Breweries and Brewpubs in Chicago

When this page first went up, you could count Chicago's breweries on one hand. That changed fast. By the time Revolution Brewing closed its original brewpub in 2024, the brewery itself said there were close to a hundred places brewing beer in the city. Now the boom is over. Several well-known breweries have shut in the last few years, and Block Club Chicago reports that craft beer sales in the city keep falling. The ones below are still pouring, and they're the ones worth a trip.

Taproom hours change often and many are closed early in the week, so check the brewery's site before you go.

Goose Island

Goose Island is where Chicago craft beer started. John Hall opened the first brewpub on Clybourn Avenue in 1988, and a second one in Wrigleyville ran from 1999 until it closed in 2015 (Wikipedia has the history). Anheuser-Busch InBev has owned the company since 2011, which some beer people still hold against it. The Clybourn brewpub closed at the end of 2023, and its brewing tanks went to the new brewpub next to the Salt Shed music venue on the river.

Today Goose Island has two places to drink in the city. The Salt Shed Pub, 1221 W. Blackhawk St., is in an old Morton Salt truck garage on the North Branch, and it's a natural first stop if you have concert tickets next door. The Fulton Street Taproom, 1800 W. Fulton St., is next to the production brewery in West Town. At either one, try the 312 wheat ale and whatever Bourbon County Stout variants are on. Goose Island says Bourbon County was the world's first bourbon barrel-aged stout, and there's a new lineup of it every year.

Piece Brewery and Pizzeria

Piece, 1927 W. North Ave. in Wicker Park, is a brewpub that happens to make some of the best pizza in town. It's thin, New Haven-style pizza, not deep dish, and the beer is brewed on site. It's open every day from 11am to 10pm, which makes it an easy lunch after a morning in Wicker Park and Bucktown. The Damen stop on the Blue Line is about a block away. If you want to know how it stacks up against the city's other pies, see our pizza guide.

Revolution Brewing

Revolution opened on Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square in early 2010, brewed Anti-Hero IPA there, and grew into one of the city's best-known breweries. The original brewpub closed in December 2024. What's left, and what you want, is the Revolution taproom at the production brewery, 3340 N. Kedzie Ave. in Avondale. It's closed Mondays and Tuesdays, opens in the afternoon Wednesday to Friday and at noon on weekends, and closes early on Sundays. Food is limited to snacks, so eat first. Public brewery tours are listed on the site, and the Deep Wood barrel-aged beers are the reason to go.

Half Acre

Half Acre started brewing in 2008 and made its name with Daisy Cutter, a hoppy pale ale that's still in its year-round lineup. Its brewery and taproom is at 2050 W. Balmoral Ave., in the northern part of Lincoln Square, about a 20-minute walk from the Damen Brown Line stop. There's a kitchen and a beer garden, and it's open Wednesday through Sunday, from 3pm on weekdays and from 11am on weekends. The kitchen closes an hour before the bar does. Early in 2026 Half Acre agreed to merge with Maplewood, but both breweries say they'll keep running separately.

Maplewood Brewery and Distillery

Maplewood makes beer and spirits, and its Logan Square Lounge at 2717 N. Maplewood Ave. works as a neighborhood bar, a cocktail bar and a taproom all in one. It serves brunch on Sundays. If you only like one of beer or whiskey and your friend likes the other, this is where you go.

Hopewell Brewing

Hopewell, 2760 N. Milwaukee Ave., is a Logan Square taproom that pours clean, easy-drinking beers, mostly lagers and pale ales, with some oak-aged saisons. It's open every day, and it's a few minutes' walk from the Logan Square Blue Line stop. Between Hopewell, Maplewood and Revolution you have an afternoon's walk through Logan Square and Avondale.

Pilot Project

Pilot Project is a brewery incubator. Small beverage brands make their first batches here, so the tap list is a sampler of beers and drinks you won't find anywhere else yet, including non-alcoholic ones. Its Logan Square tasting room is at 2140 N. Milwaukee Ave., and there's a second one in Wrigleyville at 3473 N. Clark St., handy before a Cubs game.

Hopleaf, for when you want a bar instead of a brewery

Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St. in Andersonville, doesn't brew anything, but it has been one of the city's best beer bars since 1992. There are 62 taps, a long bottle list with a Belgian lean, and a kitchen known for mussels and frites. There are no TVs and no live music, and it's adults only. Take the Red Line to Berwyn and walk west.

Gone, but not forgotten

Metropolitan Brewing, which the original version of this page sent you to for Saturday tours, has closed. Its riverside space at 3057 N. Rockwell Ave. is set to become the first Chicago taproom for suburban brewery Phase Three, which announced the plan in 2026. Goose Island's Wrigleyville brewpub is long gone too.

Planning a beer crawl

Illinois Craft Beer Week takes over taprooms in May. See things to do in Chicago in May. For the rest of your night out, try our nightlife guide, the unique bars list and the rooftop bars. The food and drink hub has everything else.

Photo by DR000