Best Breweries To Visit in Chicago Burbs?

Can you give us an idea where to start? There's a lot of Chicago suburbs...

 

As far as south and west, in no particular order:
Imperial Oak
Pollyanna
Miskatonic
Blue Nose
BuckleDown
Alter
Noon Whistle
More
Hailstorm
350
Metal Monkey
Dry City
Solemn Oath

Yep. I love them all.

 

Half Acre, Off Color, Corridor, Forbidden Root, Spiteful. Check out Local Option for a craft bar. There are aeveral more option depnding where you are locating.

Cheers

 

You must have missed the 'Suburbs' qualifier in OP's post.

OP, as asked above it would be helpful to know which area you are in. To add to the above list, Mikerphone is another popular pick these days.

 

Great list. I would add Soundgrowler in Tinley Park, One Trick Pony in Lansing, Evil Horse in Crete, 18th Street in Hammond IN and of course, Three Floyds in Munster IN.

 

And if you're going to be in the south burbs, I think a stop at the Open Bottle is a must. Great to go selection, and almost always something(s) great on tap.

@ja1022 how is Soundgrowler? I've been meaning to stop by and check it out one of these days when up visiting fam. As a lifelong fan of obscure metal genres and also craft beer, this joint is very appealing to me.

 

@ja1022 how is Soundgrowler? I've been meaning to stop by and check it out one of these days when up visiting fam. As a lifelong fan of obscure metal genres and also craft beer, this joint is very appealing to me.[/QUOTE]

Soundgrowler is good. Has a nice vibe to it. It's kinda like Three Floyds Light. Agreed on Open Bottle too.

 

In the western burbs try . More Brewing and Lunar Brewing in Villa Park, Noon Whistle in Lombard, The Bavarian Lodge ( called the lodge by some), in Lisle, Two Brothers in Warrenville. ,and Solemon Oath in Naperville. Mikerphone in Elk Grove Village.Try checking BA places. You can't loose here .

 

Great places - could spend a week or two at these.

 

I hear you @REVZEB, I'm just trying to narrow down if you're looking for local places vs. weekend tripping.

For SW burbs, and piggybacking off other suggestions, Solemn Oath in Naperville is a good first stop. Industrial taproom brewery space. (FWIW, 2 Fools Cider is in the same park but you can read about that on Cider Advocate.) Two Brothers has restaurants in Aurora (the Roundhouse) and Naperville (the Craftsman) and a taproom/brewpub in Warrenville. Bavarian Lodge in Lisle is a German restaurant with a fantastic tap and bottle list. If you're looking to hit some other spots in a day/weekend, you can check out taprooms for Alter in Downers Grove, Myths & Legends in Westmont, Skeleton Key in Woodridge, Pollyanna in Lemont, Miskatonic in Darien, and Black Horizon in Willowbrook. I've only been to a couple of these so I can't share much in the way of experience, but they're starting to gain some traction at local restaurants too, so you've got something to keep an eye out for. Happy hunting!

 

I might as well speak up for the eastern suburbs.... any brewpub in West Michigan.

 

To Mothergooses' point, I live on the IN/IL state line and I'm about an hour from southwest Michigan and Transient, Haymarket and Greenbush. Drive another hour and I'm in Kalamazoo or Grand Rapids. For me, construction notwithstanding, I'd rather drive an hour to Michigan than dick around with driving an hour through Chicago. Southwest/West Michigan is an awesome beer area and pretty damn convenient from the south side of Chicago.

 

Here's the other question... Where did you move from? Trying to get a sense of the previous beer scene you knew and what to recommend (plus or minus) compared to what you are familiar with. Or even what styles you like. For example, Noon Whistle in Lombard would be a good bet out this way if you are big on hazy or NE style IPAs.

 

I was going to say Lunar. One of my all time favorites. Couple of decent liquor stores and a homebrew shop around there too, if your into that.

South burbs need more love! Horse Thief Hollow in Beverly (technically City, but right on the border), Tribes in Mokena, 5 Rabbit in Bedford Park.
Also, on the other side of town, Temperance in Evanston.

 

+1 on 5 Rabbit.
Also if you are looking at Horse Thief Hollow, you have to hit Open Outcry about 2 blocks away, and then head south to Blue Island Brewing and from there you could hit One Trick Pony, 18th Street, and even Indiana.