2025 Festival of Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer
Date and Time
Fri, Nov 7, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Location
Credit Union 1 Arena at UIC
525 South Racine
Chicago, IL 60607
Event Details
The Festival of Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer returns to Chicago November 7-8, 2025, convening the nation’s top barrel-aged brewing programs for a showcase of brewing craftsmanship and innovation that only happens here.
Credit Union 1 Arena
525 S. Racine Ave. | Chicago, IL 60607
Session 1 | Friday, November 7
6:00 – 10:00 p.m. (ImBIBE entry at 5:00 p.m.)
Session 2 | Saturday, November 8
1:00 – 5:00 p.m. (ImBIBE entry at 12:00 p.m.)
General admission tickets are $85 plus processing and go on sale Friday, September 19. Festival space is limited, so purchase tickets quickly to reserve your spot!
RAFFLES
EARLY BIRD RAFFLE: Purchase your FoBAB ticket by Friday, September 19 at 11:59 p.m. to be entered to win a special FoBAB drawstring bag filled with items for FoBAB lovers, including glassware, t-shirts, and more. Five winners will be randomly selected and announced on-stage during each session
SKIP THE LINE: FIVE winners (plus a friend) each session will win a SKIP THE LINE badge good throughout the festival (just can’t hit the same line back-to-back). Winners will be announced on Wednesday, November 5.
ULTIMATE FOBAB VIP: THREE winners (plus a friend) each session will win the ULTIMATE FOBAB VIP prize, complete with one-hour early entry to the festival, a skip-the-line badge, and access to our Brewers and Sponsors Lounges, which are stocked with beer and catered food! Winners will be announced on Wednesday, November 5.
The Tasting Sessions
Experience FoBAB at two tasting sessions, each featuring over 300 expertly crafted beers, ciders, meads, and perries across 13 unique style categories—all of which are thoughtfully hand-crafted and aged in contact with wood or wood barrels, and many of which are brewed exclusively for the festival. Concession-style food will be available for purchase throughout the venue.
2025 FoBAB style categories include:
Strong Porter/Stout
Specialty Strong Porter/Stout (adjunct stouts)
Barleywine/Wheatwine/Ryewine
Blended Beer
Other Pale Beer (beers under 7.5%)
BA Lagers
Other Dark Beer
Fruit beer
Specialty & Experimental Beer
Wild Beer-Brett
Wild Beer Mixed Culture/Acidic
Wild Beer Mixed Culture/Acidic with Fruit
Cider/Perry/Mead
The Lager Lounge
Tickets include access to the second-floor Lager Lounge stocked with lighter pours from dozens of local breweries. Sip on the latest pours and trending brews from across Illinois while enjoying a bird’s-eye view of the festival floor and a reprieve from the traditional higher ABV samples poured at FoBAB.
The Competition
The FoBAB Awards recognize the innovators and risk-takers—brewers who dare to produce some of the most complex, time-intensive, and meticulously crafted beer, cider, mead, and perry on the planet.
Prior to the festival, a panel of expert judges and industry stewards evaluate all FoBAB entries, awarding gold, silver, and bronze medals as well as ‘Best in Show’ honors across 13 unique style categories.
The award ceremony will be hosted during Session #2 and livestreamed on the FoBAB Facebook page and the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild’s YouTube channel. The results will be published on www.fobab.com.
FAN FAVORITE AWARD: This year, attendees are invited to step into the judging seat by voting for their favorite FoBAB entry. Ballot boxes will be positioned throughout the venue, so once you’ve identified your favorite pour, submit your written nomination to the ballot box. The ‘Fan Favorite’ award will be announced at each session.
FoBAB Code of Conduct
Illinois Craft Brewers Guild (ICBG) is dedicated to providing a friendly, safe, supportive, and harassment-free event for all attendees and participants regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, sexual identity, gender expression, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion or group identity. The code of conduct outlines Festival of Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer expectations for all event attendees and participants, including all organizers, volunteers, brewers, sponsors, media representatives, and judges. Cooperation is expected from everyone, and organizers will actively enforce this code throughout this event. We will not tolerate harassment in any form. Anyone violating these rules may be asked to leave the event at the sole discretion of ICBG. Thank you for helping make this a welcoming event for all. If anyone makes you feel unsafe or unwelcome or if you observe someone else in a situation of discomfort, please report it to a volunteer or organizer on site.
Facebook | Festival of Wood & Barrel Aged Beers
Twitter | @FoBABOfficial
Instagram | @FoBAB
Hashtags | #FoBAB25 #BetterInBarrels
2025 BREWER LINEUP
2Toms Brewing Company
56 Brewing
608 Brewing Company
Akronym Brewing
AleSmith Brewing Company
Alter Brewing Company-Downers Grove
Alter Brewing Company-Oakbrook
Anderson Brewing Company
Barn Town Brewing
BBGB Brewery and Hop Farm
Begyle Brewing
Benchtop Brewing Company
Black Horizon Brewing
Bottle Logic Brewing
Boulevard Brewing Company
Boulevard Brewing Company - Brewhouse One
Branch & Bone Artisan Ales
Breakside Brewery
Breakside Brewery
Brewer's Kitchen
Brewery Ommegang
Brother Chimp Brewing
Brothership Brewing
Bubblehouse Brewing Co.
Cahaba Brewing Company
Cerebral Brewing - Aurora Arts
Cerebral Brewing - Congress Park
Cerveza 7 Vidas
Cherry Street Brewing Co.
Church Street Brewery
Cinderlands Beer Co.
Confluence Brewing Company
Counterbalance brewing
Crooked Stave Brewing Co.
Cruz Blanca
Crystal Lake Brewing
Derive Brewing Company
DESTIHL Brewery, LLC
Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works
Dovetail Brewery
Ever Grain Brewing Co
Fabled Brew Works
Fair Isle Brewing
False Idol Brewing
Final Gravity Brewing Company
Final Gravity Brewing Company-Production
Firestone Walker Brewing Company
Firestone Walker Barrelworks
Firestone Walker Propagator
Flipside Brewing
Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery
Forager Brewery
Forbidden Root Chicago
Forbidden Root Columbus
Foreign Exchange Brewing Co.
Fort George Brewery
Fox Republic Brewing Co.
Full Mile Beer Company & Kitchen
G5 Brewing Company
Goose Island Beer Co.
Hailstorm Brewing
Hairless Hare Brewery
Half Acre Beer Co.
Harbor Brewing Company
Haymarket Brewing-Bridgman
Haymarket Brewing-Chicago
Hidden Hand Brewing
Homewood Brewing
Hoppin Frog Brewery
Horse Thief Hollow
Humble Forager Brewery
Idyll Forest
Ike & Oak Brewing Co.
Imperial Oak Brewing - Brookfield
Imperial Oak Brewing - Willow Springs
Incendiary Brewing Co.
Jackie O's Brewery
Keg Grove Brewing Company
Kinslahger Brewing
Kros Strain Brewing
Lake Time Brewing and Spirits
Lakefront Brewery
Lunar Brewing Company
Lupulin Brewing
Macushla Brewing Co.
Maplewood Brewery & Distillery
Marz Community Brewing
Masthead Brewing Company
Middle Brow Beer
Midwest Coast Brewing
Mikerphone Brewing
Milieu Fermentation
Misbeehavin’ Meads
Monochrome Brewing
More Brewing Company-Bartlett
More Brewing Company-Huntely
More Brewing Company-Villa Park
Movement Brewing Co.
Neuronova Brewing
New Groove Artisan Brewery
New Image Brewing- Wheat Ridge
Nightshade and Dark's Pandemonium Brewing
Nik and Ivy Brewing
Niles Brewing Company
Nine Giant Brewing
Noon Whistle Brewing-Lombard
Noon Whistle Brewing-Naperville
Oak Mountain Sea Brewing
Off Color Brewing-Mousetrap
Off Color Brewing Production
Old Irving Brewing Co.
One Lake Brewing
Other Half brewing
Penrose Brewing Company
pFriem Family Brewers
Pipeworks Brewing Co.
Pollyanna Brewing & Distilling
Prairie Ales
Pryes Brewing
Reserve Artisan Ales
Resident Culture
Resident Culture - South End
Revolution Brewing
Right Bee Cider
River North Brewery
Riverlands Brewing Company
Scorched Earth Brewing
Scribbled Lines Brewing
Seedz Brewery
Shoreline Brewery
Short's Brewing Company
Sketchbook Brewing Co.
Solemn Oath Brewery-Chicago
Solemn Oath Brewery-Naperville
Strangebird Beer and Barrel House
Streetside Brewery
Subculture Artisan Ales
Sun King Brewery-Fishers
Sun King Brewery-Indianapolis
Sway Brewing + Blending
Tangled Roots Brewing Company
TapRoom Beer Co
The Dayton Beer Company
The Lost Abbey
Third Eye Brewing Company
Third Eye Brewing Company
Three Floyds Brewing
Tighthead Brewing Co.
Transient Artisan Ales
Treehive
Turning Point Beer
Two Brothers Brewing Company
Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project
Verboten North Brewpub
Wandering Monsters
Warped Wing Brewing Co.
Water Street Brewery
WeldWerks Brewing Co.
Werk Force
Westbound & Down
Whiskey Hill Brewing Company
White Oak Brewing
Wild Blossom Meadery
Will County Brewing Company
Wolfden Brewing Company
Wooly Pig Farm Brewery
Wren House Brewing Company
Xul Beer Company
Pricing
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