Local Great American Beer Festival Picks

I was walking by Piece Brewery the other day and noticed that they had a sign up announcing their gold medal win at the Great American Beer Festival for their Top Heavy Hefeweizen.  As a matter of fact, that was the ONLY gold medal given to an Illinois brewery.  I figured it would be good for everyone to know which other local and Midwest beers brought home a medal last month at the GABF.  

Illinois

Brewery	Beer	State	Medals	Category
Goose Island Beer Co.	Red Woody	IL	Silver	Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer
Goose Island Beer Co.	IPA	IL	Silver	English-Style India Pale Ale
Goose Island Beer Co.	Demolition	IL	Silver	Belgian and French-Style Ale
Piece Brewery	Top Heavy Hefeweizen	IL	Gold	South German Style Hefeweizen
Piece Brewery	Fornicator	IL	Bronze	Bock
Rock Bottom Brewery - Chicago	The Crow and The Sparrow	IL	Silver	American-Belgo-Style Ale
Rock Bottom Brewery - Chicago	Drunken Angel	IL	Bronze	Specialty Beer

Michigan

Brewery	Beer	State	Medals	Category
Arcadia Brewing Co.	Cereal Killer Barleywine	MI	Gold	Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer
Bastone Brewery	Saison Du Bastone	MI	Bronze	French- and Belgian Style Saison
Bell's Brewery, Inc.	Bell's Lager Beer	MI	Bronze	Bohemian Style Pilsener
Big Rock Chop House & Brewery	Red Rock	MI	Silver	Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales	Bam Biere	MI	Bronze	Session Beer
Kuhnhenn Brewing Co.	4th Dementia Old Ale	MI	Bronze	Old Ale or Strong Ale
Redwood Brewing Co.	Cream Stout	MI	Silver	Sweet Stout
Shorts Brewing Co.	Bloody Beer	MI	Silver	Experimental Beer
Sullivan's Black Forest Brew Haus & Grill	Pirate's Porter	MI	Bronze	Robust Porter

Indiana

Brewery	Beer	State	Medals	Category
Barley Island Brewing Co.	Dirty Helen Brown Ale	IN	Gold	American Style Brown Ale
Brugge Brasserie	Diamond Kings '09	IN	Bronze	American-Style Sour Ale
Brugge Brasserie	Bad Kitty	IN	Bronze	German-Style Sour Ale

Ohio

Brewery	Beer	State	Medals	Category
Fat Head's Brewery & Saloon	Up In Smoke	OH	Silver	Smoked Beer

Wisconsin

Brewery	Beer	State	Medals	Category
Capital Brewery Co., Inc.	Capital Bavarian Lager	WI	Bronze	Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest
New Glarus Brewing Co	Totally Naked	WI	Bronze	American-Style Lager or Premium Lager
New Glarus Brewing Co	Raspberry Tart	WI	Bronze	Fruit Beer or Field Beer
Rock Bottom Brewery - Milwaukee	106 Pilsner	WI	Gold	German-Style Pilsener
Titletown Brewing Co.	Dark Helmet	WI	Bronze	German Style Schwarzbier

Beer Tapping and Oktoberfest at Tonight at Piece

Piece has these informal seasonal events a few times each year to tap and premiere a new beer addition to their list.  I love Piece for both their pizza and their fantastic beer and find any evening spent there to be greatly enjoyable, so I definitely make a point to attend these events.  However, they do draw out a larger crowd than usual for a Tuesday night, so sometimes you have to wait for a table.  

I attended the summer beer release and so did a rep from most of the breweries that were represented - Three Floyds, Goose Island, etc.  They were all seated at one table and available for questions.  I love that these events aren't only about highlighting Piece's own seasonal releases, but about trying other local beers on a sampler (if you so choose).  The seasonal beer is also usually discounted by a dollar or two at the release party.

We always order a sampling of beers from a variety of breweries with our pizza and, to my knowledge, this is the only night you have this option available.  It makes for a fun and low-key evening and a chance to try beers you otherwise might not get around to (I tried Moonshine's first beer release here).  Tonight they tap their Oktoberfest beer and have a special Oktoberfest thuringer sausage pizza.  Yum.

Piece Oktoberfest Release - September 29th @8p

Piece Brewery
1923 W North Ave
Chicago, IL 
773-772-4422