Published: June 24, 2024
If craft beer brewers across the globe had it their way, a tap listing might be very different than what you see in tasting rooms. There may be some overlap with brewers and consumers’ tastes, but ultimately, the beers that are put on the brew calendar are determined heavily based on consumer interests and developing trends.
Knowing time is precious, there’s a solution to get the trending beer styles at the front of the schedule while still freeing up the time that is essential for more critical brewhouse tasks. Untappd Analytics, a part of the Next Glass family of brands that includes Ollie, Untappd for Business, Hop Culture, and BeerAdvocate, among others, is a tool that provides next-level insight into data from the craft beer industry, as close as a city or as vast as the entire globe.
The Untappd app, with more than eleven million registered users, shines a light on consumer trends to help breweries answer questions and guide owners and brewers down the right path to execute the appropriate brew sessions, branding, distribution, and what to pour on draft.
Previously, we’ve covered the most popular beers in Pennsylvania, New York, California, Texas, and North Carolina.
In this piece, we’ll break down the most checked-in beers in Illinois over the past three months, showcasing the immense level of data Untappd Analytics provides at the click of a button.
(Above photography provided by 3 Floyds Brewing [Left] and Half Acre Beer Company [Right])
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Illinois: The Sixth Most Checked-in U.S. State in the Past Year
Graphic provided by Untappd Insights
Illinois is the sixth most populous state in the country according to the latest census data. Much like its rank in population, the state holds the sixth most check-ins on Untappd compared to the rest of the U.S. over the past 365 days. The ranking holds if you shrink the timeframe to span the five-plus months of 2024, as well as over the past ninety days.
However, if you widen the lens to the start of 2019, which is as far back as the data goes, Illinois ranks fifth among states in terms of check-ins. And if you check recent data, over the past month, Illinois again holds the fifth most check-ins in the U.S.
In the past year, Untappd users in Illinois have checked in 2,094,693 beers across 36,638 venues with an average rating of 3.91. The majority of all check-ins happen in the Chicago area. Check-ins in the Greater Chicago area total 1,691,664. No other area has more than 66,317 check-ins.
Year to date, Illinois users checked-in 853,438 times at nearly 23,000 venues. The Chicago area holds the most check-ins with 692,184, while no other area has 28,000. Over the past ninety days, Untappd users in the state checked-in 475,842 beers at 16,664 venues. Again, Chicago led the way with 386,579 check-ins, with no other city logging even 15,000 check-ins.
Tracing the data as far back as it goes (January 1, 2019), Illinois Untappd users logged 16,917,528 check-ins at 115,374 venues for an average rating of 3.92. Of the nearly 17 million check-ins, the Chicago area logged about 13.6 million, with the next closest just north of a half million check-ins.
Let’s take a closer look at what Illinois users have checked in over the past three months.
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The 10 Most Popular Beers in Illinois – Last 90 Days
Photography provided by John A. Pardiso, Hop Culture
Contrary to what the rest of the world’s checks in, which leans heavily toward IPAs—the style that has dominated year over year of late, with 2023 no different according to Untappd’s 2023 Year in Beer data—Illinois only has three IPAs in its top ten most checked-in beers over the past ninety days. Two of those three, however—Revolution Brewing’s Anti-Hero and Maplewood Brewing’s Son of Juice—top the charts.
Instead, Illinois Untappd users show an interest across the spectrum, with a couple pale ales, a wheat ale, and several lagers sprinkled in the most checked-in beers. Two breweries—3 Floyds Brewing (three times) and Revolution Brewing (two times)—appear on the list more than once. Three macro breweries are in the top ten, including Guinness, Pabst Brewing Company, and Miller Brewing Company.
- Anti-Hero (IPA-American) – Revolution Brewing
- Son of Juice (IPA-New England/Hazy) – Maplewood Brewing Company
- Zombie Dust (Pale Ale-American) – 3 Floyds Brewing
- Daisy Cutter Pale Ale (Pale Ale-American) – Half Acre Beer Company
- Cold Time (Lager-American) – Revolution Brewing
- Guinness Draught (Stout-Irish Dry) – Guinness
- Heileman’s Old Style (Lager-American) – Pabst Brewing Company
- Turbo Reaper (IPA-American) – 3 Floyds Brewing
- Miller Lite (Lager-American Light) – Miller Brewing Company
- Gumballhead (Wheat Beer-American Pale Wheat) – 3 Floyds Brewing
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About The Author
Giovanni Albanese
Giovanni is a content writer for Next Glass, contributing to the Ollie blog. He is a writer by day and a brewer/business owner by night, owning and operating Settle Down Brewery & Taproom in Gilroy, California.
Giovanni is passionate about a number of things, including history, documentaries and sports, but none more than reporting/writing and brewing beer. After receiving a radio broadcasting degree then a journalism degree from Salem State College in his home state of Massachusetts, he relocated to California in 2008.
Then, his writing career kicked off – covering sports, business, politics and more along the way – while concurrently dabbling in home brewing. The home brewing turned pro in 2021 when he launched SDB Brewing Company. Settle Down Beer officially opened in February.
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