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Well what do you know? It’s almost 2025! I feel like it was a month ago when we were talking about 2024 goals and resolutions. How did those go, by the way? Successful? Congrats! If not, don’t worry – 2025 is a blank slate.
So – what are your goals for the year? A healthy lifestyle includes enjoying yourself, so you shouldn’t have to compromise taste and quality as part of your resolutions. Here’s a guided breakdown of resolutions and some products to help you along with your goals!
Last month the annual Great American Beer Festival was held in Colorado. Thousands upon thousands of beers were submitted in varying categories but only a handful came out on top. Many award-winning beers were created by some of our great brewery partners. So what award winning beers do we have in our lineup? Keep reading to find out!
Plenty of us at Lakeshore Beverage were inspired by the Bank of America Chicago Marathon earlier in the month, so we decided to hold our own marathon at Navy Pier! Except it wasn’t 26.2 miles. But it was very competitive and we had plenty of fun and Michelob Ultras along the way.
We hope all of the runners at the Chicago Marathon had a happy and safe run, and we can’t wait to see you again next year. Cheers!
The weather is finally cooling off and leaves are beginning to fall – autumn is officially here! Prepare your wardrobe for warmer layers and sweaters, hot mugs of pumpkin spice lattes, and switch out your beer rotation with the following autumn themed beers and ales that will keep you all warm and cozy while the temperatures (and leaves) drop.
Who said you can’t enjoy some candy and beer at the same time? For your upcoming Halloween party, be sure to bring a pack of Ommegang’s All Hallow’s Treat. This concoction of chocolate and peanut butter will put you under a witch’s spell. It’s a smooth delicious treat in the midst of a bundle of tricks!
We’re smack dab in the middle of Oktoberfest 2024! This yearly tradition celebration once started as a festival honoring a royal wedding, but now it’s a bash of all things German, especially beer. The true Oktoberfest experience might be across the world, but you can have a taste of the Bavarian tradition in Chicago thanks to several breweries at home and abroad.
If you’re looking for some Oktoberfest beers for your party, try out these!
Eight different beers each create their own specific tribute to the yearly German tradition. Try out a few, or all of them, and transport yourself to Oktoberfest!
The best thing about Fall is that there’s soooo many pumpkin themed foods and drinks. Pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cinnamon rolls. I often include beer in my yearly pumpkin-fication – and this year, the folks at Elysian made it easy for me. They have a pumpkin variety pack featuring four of their pumpkin flavored beers – including Night Owl, a seasonal fan favorite, but also three other beers that can only be found in the variety pack.
An easy NFL kickoff backyard party can be simple as Bud Light, snacks, and games.
The NFL season is here! NFL football usually conjures up cold Sundays indoors huddled around the TV, serving up gameday chili or burgers. Well, as much as that’s true, a good portion of the NFL season is still played when it’s warm outside (for us Midwest folks). Why not take advantage of the remainder of the warm sunny days, and hold a backyard football party in celebration of NFL Kickoff, Thursday September 5th. Kind of intimidated by throwing a party? Don’t worry – it’s easy to hold a football kickoff get-together, leave it to your friends at Bud Light to make it easy to watch football with friends on Sunday! Want to learn some inspiration and how to win an outdoor screen and projector for your own backyard NFL kickoff party? Keep reading below!
Last year we gave you some delicious pairings by picking a specific dish and a specific beer to enjoy together. But with so many amazing beers and BBQ at Windy City Smokeout, we thought we would go even bigger this year with our pairing guide. Here are the numbers – with fifteen beers at the craft stand available and twenty-five BBQ booths, each with an average of three offerings, that’s over a thousand combinations! Now, I love me some beer and BBQ but the Smokeout only lasts the weekend and I’m trying to watch my figure. That is why we decided to get real nerdy for you this year and put together an ultimate pairing guide chart.
So here’s what I’m imagining the situation going like for you:
It’s warm – you’re at a festival – you just got inside and you go straight for an ice cold beer. Now that you have your drink of choice, you start to smell the enticing scent of BBQ cloying pulling you towards the booths like a cartoon pie on a window sill. But wait! You picked a very hoppy IPA to start the day (you do you) and you’re worried you’re going to pick something that doesn’t pair well with your drink of choice. You then remember that you saw an Instagram post from LakeshoreBeverage with the text “Windy City Smokeout Beer and BBQ Guide” and decide to open it up. Boom – day saved. Awesome BBQ to pair with your equally awesome beer and your day just got even better and you found $20 in your pocket you forgot you had.
Alright, maybe it won’t turn out exactly like that (I don’t have enough twenty dollar bills to sneak into everyone’s pocket) but even if it helps a handful of people navigate the sometimes complex worlds of craft beer, BBQ, and food & beverage pairing, I think this was worth putting together. Remember though – beer and BBQ are, first and foremost, supposed to be fun! Pair whatever you guys want because everyones’ palette is different and there’s no law on matching beers to food. This is a guide that we feel will steer most people to a wonderful eating and drinking experience based on expert opinions gathered over time.
So without further ado…
(left to right) 2M Smokehouse BBQ – TEXAS STYLE JUMBO BEEF RIB WITH CHIMICHURRI SAUCE, Pig Beach BBQ – BBQ LAMB SHOULDER TACOS, Salt Lick BBQ – WORLD FAMOUS SMOKED BRISKET & ROPE SAUSAGE
(left to right) Lexington Betty Smokehouse – T&T PORK SPARE RIBS, Ubons BBQ – PULLED PORK SANDWICH, Wright’s Barbecue – FRIED BRUSSEL SPROUTS WITH SMOKED BACON, Jack Stack Barbecue – HICKORY PIT BEANS, Hoodoo Brown BBQ – SMOKED HALF CHICKEN WITH YUCATAN WHITE SAUCE, Green Street Smoked Meats – LOADED ELOTES WITH CRISPY PORK BELLY
(left to right) Chef Art Smith Restaurants – STICKY CHICKEN BISCUIT SANDWICH, Meat Mitch – KANSAS CITY BURNT ENDS; JALAPEÑO CHEDDAR ROPE SAUSAGE, Dampf Good BBQ – SMOKED ITALIAN BEEF SANDWHICH W/ JP GRAZIANO’S HOT GIARDENIERA, Operation BBQ Relief – BANANA PUDDING, Hogapalooza – BABY BACK RIBS
This year’s spread is some of the best BBQ we’ve ever had! Thank you to all the BBQ vendors this year for providing us these amazing dishes for us to photograph and taste! Can’t wait to see what’s coming next year!