Best Illinois Summer Beers To Put In Your Cooler

The 4th of July holiday is right around the corner, so if you’re planning to have people over to celebrate America’s birthday make sure you have the essentials. And we’re not talking about burgers and hot dogs. We’re talking beer.

Not just any beer though. Have you peeked at your local forecast? It’s going to be a warm one nationwide as temperatures reach a whopping 109 degrees in the Southwest, the upper 90s in the Northeast and the mid 90s in parts of the Midwest and Northwest. This means guests are going to want a refreshing alcoholic beverage on Wednesday, so why not choose a nice summertime brew?

Luckily, the good folks over at Popular Mechanics compiled a list of the best such brew in every state.

Illinois’ best summertime brew is the Dovetail Lager, the report said.

"A clean and honest beer with layers of subtle flavors for beer nerds to sniff out," the report said.

If that doesn’t suit your fancy, the report listed Metropolitan Heliostat Zwickel Lager and Half Acre Daisy Cutter Pale Ale as honorable mentions, each of which could certainly be worthy additions to any proper Independence Day get-together.

Here’s a rating of the beers according to the beer rating site, BeerAdvocate:

Dovetail Lager

• Rating: 4.8/5

Metropolitan Heliostat Zwickel Lager

• Rating: 4.09/5

Half Acre Daisy Cutter Pale Ale

• Rating: 4.16/5

You could also add a summertime six-pack or three into your cooler from Indiana, where 3 Floyds YumYum Session IPA was the top recommended beer. Independence Day is the top-selling day of the summer for brewers, distributors and retailers, according to the National Beer Wholesalers Association, a trade group that represents more than 2,800 beer distributors.

“Much like Black Friday is a milestone for traditional retailers, the Fourth of July is a milestone for beer sales,” the group wrote on its website. “In some states, beer distributors will be delivering double the beer of a typical week.”

Now that you’re armed with beer knowledge, we’ll leave you with one last thought — don’t wait until the last minute to buy ice, or else this could be all for nought.

Photo credit: Shutterstock / Natalya Okorokova