Crystal Lake Brewing takes home international competition award, celebrates 10 years

Crystal Lake Brewing has a lot to celebrate this year as it took home an award from the World Beer Cup and marks 10 years in the business.

The brewery won the bronze medal for its Frozen Over beer in the brown porter category at this year’s World Beer Cup last month in Las Vegas. There were 51 entries across the world for the category. There were 9,300 beers entered in the competitions, according to the World Beer Cup website.

The World Beer Cup is created by The Brewers Association and considers itself “the most prestigious beer competition in the world,” according to its website. Every year, a different panel of international “beer experts” judge thousands of entries for the awards.

Crystal Lake Brewing General Manager Beth Alberger said she was watching the ceremony online when she heard their brewery name called for the bronze medal. She has been working with Crystal Lake Brewing Brewmaster Ryan Clooney for more than 20 years, she said.

“It’s quite an experience,” she said. “I had to pause the TV screen and get a picture of him on stage.”

The local brewery always enters into different categories each year, Clooney said.

This year, he felt like their winter seasonal beer was a perfect representation of a brown porter. Brown porters are similar to brown ales, but usually have a higher alcohol content. Clooney describes the Frozen Over beer as smooth with caramel and chocolate malt notes.

“It’s easy drinking even though it’s a dark beer,” he said.

As Clooney was waiting in line for the category to be called, he was standing with beermakers from Germany, Ireland, Sweden and Japan.

“There’s sometimes a language barrier, but we’re all smiling and congratulating each other,” Clooney said. “It’s kind of universal.”

Crystal Lake Brewing was the only winner from McHenry County this year. Other Illinois winners include Sundial Brewing and Blending from Barrington, Tonality Brewing Co. in Mundelein and Sturdy Shelter Brewing in Batavia. This isn’t the first award Crystal Lake Brewing won at the World Beer Cup. The brewers took home the bronze medal for their Beach Blonde beer in the Munich-style Helles category in 2016.

Clooney is a traditionalist when it comes to brewing beers. He even matches the water taste with wherever the beers originate from, Alberger said.

“He believes in making a classic representation of the style,” she said. “He makes our Crystal Lake water taste like it tastes in Munich. And when he makes an IPA or an English style, he will match the English hard water profile.”

Some special pours will be available for the Illinois Craft Brew Week happening from now through Friday. An American pale ale called “Little River” will be exclusively available at Crystal Lake Brewing’s tap room for the brew week, Alberger said.

Other McHenry County-area participants include Holzlager Brewing Company in Woodstock, Scorched Earth Brewing in Algonquin, Sew Hop’d Brewery in Huntley and Woodstock Opera House.

More celebrations are to come for Crystal Lake Brewing, at 150 North Main St., as it gears up for its 10th anniversary party Aug. 9 and 10. The team will transform their parking lot into a festival filled with food trucks, a giant tent and a stage. Modern Day Romeos will be the headline performer that weekend, Alberger said.

“We love our downtown area and that we’ve made an impact in our community,” she said. “It’s been a lot of fun so far in the first 10 years.”