more malt depth than you’d expect. And you’ll need a lot more than 8.4 ounces of it.

19. La Dama Catrina | Barleywine aged in bourbon barrels w/ Mexican cocoa, ancho chiles, Mexican vanilla, and canela | Cruz Blanca Brewery | Chicago, IL | 14% ABV – listen

There was this golden era of Mexican hot chocolate or Mexican cake-inspired stouts back in the early 2010s, where you’d have to beg and steal to get a bottle of Perennial’s Abraxas or something similar. It’s odd that interest in those beers stalled out a bit – though the quality likely never waned too much. Leave it to Jacob Sembrano to find a new approach that incorporates some similar ingredients and influence of those beers to something that feels entirely new. Using a long-aged barleywine as its base instead of a stout is perhaps the most impactful choice, but it’s also clear that the added cocoa, chiles, vanilla, and canela are balanced with such skill to give them all equal emphasis with no threat of domination. This beer is luscious and warming and absolutely deserving of its medal win at FoBAB this year.

18. Duck Duck Gooze [2025] | Gueuze-Style Ale | The Lost Abbey | Vista, CA | 7% ABV

From Ryan’s Top 40 Beers at GABF 2025 write-up:

One of the biggest surprises for us as veteran GABF attendees was seeing this beer being served until basically the end of each session – possibly America’s best gueuze-style beer. Years ago, this beer would draw lines that would snake on forever, and the “KICKED” sticker would be up after an hour or so. Times may have changed, but this beer largely has not – and it’s still only released once every three years. The sourness is sharp and upfront before settling into a peachy prosecco mimosa, with some otherworldly funk thrown in. 

17. Circa ‘09 | West Coast-Style Double IPA | Blind Corner Brewing | Naperville, IL | 8.5% ABV

This one almost came in as my favorite “throwback” Double IPA, but it did get barely edged out by #14 below. But damn, I admire how hard this one goes for it, including the name. It’s exactly like someone smuggled back a fresh bottle of Pizza Port from their California trip in ‘09 and you’re dying for a top-off on your three ounce pour. But instead, it’s 2025 and you have a whole 4-pack of this to yourself. This is teeming with pine needles and orange pith and grapefruit candy with a touch of caramel sweetness and a long-lasting bitterness that pulls no punches. Here’s hoping this becomes a semi-regular brew for the Blind Corner crew because they absolutely nailed this one.

16. Granary KellerBier | Unfiltered German Pilsner | Templin Family Brewing | Salt Lake City, UT | 4.7%

From Ryan’s Top 40 Beers at GABF 2025 write-up:

At this point, I’m amazed I can still find a pilsner-style beer that does something unique without breaking style, and this one from Utah’s Templin will live in my memory for a long time. The star of this beer is its grain character – it tastes like a rustic slice of artisanal bread, lightly touched by a honey-like sweetness. The noble hop characters here bring in just a touch of floral and earth, adding a very slight yet crisp bitterness in the late palate. 

15. Rum V.S.O.J. | Barleywine Ale aged in rum barrels | Revolution Brewing | Chicago, IL | 13.5% ABV  – listen

Craig made a good point when I mentioned that I always associate rum with sweetness: it could likely be due to me always mixing it with Coke or apple cider – just sugar on sugar. And though I’ve sampled fancier labels of bourbon and tequila over the years, I’ve pretty much experienced the same three rums since college, and none are what people would consider “good.” So when Rev takes an already sweet yet deeply complex beer like V.S.O.J. and throws it into Cruzan Rum casks – along with some supplemental oak from Marty’s stash – the results exceeded every expectation I had. There are some more distinct notes of brown sugar and caramel than on the base, but they are attenuated out to the point of dryness by the end of the sip. Silky ribbons of caramel, vanilla, and butter roasted pecans give way to oak and pipe tobacco somewhere in the middle. This might be my favorite Deep Wood variant to date that they’ve released in 19.2 ounce cans. 

14. Double Stop | Double IPA | Flipside Brewing | Tinley Park, IL | 9.2% ABV – listen

This one took a straight route for this list by loading up on my three favorite hops in existence: Simcoe, Centennial, and Citra. Released as an anniversary beer (so keep your calendars somewhat open in late July 2026), this is about as close to perfect as a Double IPA can get. Starting strong, it pours with a golden caramel color like IPAs of yesteryear. The malt sweetness in aroma continues the nostalgia trip before quickly being overtaken by resinous dank grapefruit cannabis and a touch of orange marmalade. Both juicy grapefruit and sticky pine are the most prominent flavors, but there’s a chewy malt that pulls it together. It has bitterness that punches pretty hard at first before settling in and lingering a bit past the sip. 

13. Funksloth | Foeder-aged Farmhouse Ale | Bow & Arrow Brewing Co. | Albuquerque, NM | 6.3% ABV

From Ryan’s Top 40 Beers at GABF 2025 write-up:

When we first attended GABF over a decade ago, so many brewers spoke of building sour programs – buying up foeders and wine barrels for Belgian-inspired ales teeming with tartness and funk. For a few years, the results of these efforts – though both wild in terms of fermentation and, ahem, quality – were easy to find all over the festival floor. At the 2025 fest, there were very few wild, funky, or sour beers being offered largely due to economic downturns and changes in consumer tastes. So when we came across any at all, we were excited to relive the good ol’ sour days. This beer from the excellent Bow & Arrow veers more towards a funky, terroir-driven beer that gives a little tartness in its dry finish rather than some tannic sour bomb. It’s a little earthy with some notes of grass, bubblegum, peach skin, and gooseberry. It was the most memorable and satisfying sip of the whole fest – and one that I went back for several times.

12. Kayak Pils | German-style Pilsner | Riverlands Brewing | St. Charles, IL | 4.8% ABV  – listen

There are quite a few pilsners on the list this year, but this was the best I had – and my first pint was poured when we sat down with Eric and Bri at the start of January. Though they do just about everything well – and 2025 was a year that validated their barrel program with medal wins at both GABF and FoBAB – this beer is their pride and joy. A previous medal winner itself at the 2024 U.S. Open Beer Championship, this does what a perfectly-made German-style pilsner should do. Its crispness is brought on by a gentle bitterness across the middle and back end, while a lightly sweet malt note is complemented by a touch of citrus. I dare you to try this and not audibly say, “ahhhh” in satisfaction after your first sip. Go ahead. Do it. 

11. DDH FKA | American IPA | Werk Force Brewing | Plainfield, IL | 6.8% ABV – listen

There’s nothing like discovering that the beer you were always looking for was right in front of you all along. Actually, that’s not entirely true, because I don’t actually see this beer around enough – and from now on, I’ll never ignore it when it is available. But it is one of the few “flagship” beers from the prolific crew at Werk Force, and there’s a damn good reason for it. This IPA is top shelf tropical cannabis with notes of honey-dipped pineapple and gassy herbals that leaves a lingering bitter streak in the finish. This has the aroma and flavor that other breweries use terpenes to achieve before emblazoning the can with a red-eyed knockoff drawing of Alf for their 420 release – but Werk Force does this by putting their sole focus on the hops.

10. Akahoshi Biiru Conditioned on Cedar | Saison w/ Koji rice aged on cedar | is/was brewing (with Akahoshi Ramen) | Chicago, IL | 5.4% ABV  – listen

Mike Schallau has joked on occasion that he must “hate money” because he almost exclusively makes saison, but he’s done so much more to make the is/was taproom an ideal place for anyone looking for a comfortable spot and a variety of tasty beverages. But if saisons get you excited (like us), you have to make this a regular destination to appreciate Mike’s unique artistry. So many restaurants have recognized his like-minded approach to ingredients and story that he has been tapped as a regular collaboration partner like with this beer he made with Logan Square’s Akahoshi Ramen. Though we didn’t have a chance to pair this with food, it’s obvious that this beer can complement the rich umami, garlic, and spice of ramen as its lightly effervescent body washes the palate clean enough to appreciate the bright fruit notes of stone fruit and citrus mixing with bubblegum. Further sips bring out the hints of cedar with something like crushed peanuts and miso sneaking in for the finish. In our tasting of saisons at the taproom that could all be considered highlights, this was a standout.

9. Barrel-Aged Nightmare Fuel | Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout w/ coffee | River North Brewery | Denver, CO | 14.8% ABV – listen

Prior to this year, I had known River North as the Denver brewery that regularly brought 18% ABV and up beers to GABF which were always fun for a sip. But this year, we spent a lot more time sampling their booth and drinking at their taproom – and from sessionable Belgian beers to blended barrel-aged old ales, everything they do is damn impressive. This beer is a coffee lover’s dream – pure bitter espresso from start to finish with a medium body of dark cherry and unsweetened cocoa powder with earthy tobacco and vanillin notes from the barrel. We don’t even mind if it keeps us up at night.

8. Kuddel Muddel | Kottbusser | Miskatonic Brewing/Seldom Beer Co. | Darien, IL | 6.1% ABV – listen

For years we’ve sung the praises of Miskatonic and called them one of Illinois’ most underappreciated breweries – and at the end of November, that social media post we all fear went up like it has for so many others this year. With the closing of Miskatonic at the end of 2025, the Western suburbs loses one of the steadiest taplists of varied styles, a comfortable taproom with ample outdoor seating, and some of the best dog-sighting around. And as podcasters, we always appreciated their willingness to take on – and nail – unusual or historical styles. I can count on one hand the number of Kottbussers I’ve had, but I know that drinking this from a half-liter dimpled mug at the taproom was sublime. It’s got the fuller mouthfeel of something like a bock, and the darker malts and honey give this a sweeter middle. But there’s a dry-roasted nutty character in the end that keeps the sweetness from lingering. This brewery was truly special: their West Coast Wizard, lagers, dessert-inspired stouts, Long Tongue Liar sours will all be dearly missed, but not as much as the hospitality at the taproom. I will hold out hope that the brand and/or space will find new life and someday get the recognition they always deserved. Miskatonic will be forever missed.

7. Head Hunter | American IPA | Fat Head’s Brewery | Middleburg Heights, OH | 7.5% ABV – listen

I’m sure landing number 7 on a year end list from one host of a regional craft beer podcast is up there with Head Hunter’s most distinguished awards. But really, it’s an accepted fact that this is one of the best IPAs in the world, and we put it to the most arbitrary of tests this year through our IPA All-Stars Blind series of episodes – and it rightfully earned a perfect score from us both. Take your IPA descriptor fridge magnets and arrange them any way you’d like: citrus, tropical, resinous, dank, piney, bitter. It’s aggressive in all the right ways, and it really needs to come to Chicagoland more often.

6. Farm to Fist | Fresh Hop IPA | Revolution Brewing | Chicago, IL | 7.5% ABV

It seemed like fewer breweries locally released fresh hop beer after a pretty significant showing last year. The first fresh hop beers I had this season were out in Denver at GABF, and they were predictably great and left me wanting more – and it wasn’t until Revolution released this one did I truly find what I was seeking. It’s dripping with pine resins and juicy citrus, boldly bitter and slightly sweet. It’s sticky on the tongue long past the sip, and every sip builds on it a little bit. It’s as good as anything I had from a West Coast or Pacific Northwest brewery, and it was my single favorite IPA that I drank in a year of incredible IPAs. 

5. Val’s Helles | Helles Lager | Kinslahger Brewing Company | Oak Park, IL | 4.7% ABV – listen

I’m so grateful I grew up with record stores. In Homewood, we had Record Swap, and most of the people behind the counter would play out back at Off the Alley in their own punk bands, so I’d buy their seven-inch records to be cool. Even younger, my dad would take me to Hegewisch out in Calumet City, and I remember being oddly fascinated by Megadeth and Iron Maiden posters hanging from the ceiling. As a teenager, I finished my supervised driving hours by dragging my mom to Threshold in Tinley Park once a week, only to learn about its secret backroom business years later. Had I grown up near Oak Park, it would’ve been Val’s Halla where I’d spend my time discovering dusty old gems of the 60s and 70s. Kinslahger made this beer as a tribute to the long-standing institution – and drinking a 4-pack of this will have you reminiscing about record stores of your past, if you were lucky enough to have them. But this beer is a grain-forward Helles that tastes like chewing on straight Pilsner malt, and I mean that in the best way. It has a touch of grassy hop to keep it crisp in the end – and it’s one of the best lagers I tasted all year.

4. Kuro and Kika Attaque! | Farmhouse Pale Ale | Off Color Brewing & Brasserie de la Senne | Chicago, IL & Brussels, Belgium | 5.7% ABV – listen (Patreon only)

This is one of those dream collaboration beers that takes two of my favorite beers in the world and mixes them together, so I was glad to drink this and not be let down in any way. It has the hoppy character from Taras Boulba with the bigger ester character from Apex Predator. It starts a little sharp and ends nice and soft. Two great tastes that taste great together. And they didn’t forget to include the “Smeirlap!”

3. Slow Melt | Pale Ale | Half Acre Beer Co. | Chicago, IL | 5.8% ABV – listen

When Half Acre introduces a new pale ale as a year-round, they must have a ton of confidence that it can sit next to Daisy Cutter and stand out. A while back, they had piloted a version of their Smoking Gull with Weihenstephaner yeast, and Craig sang its praises when he got a pour at the taproom, and I figured I missed my chance at having it. Well, nope – this is essentially that beer. It leans on the fruity esters of the yeast to amplify the tropical fruits and citrus of the hops before it descends into a dank weed basement. The sip is immaculate from front to back, where the slight sweet fruity notes are up front, a bitter peak follows in the middle, and the finish is almost lager-like, both clean and dry. It’s a more modern pale ale from the Chicago pale ale brewery, and it hits every target. 

2. Fifth Anniversary Bock | Bock | Goldfinger Brewing | Downers Grove, IL | 6.6% ABV – listen

Tom Beckmann’s love for what he does is infectious, and we were fortunate to witness it firsthand several times this year. When we recorded with him at the start of summer, he was downright giddy about just having used Citra and Mosaic for the first time in a Goldfinger beer (a West Coast Pilsner that was delightful). At a First Tuesday Tapping, he pulled a few of us aside to tell us about the beer he’s putting in bombers like he’d found a portal to 2012. This is that beer, and it ends up being the perfect kind of beer to have in a 22 ounce serving. It pours clear and caramel and kicks off aromatics of pretzel dough, wildflower honey, and juicy plum. The flavor is malt-forward with honey bread crusts and a touch of molasses before herbal hops help cut off any threat of lingering sweetness. Maybe for Year 6 we’ll get a six-pack of 12 ounce bottles of a beer just as good as this. No single lager wowed me as much as this one this year.

1. MI Pale | Pale Ale | Suncatcher Brewing | Chicago, IL | 5% ABV – listen

Opening in the fall of 2024, Matt Gallagher’s new concept came to him in a dream. After being a crucial partner in the founding of Half Acre as we know it, Gallagher dreamt he was selling straightforward beers direct to customers from a tiny corner of the original Half Acre Balmoral space: no frills – just great beer handed directly to those that would be enjoying it. And with Suncatcher, he’s living that dream. The beers are focused and immaculate, served straight from the tank, and rarely ever packaged. The best way to experience Suncatcher is to just be there – the space has an old pub feel while also being bright and intimate all at the same time. Drinking this MI Pale – made with Michigan-grown Nugget, Chinook, and Cashmere hops – was a transcendent experience. I have loved craft beer for two decades and have spent a dozen years turning that hobby into a time-consuming, debt-accumulating, but frequently-rewarding little weekly podcast thing – and I’d be lying if I said there weren’t times (monthly) when I wondered if it was still worth it. But then comes a beer like this. Pale barley malt creates a foundation of unseasoned grissini like you’d rip open at the table of an Italian restaurant you were dragged to as a kid. The Midwestern-grown hops taste a bit earthy and raw, giving off the right mix of citrus, berries, and a touch of sticky pine. The bitterness in the finish moves from the middle to the back of the tongue and lingers just long enough past the sip. It reaffirms what craft beer can and should be – but not in a way to invalidate those that do it differently. It’s like the excitement of hearing your new favorite song for the first time where it feels both entirely new and like it’s existed for decades simultaneously. It’s a dream of a beer that you won’t want to leave.