Member Breweries:
The Ninth Annual
Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged BeerSMwas held Saturday, November 12, 2011
at the Chicago Journeyman Plumbers' Local Union 130
Stephen M. Bailey Auditorium
1340 W. Washington Blvd.
Chicago
Sponsored by: (Gold Level) Brewers Supply Group, Goose Island Beer Company, The Country Malt Group, Tom Griffin Barrels, KegCraft Management Services, Western Square Industries
(Silver Level) Briess Malting, Chicago Beer Society, Cicerone Certification Program, Funkhouser Vegosen Liebman & Dunn, Libation Container, MacCarb Gas, Map Room, Siebel Institute
The country's first and largest beer festival dedicated to the art of wood and barrel aging returned to Chicago on Saturday afternoon and evening, November 12. A crowd of over 1800 sampled over 180 beers (plus barrel aged ciders) from 62 different breweries across 22 US states. To see all the featured beers and breweries, browse the Festival Program (PDF).
Chicago's own Goose Island Wrigleyville Brewpub earned Best-of-Show honors with Honey B, a luscious English-style Barleywine. Runner-up went to Upland Brewing Company (Bloomington, IN) for Gilgamesh, a stronger version of a Flanders Red Ale aged in previously beer-stored bourbon barrels for some light oak/bourbon character.
Illinois Craft Brewers Guild members earned 17 category medals, including 6 of the 10 category gold medals plus the Best-of-Show - another impressive showing! Thanks to all the participating breweries and everyone who attended. Special thanks go to our industry sponsors (listed above) and our wonderful crew of volunteers who helped make this event possible.
National Wood Aged Beer Competition - Official Results (view as PDF)
The Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged BeerSM is not only about sampling many of the rarest beers anywhere. Before any beer is tasted by the public, a panel of industry experts judge each beer in the National Wood Aged Beer Competition against a set of standard guidelines. Each judge has experience with barrel aging or significant sensory experience, and the panels award gold, silver and bronze medals in ten categories. Rather than beers being judged largely on wood aging and strength, we have broken our categories down to also reflect the underlying beer style. Each beer is judged on the basis of how that underlying style reflects the expression of wood and/or barrel character. Several of the most experienced judges then select a best of show from all the category winners: The Champion Wood Aged Beer for 2011!
Category 1: Classic Porter/Stout sponsored by Briess Malting 1 Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery IL Pullman Brown Reserve 2 Revolution Brewing Company IL BA Black Power Oatmeal Stout 3 Revolution Brewing Company IL BA The General Molasses Porter Category 2: Strong Porter/Stout sponsored by Map Room 1 Goose Island Beer Company IL Bourbon County Brand Stout 2 Uinta Brewing Company UT Labyrinth Black Ale 3 Miller Valley Brewery WI Celebration Porter Category 3: Barleywine/Wheatwine sponsored by The Country Malt Group 1 Goose Island Wrigleyville Brewpub IL Honey B 2 Goose Island Wrigleyville Brewpub IL Broadshoulders Barleywine 3 Piece Brewery & Pizzeria IL Mooseknuckle Category 4: Classic Styles sponsored by Funkhouser Vegosen Liebman & Dunn 1 Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery - Cincinnati OH Sarah's Two Headed Buffalo 2 Finch's Beer Company IL Dirtier Bird 3 Two Brothers Brewing Company IL Resistance Category 5: Strong/Double/Imperial Pale Beer sponsored by Goose Island Beer Company 1 Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery - Chicago IL Sled Dog Imperial Red 2 Nebraska Brewing Company NE Melange A Trois 3 Moylan's Brewery & Restaurant CA Wet Hopsickle 2011 Category 6: Strong/Double/Imperial Dark Beers by Tom Griffin Barrels 1 Upstream Brewing Company (Old Market) NE Kurgan 2 Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery - Des Moines IA Barrel Reserve Illuminator Doppelbock 3 Sun King Brewing Company IN Pappy Van Muckle Category 7: Fruit Beers sponsored by MacCarb Gas 1 Three Floyds Brewing Company IN Kinder Beer 2 Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery - Chicago IL Fallen Angel Abbey Ale 3 Haymarket Pub & Brewery IL Clare's Thirsty Ale Category 8: Experimental Beer sponsored by Libation Container 1 Goose Island Clybourn Brewpub IL XOCOLATL 2 Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery IL Dark Matter Imperial Stout 3 Haymarket Pub & Brewery IL Steve it to Bieber Category 9: Wild Beer/Brett sponsored by Chicago Beer Society 1 Upland Brewing Company IN Gilgamesh 2 Lagunitas Brewing Company CA Chocolate Raspberry Brett Bourbon Barrel Aged 3 Leelanau Brewing Company MI Good Harbor Golden Category 10: Wild Beer/Acidic sponsored by Cicerone Certification Program 1 Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey CA Veritas 010 2 Destihl Brew Works IL St. Dekkera Reserve Flanders Old Ale 3 Bear Republic Brewing Company CA Tartare Best of Show sponsored by Brewers Supply Group Goose Island Wrigleyville Brewpub IL Honey B Runner-up Best of Show sponsored by Brewers Supply Group Upland Brewing Company IN Gilgamesh
