Goose Island Beer Company

John Hall, a fan of English brewing and pubs, opened Goose Island as a brewpub in Chicago’s Lincoln Park in 1988, and a production brewery on Fulton Street followed in 1995. It is the oldest brewing company still operating in Illinois. Greg Hall, its brewmaster, aged a stout in used Jim Beam barrels in 1992, an early bourbon barrel-aged beer; Bourbon County Stout comes out each November. Anheuser-Busch bought Goose Island in 2011. The BJCP uses 312 Urban Wheat Ale as an example of American wheat beer. Anheuser-Busch counts Goose Island among the five fastest-growing craft breweries of 2025, with Beer Hug IPA up more than a third.