Chicago's Top 11 Breweries, Ranked by Experts

Discussion in 'Great Lakes' started by CNRowland, Jun 4, 2015.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. CNRowland

    CNRowland Initiate (0) Jan 15, 2015 Illinois

    I'm just not buying the whole "agenda" thing. Sure it's possible, but one Thrillist article ain't gonna make or break any of these guys' personal or business interests, so if there is some sort of conspiracy here it sure seems like a stupid one to me.

    So these guys don't love Pipeworks as much as some other local offerings ... who cares? Disagreeing with their opinions is one thing; discrediting the integrity of them is another.
     
    croush likes this.
  2. jlsims04

    jlsims04 Initiate (0) Jul 14, 2013 Illinois

    Thank you captian obvious. Any other nuggets of enlightment this afternoon.
     
    beerchaser3450 likes this.
  3. beergurujr

    beergurujr Initiate (0) Oct 27, 2003 Illinois

    Everything in the world revolves around two things, my friend. Love, and money.
     
  4. 2BDChicago

    2BDChicago Zealot (556) Nov 21, 2010 Illinois
    Trader

    Buckledown in Lyons is MIA. Destihl & Brickstone are from downstate. Somebody buy the New Yorkers that run Thrillist a map.
     
  5. beergurujr

    beergurujr Initiate (0) Oct 27, 2003 Illinois

    My own top local 15 list, which like everybody else's, is worthless to anyone but me. In no particular order:

    Church Street
    Scorched Earth
    Marz
    Penrose
    Only Child
    Off-Color
    5 Rabbit
    Crystal Lake
    Zumbier
    Lagunitas
    Urban Legend
    Pig Minds
    Cademon
    Flesk
    Une Annee
     
    mychalg9 likes this.
  6. AstraXtreme

    AstraXtreme Zealot (539) Mar 21, 2014 Wisconsin

    Seeing as there are a TON of great breweries in the Chicago area, it's really stupid that they put Three Floyds on the list.
    Should Lost Abbey, Allagash, Surly, etc be on the list since their beers are on Chicago shelves? No...

    I'm not sure what these "experts" were basing the rankings from, but going by the ratings on BA and RateBeer, this list is completely garbage. No disrespect to Metropolitan, but they certainly aren't the #2 brewery in arguably the country's best beer scene. I wouldn't even put them in the top 20, but that's just my worthless opinion.
     
    beergurujr likes this.
  7. HugePrnceFan1999

    HugePrnceFan1999 Initiate (0) Nov 30, 2011 Indiana

    I'll offer three. If you're asking a question you'll want to use a question mark rather than a period. And it's "captain" and "enlightenment".
     
    Kurmaraja likes this.
  8. HugePrnceFan1999

    HugePrnceFan1999 Initiate (0) Nov 30, 2011 Indiana

    If you look for directions via google maps to Penrose from a generic "Chicago" it's 44 miles. Do the same for Three Floyds and it's 30.7. These are all Chicago area breweries.
     
    beergurujr and steveh like this.
  9. jlsims04

    jlsims04 Initiate (0) Jul 14, 2013 Illinois

    Agreed. Its not in Chicago proper but it is definately in the area. If your going to included breweries in the far northwest subburbs I would consider NW Indiana fair game.
     
    beergurujr likes this.
  10. jlsims04

    jlsims04 Initiate (0) Jul 14, 2013 Illinois

    Well Played.
     
  11. beergurujr

    beergurujr Initiate (0) Oct 27, 2003 Illinois

    It's a big area to cover. I doubt anybody has or ever will, be able to visit each and every brewery and brewpub in the metro area.
     
  12. CB_Michigan

    CB_Michigan Pooh-Bah (1,552) Sep 4, 2014 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Apparently, the "Chicago area" keeps getting bigger and bigger. Here are some other places just as far from Chicago as Champaign:

    [​IMG]
     
  13. chrisisoutrunning

    chrisisoutrunning Initiate (0) Aug 26, 2014 Wisconsin

    Awesome, where should New Glarus fall on the list?
     
    beergurujr likes this.
  14. islay

    islay Savant (1,211) Jan 6, 2008 Minnesota

    Notice that Three Floyds ranked 6th with 20 points, but it had two number 1 rankings among the individual experts. That means the other four didn't rank it at all. I suspect that two of the experts considered it part of the Chicago area and put it at number 1 (as I would have done) and four didn't think to include it in the Chicago area. If those four had included it and it averaged just a 5th place ranking among them, it would have been in first place.
     
  15. beergurujr

    beergurujr Initiate (0) Oct 27, 2003 Illinois

    Not everybody thinks FFF is godlike.

    And to quote somebody on another thread today....

    "I assume one also would have to not hate coffee. I personally can't stand the taste or smell of coffee in or out of beer, and that likely would preclude outstanding enjoyment of this beer by me. I may be in the minority, but surely I'm not alone. I wouldn't turn down a free or cheap chance to try it, though, only because it's the highest rated beer in the history of the other site. I'd love the chance to drag that rating down! :grinning:

    In seriousness, I think that because bourbon barrel-aging and coffee fans seek out this rare beer so enthusiastically, a lot of people like me to whom not both of those traits appeal never get the chance to rate it. It's consumed and beloved among those who are most prone to loving it and untried by those who aren't. To some extent this self selection bias affects all beer ratings, but I suspect it affects those of Kentucky Brunch much more than most."

    An example of somebody not liking certain beer styles..... or certain breweries.
     
    #35 beergurujr, Jun 4, 2015
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2015
    steveh likes this.
  16. Jplachy

    Jplachy Pooh-Bah (1,848) Feb 12, 2012 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I wish I could bottle this thread and sell it as BeerAdvocate extract.
     
    beergurujr likes this.
  17. islay

    islay Savant (1,211) Jan 6, 2008 Minnesota

    I'm not sure how that quote pertains here. If we were talking about the top ten beers in the Chicago area and, say, Dark Lord's place on it, then, sure, that idea potentially could apply. I don't think that a majority of "beer experts" in Chicago are systematically avoiding or failing to get their hands on Three Floyds' beers because they dislike the brewery's output in general. If you look at the top 3 lists of the people who excluded it, you'll notice that they generally aren't averse to some of the extremes that somebody could find off-putting in Three Floyds' line-up. I think my hypothesis that at least some of the experts didn't even think to include Three Floyds or thought about it and decided that it didn't count as a Chicago-area brewery is vastly more likely. Three Floyds not appearing on 4 of 6 experts' top ten lists if all of them considered and counted it as a Chicago-area brewery isn't much more likely than Surly not being included on 4 of 6 experts' Twin Cities-area brewery lists. Anyway, I don't care much about Three Floyds (I do think it's a top-notch brewery but have no emotional attachment to it; nor do I drink its beers frequently for reasons of distribution and price); I'm just noting a flaw in the methodology of the list.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.