“I’m impressed with the people from Chicago. Hollywood is hype, New York is talk, Chicago is work.” – Michael Douglas.
Whether you agree with Michael Douglas or not, the quote has a way of sticking with you.
Spend enough time in Chicago, and you’ll see why.
This is a city full of people building things. Hard-working dreamers who are:
- Opening restaurants
- Making music
- Restoring old buildings
- Organizing communities
- Starting businesses out of a garage, a basement, or even a borrowed corner of a warehouse
Most of them aren’t expecting shortcuts—they’re just trying to make something good and keep improving it.
That’s part of why craft distilleries feel at home here in the Windy City.
Walk into a Chicago tasting room, and you’ll hear stories about recipes that took years to refine, barrels that still aren’t ready, and ideas that changed half a dozen times before they finally worked. The conversation usually sounds less like marketing and more like people figuring things out as they go.
Chicago has always had room for people willing to do that; it’s who we are.
Around Here, the Story Often Starts With the Land
Chicago itself gets most of the attention.
The skyline is iconic, neighborhoods become known for their unique personalities, and restaurants make the critics’ “Top 10” lists. But drive a few hours in almost any direction and the landscape changes.
Quiet roads are lined with fields of corn and soybeans that stretch toward the horizon. Grain elevators rise above small towns. Combines start showing up in the fields. Before long, harvest season is underway.
A lot of the bottles sitting on shelves in Chicago begin somewhere along those roads.
That’s one of the things we’ve enjoyed learning through the Browns side of BBB. Spend enough time talking with distillers and the conversation eventually works its way back to grain. Not branding or marketing, just the good old-fashioned grain that is the foundation of brown spirits.
Listen to someone who knows what they are talking about, and you’ll learn where the grain came from, who grew it, how the weather affected the crop, and what made this year’s harvest different from the last one.
Respected local names like Whiskey Acres and Judson & Moore are two examples of distilleries that are telling that story well. One operates as a family farm and distillery in DeKalb. The other has built strong relationships with Midwest grain growers while helping tell the story of American whiskey in Chicago. In both cases, the conversation doesn’t start with a bottle on a shelf. It starts in the fields.
The farther you get into craft spirits, the harder it becomes to separate the bottle from the land and the people that produced it.
Some Things Can’t Be Rushed
One of the interesting things about visiting a distillery is realizing how much waiting is involved.
You can walk into a tasting room on a Saturday afternoon and order a pour in about thirty seconds. But getting that whiskey into your glass took a little longer.
- The grain had to be grown and harvested.
- The mash had to be made.
- The spirit had to be distilled.
Then the barrels got rolled into storage and sat through Chicago summers and Midwest winters while everybody moved on with their lives.
People got married and had children. Folks planted and harvested gardens. Businesses opened and closed. Local artists made their name in the music world, and a few baseball seasons came and went—all while the barrels stayed put.
And years later, somebody pours you a glass of a brew that was worth waiting for.
Maybe that’s part of why brown spirits seem to fit Chicago so well. This has always been a city full of people working on things they won’t finish overnight.
H2: A Few Chicago-Area Distilleries Worth Knowing
One of the things we’ve enjoyed most through the Browns side of BBB is meeting people who care deeply about what they make. Every distillery has its own story, but a common thread keeps showing up: people willing to spend years learning their craft, paying attention to detail, and building something they can be proud of.
If you’re looking for a place to start exploring Chicago’s craft spirits scene, here are a few names worth knowing.
KOVAL Distillery
It’s hard to talk about modern Chicago distilling without mentioning KOVAL.
Founded in 2008, KOVAL helped bring distilling back to Chicago after a long absence following Prohibition. Today, the distillery is known well beyond the city, but what stands out is the willingness to do things a little differently. From grain selection to production methods, KOVAL has spent years building its own approach rather than following somebody else’s blueprint.
CH Distillery
Located in the West Loop, CH Distillery sits in a part of Chicago that has seen tremendous change over the last couple of decades.
The neighborhood has become home to restaurants, breweries, makers, and entrepreneurs of all kinds. CH feels right at home there. It’s the kind of place where visitors can enjoy a cocktail, learn something about the distilling process, and get a better sense of how Chicago’s modern craft spirits scene continues to evolve.
Rhine Hall
Some great spirits coming out of Chicago have a slightly different origin story.
Rhine Hall has built a reputation around fruit brandies, offering a different perspective on what craft distilling can look like. Their approach is a good reminder that the city’s spirits scene is shaped by people willing to explore different traditions while staying committed to quality ingredients and careful production.
Judson & Moore
Their story brings together several things that show up often throughout the Midwest: family history, local grain, agriculture, and a commitment to making American whiskey the right way. Spend a little time learning about what they’re doing, and you’ll hear plenty about the farmers growing the grain, the water coming from Lake Michigan, and the long road from harvest to bottle.
Whiskey Acres
If you want to see the connection between farming and distilling up close, Whiskey Acres is worth the drive.
Located in DeKalb, Whiskey Acres operates as both a family farm and an estate distillery. Grain grown on the farm eventually becomes the whiskey poured in the tasting room. It’s one of the clearest examples of a seed-to-spirit story you’ll find anywhere in the Midwest.
We had the pleasure of hosting Whiskey Acres on the Beats, Beds, and Browns podcast and enjoyed discussing their award-winning brews and multigenerational farm. Check it out on iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
Region 5 Whiskey
Just across the state line in Northwest Indiana, Region 5 Whiskey is helping write another chapter in the Midwest’s growing craft spirits story. Their approach reflects many of the same values found throughout the region: thoughtful craftsmanship, community, and a respect for doing things the right way instead of the fast way.
We had the opportunity to sit down with the team from Region 5 Whiskey on the Beats, Beds, and Browns podcast, and their story fits naturally into the larger conversation about local makers, independent businesses, and the people helping shape the culture of the Midwest one bottle at a time. Listen to it on iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
Pull Up a Chair
One of the things we appreciate about Chicago is that people are usually willing to share what they know.
Ask a gardener about tomatoes, and you’ll probably get a story (and some tomatoes to take home).
Ask a musician about a favorite album, and you might be there for a while.
Ask a distiller about grain, barrels, or the road that led them into the business, and chances are you’ll learn enough about your favorite brown brew to appreciate it even more.
As summer gives way to fall, this is a great time to get out and explore a little. Visit a local distillery and talk with the people behind the bottles. Learn where the grain came from and listen to a few stories.
The conversation is always ongoing here at BBB, and we would love for you to join us.
- Visit a Chicago-area distillery you’ve never been to before.
- Share your favorite Chicago or Midwest distillery with us.
- Check out the Beats, Beds, and Browns podcast to hear all things Chicago hip-hop, gardening, and brown brews. We are on iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
We’ll see you there.