Illinois 2019 GABF Discussion

Pollyanna Lite Reading - Gold in Best American-Style Lager or American-Style Pilsener.

 

It was a good day for IL breweries.

 

I had a can of Beezer a few days ago; it's very solid. Definitely better than when they first started brewing it.

 

Beezer has been steady for awhile now and usually can be found fresh for $13/4pk. Congrats to them

 

le jus and beezer are fine beers, I prefer the latter but it's nothing more than a solid beer.

they are both approachable and can appeal to a wider audience though, so I can see how they won

 

That was my takeaway when Le Jus won, so I think that's pretty fair.

Either way, I'm happy when lesser-known local breweries win things, because the more support they get, the better.

Within reason, of course; I god forbid their beers become hard for me to buy!

 

I'm pretty surprised Begyle won the BA stout category with BA Imperial Pajamas. It's a nice beer for sure but I can think of tons of better BA stouts in Chicago alone.

 

This seems to be the thinking with why beers like this win (and same with Beezer & Le Jus). I think they are all fine beers, but they are not ones I would ever say are best in class, even for this area. And I don't think very many locals would tell out of towners they are the top beers to seek out here either.

That's why I find these awards pretty much meaningless for me. I'm glad these breweries are getting some publicity for themselves, but it makes me no more inclined to buy those beers.

 

Eh I disagree in the sense that I never tried Le Jus until I heard it won gold. I've never had Beezer but will probably try it now.

 

More people should try Old Irving in general, but I agree that this sort of award makes me more personally likely to try hazy beers I'd have skipped over.

I don't take much stock in awards in general, but I will still admit that when (for example) a movie wins the Best Picture Oscar, I'm at least a little more curious than I was before. In the same vein, I tried Le Jus right after it won last year; that was good enough for me, but it at least got me trying it.

I also grabbed a bottle of Very, Very Far on Sat. for the same reason; it's not that I'm expecting a world-beater, but it helps to give me a little more focus when I'm looking at 500 different beers in Beermiscuous' fridges.

 

True, and that was the same for me with Le Jus. I guess I was more referring to the beers I've already had that win awards. But, with Le Jus, it was definitely a one time experience after it won the award. It's decent, but no need to seek it out again.

 

Looking forward to trying Swingin' Single and some pizza at Piece later this month.