Best craft beer bars in Chicago?

I'm sure there are 1,000,000 opinions on this, but my personal favorites are Bangers and Lace, Links Taproom, and Hopleaf.

 

If you let us know what neighborhoods you plan to visit, that might help narrow it down too

 

Do you know what neighborhood you'll be staying in?

 

I'll jump in here too, I'll be in Chicago for work Sep 21st - 23rd. What's worth checking out besides Local Option? Definitely doing that. Also doing Howell's and Hood for a business dinner/drinks.

Staying in the River North area.

 

Where will you be staying? Are you willing to travel a bit outside of that area? What are you looking for in a beer bar besides well...beer?

 

Credit to @Mattmc1973 for compiling these threads. Hope it helps OP. Enjoy your stay!!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-highlights.422752/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-trip-apologies-for-the-overlap.423013/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/best-chicago-beer-bars.413208/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-trip-questions.410150/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-beercation-questions.399297/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/downtown-chicago-help-needed.396421/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-bottle-shops.394946/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-bachelor-party.377454/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...chicago-next-week-any-recommendations.375593/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/advice-on-some-brewery-visits-chicago.362546/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-trip.352726/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/looking-for-a-great-bottle-shop-in-chicago.352467/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/breweries-in-chicago.351007/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/visiting-chicago-need-suggestions.342572/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-trip-advice.339394/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-recommendations.337960/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-visit.335643/

 

@Goheels93 Just go to Local Option lol

 

Really depends on what you want/where you're at. Some places are fantastic for the taplist, some have amazing food, etc.

 

I'd personally get out of the Loop, although there are a few good ones around here (Monk's, Lone Wolf, etc.).

I'd give Haymarket and Au Cheval a try as they're relatively close, both have awesome food (the Au Cheval burger is frequently positioned as one of the best in Chicago and sometimes the country), Haymarket brews great beers (especially their barrel-aged stuff), and Au Cheval has a solid taplist.

I'm a huge fan of the OG in Chicago, GI Clybourn. The brewpub is a really cool place with good food, and there are always a bunch of beers on tap you'll never have elsewhere. Not all are amazing, but they have some great stuff, and as a beer geek it's worth a trip just to see where it all began. Across the street from them is Binny's Lincoln Park, probably the best liquor store in the city (if not the state). You can have a drink there as well, and browse beer/liquor while you do so.

Not too far from the above, you can check out Local Option (as @smb mentioned). It's one of the best bars in town for beer, and always has a killer taplist. A couple other favorites in the same vein are The Green Lady and Northdown Taproom, within a couple blocks of each other on Lincoln Ave (not close to you, but maybe worth the trip). There's a cool little taproom/boutique called Bitter Pops in that same stretch of Lincoln, and if you continue north you can hit up Half Acre and the Bad Apple (great burgers and taplist). Honestly, Lincoln is a stacked street when it comes to beer, and you can take the bus all up and down it.

I've heard nothing but good things about the Revolution brewpub in Logan Square, but haven't made it myself. Their taproom on Kedzie is great, and there's a bunch of food nearby that you can bring in, if you'd like (I go for the Little Caesar's + White Castle combo, myself, because yolo).

If you're browsing the Loop area for beer shops, I recommend Warehouse Liquors and Binny's on Grand. Both have nice staff and a good selection, and aren't too far from you.

Where in NC are you from? I visit my brother in Chapel Hill as much as I can; great area!

 

Links, Local Option, GI Clybourne, Sheffields are some of my go tos

 

Definitely going to agree with SeanBond on visiting Goose Island on Clybourn. A little biased because I used to work there, but definitely some great beers on tap. Also, going to highly recommend Bitter Pops on Lincoln Ave. Great little bottle shop with a taproom in the back. Over the weekend, they always have breweries come in and do free tastings. Great spot. Worth visiting, trust me.

 

I'm gonna be flying into Chicago on Thursday from San Diego are there any beers you can recommend to bring back home,I planned on hitting Half Acre and Pipeworks but im open for all suggestions I'll be in town for five days,that thursday im dedicating to a cubs game and three days for riot fest I'm staying in the Gold Coast area and plan on using your bar recommendations seeing that the shows end at ten each night I'll be bringing some locals if anyone wants to set something up cheers

 

You definitely can't go wrong with Pipeworks or Half Acre. I would also look into bringing back some Spiteful if you could.

 

Yeah, Local Option has big "events" a lot of Fridays, so they'll almost always have something top-notch on tap, and they've always got a million PW beers if that's a concern of yours (usually do pretty well for FFF too). Only thing I'd like to mention in case it matters is that their credit card minimum is like $20; they have an ATM in the back, so it's no big deal, but if you're going to use credit, either be prepared to be there a while, or to buy drinks for someone else!

Ahh, you used to work at GI, no wonder you knew my dad (ran into you at Bitter Pops, I guess)! And yeah, I like to recommend BP too, but only if people are going to make the time to sit down and have a drink (if they're just passing through to grab beer I would just go with whatever beer shops are closest).

 

I'd like to point out that the bus doesn't operate on the weekends in its current "trial-run" phase

 

Did not know that, so yeah, good point!