2 Best Sights in Chicago, Illinois

When they opened in 2016, Dovetail was just the second lager-focused brewery to open in Chicago (following the now sadly closed Metropolitan Brewing). Working from a small taproom in North Center, they quickly developed a reputation for well-crafted European-style beers like their creamy hefeweizen and smoky rauchbier. It didn’t take long for them to stretch into other types of lager like the roasty Czech dark or a hearty dunkelweizen. Their brewery tours are reliably among the best in the city: tourgoers get to sample different types of water to learn how the chemistry of H₂0 can affect the overall taste of a beer, then see the brewhouse which uses a century-old tank originally built for Germany’s Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan to help create their intricately crafted beers. You’ll also get to see the barrelhouse and coolship, where their spontaneously fermented wild beers age and take on even more complex flavors.

Born in a small brewpub in 1988, the Goose Island brand has spread worldwide, with pubs in China, Brazil, London, and South Korea (thanks to the help of their owners, Anheuser-Busch, who took over in 2011). Goose Island made their name on fan-favorite beers like their Honkers Ale (a mellow, toasty, English-style bitter) and 312 Wheat Ale, a sweet and lightly citrusy thirst-quencher that is perfect for a hot summer day. 

Their original location on Clybourn Avenue finished its 35-year-run at the end of 2023, but their Fulton Avenue taproom remains a destination for lovers of the brewery’s many beers, including their famed line of barrel-aged brews: Bourbon County Brand Stout. Every year’s release of BCBS is different, with variants through the years including a bananas foster beer and an Earl Grey tea beer. Barrel-focused variants feature beers aged in casks from distilleries like Old Fitzgerald, Eagle Rare, and Elijah Craig.