It’s July, so have a shandy or two.
But yes, support your local breweries. For me that’s Conny Creek, Yellow Bridge, Hitchhiker, VooDoo, Cellar Works, and maybe a dozen others. It’s a good time for beer drinkers.
Also, get out the stopwatch and count how long it takes before a Portland hipster chimes in and lectures the rest of us about how we don’t know what real beer is. LOL!
I just finished off a case of Stone’s IPA variety pack. Excellent.
ETA: “just” as in last night, not for breakfast.
I’m specifically talking about the Great Lakes Brewing Company:
https://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/
I recommend their beers very highly.
On a national level, I am quite the Leinenkugel fan, and some of the seasonal Samuel Adams beers are quite good.
Locally, I can’t say enough about Three Floyd’s Gumball Head & Space Station Middle Finger.
There’s also a small brewery in the south burbs called Halestorm. Their blonde ale is fantastic.
Amateur.
I’m too old to be a hipster, and don’t drink much any more, but I do really like the citrus of Breakside IPA.
If you are going to be in Cincinnati check out Rivertown Brewery and Moerlein Lager House.
Put an “e” on the end (Rivertowne) if you’re in my area. Be sure to try their pineapple beer, Hala Kahiki.
I got to do this back in April. While Guinness has a bit of a different taste there than the States, it wasn’t a huge difference. What impressed me the most was the care that is taken with the taps and tap lines. It also helps that most bartenders in Ireland know how to properly pour Guinness.
Regarding craft beers, have you had anything from Toppling Goliath yet? It’s a brewery in northeast Iowa. Their beer should be available in the Chicago area. They have some good cloudy/juicy IPAs.