Best beers in Chicago this January

Your friend is not likely to find any of the rarer stuff as it wouldn't be rarer then, right? In all seriousness, how about finding things that don't see distro to WA? Plenty of options abound. Your friend could step into a Binny's each of the 30 days and find a new release on the shelf that was not there the day prior. Pipeworks, Revolution, FFF & Half Acre are the usual suspects. Have them stop by a quality store like the Beer Temple & they'll leave with enough beer to fill their luggage for the return trip home. Heck, if they have access to a car & time allows, they could even make a trek up to Kenosha to grab some New Glarus & other WI goodness.

 

It's not "rare" and actually isn't from Chicago, but you could have him look for some Central Waters BB Stout. A first batch already came around and pretty much sold out, but there are rumors that another shipment should be coming. It's not as good as BCBS IMO, but it's a great barrel-aged stout that is much easier to attain.

 

Still alot of BCS around, although I'm sure that has made it out to you. Drago is a very solid BA Stout that is on shelfs out here. It's not "rare," but very underrated. The BA Pipeworks has come and gone. Abrasive is still out there for the taking. Big Hugs is still lingering around. Dino S'mores has been showing up on shelves still. Deth's Tar, Straight Jacket should be easy to find.

Sorry if this is no help, but no "brewery only" releases pop to mind in Jan.

 

Not sure if he's in town yet, but if he runs to a Binnys today he can probably find Pipeworks Spotted Puffer and if he's lucky Spiteful Malevolence Chocolate Caliente (Not BA). Might be wise to make a few calls in case they are gone. Always worth keeping an eye on the Pipeworks release thread on this forum.

Revolution A Little Crazy is really good and hits today. Not "rare" but a seasonal release that is only around for a month or two. Straight Jacket hits in January as well. One of the best BA barleywines out there.

Half Acre does interesting one offs on an almost monthly basis, many of which are brewery only. Would keep an eye on their Facebook/blog.

3 Floyds will randomly and infrequently have something "rare" for sale at the kiosk. I wouldn't count on it, but it doesn't hurt to keep an eye on their social media as well. This is, of course, assuming he has a car and free time.

 

Be on the look out for 4 hands Madagascar when it hits this state which should be any day now.

That being said, the Chicago craft beer scene is already a total shark pit. Finding rare beers here is a total nightmare when competing with the guys who can leave work on a dime and get to the bottle shops in under 10 minutes.

 

I'll second Drago. It should be fairly easy to find and its as good or better than most of the more popular barrel aged stouts I've tried.

 

Sticking with @The_Beer_Shark 's recommendation of 4 Hands, I would also throw in their Ca$h Mony. Its not crazy rare but a solid double IPA that comes out yearly and is on the shelves.

Plead by Dark Horse is also on shelves which is great.

 

It's also worth noting that most 3 Floyds bombers that see distro tend to sit at stores line Binny's these days. This is a relatively new development, as they had been very scarce for many years... They are not "rare" to the Chicago beer nerd scene anymore but certainly nice beers that are worth buying if you don't have regular access.

 

3 Floyds behemoth barleywine

 

I was at the brewery last Wednesday and they said this will be bottled shortly. They released a barrel aged version of this last January that was only sold at the brewery. Was lucky to snag one, still sitting in my cellar.

 

I would personally keep an eye out for Permanent Funeral from Three Floyds (I'm not sure if it'll be around, but it's my favorite beer of theirs, and an all-around awesome DIPA). Revolution has a bunch of BA beers hanging around right now, so any of those would work (Deth's Tar, for example). The Goose Island sisters (Gillian and co.) just hit, so you might see some of them.

Another one I'm gonna throw out there is one I was recently impressed by, and that you should find pretty easily: Hop Skip by Brookstone. Lots of citra flavor (if you're into that), and pretty balanced. It's a 6 pack of cans for $11, so I'd definitely give it a try.

Obviously whatever DIPAs Pipeworks has recently dropped are a good choice if you're into hoppy-as-hell beer, and you might be able to find regular Darkness around somewhere.

As others have said, though, there is so much good stuff in Chicago, I wouldn't get too caught up on what's rare and what's not. We buy a lot of shit based on hype, so just because it's on the shelves doesn't mean it isn't awesome.

 

Gotta wonder how the flooding down state is going to affect this?

 

It might make more sense to update this thread when he's actually in town so we can highlight specific beers and specific stores nearby his hotel. Stuff flies off the shelf so fast here that we could suggest a beer now that he would literally have to be in the right place within a few hour window in order to get it.

 

Your friend has really brought together the Chicago BAs

 

While I agree to a certain extent (in that we'll better know what's on shelves then), 1) that will require people to remember to update this thread while the friend is in town and 2) honestly, stuff flies off shelves fast enough that if we update the thread when something hits, it'll be gone already.

 

Lol there's just no way to win!