The Festival of Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer (FoBAB) is the world’s largest and most prestigious barrel-aged beer festival and competition. Hosted annually by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild (ICBG), FoBAB invites breweries from all over the world to Chicago to showcase their rarest, most innovative wood and barrel-aged brews. All beer, cider, mead, and perry featured at FoBAB has been aged in a wooden barrel or come into contact with wood during the aging process. Breweries also compete for top honors in the National Barrel-Aged Beer Competition.

This year over 400 barrel aged beers were entered by 210 breweries from 30 states. Here are the 2018 FoBAB medal winners:

Category Cider, Perry, Mead

Gold: Cellarmen’s – Valentine Liberator Gin Barrel Aged Cranpus

Silver: Superstition Meadery – Aphrodisia

Bronze: 2 Towns Ciderhouse – La Mure

Category Wild Beer Sour w/Fruit

Gold: Rhinegeist Brewery – Perpetual Passion

Silver: The Rare Barrel- Playing for Keeps

Bronze: Horus Aged Ales – Goodbye to Beauty

Category Wild Beer Sour

Gold: Hopewell Brewing Company – Crudites

Silver: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project – L’Brett D’or

Bronze: The Rare Barrel – The Search

Category: Wild Beer Brett

Gold: Off Color – Mousetrap – Wildings

Silver: Blackberry Farm Brewery – Barrel Series Brett Belgo IPA

Bronze: Funkwerks – Sauvin Serve

Category: Fruit Beer

Gold: Werk Force Brewing – Farmhouse Vultures Saison with Raspberries and Blackberries

Silver: Werk Force Brewing – The Legend of Mr. Birger Saison

Bronze: Brickstone – Barrel Aged AfterWorld with Luxardo Cherries

Category: Specialty Experimental

Gold: Fremont Brewing – B-Bomb: Coconut Edition

Silver: St. Francis Brewery – Teotwawki

Bronze: The Dayton Beer Company – Deep Sea Diving Aged in Bookers

Category: Strong Dark Beer Category

Gold: Rock Bottom Brewery(Portland) – 5th Dimension

Silver: Karetas Brewing – Colm Cille

Bronze: Half Acre Brewing – Orin

Category: Strong Pale Beer

Gold: Pollyanna Brewing – Orenda Volume 03 Aged in Apple Brandy Barrels

Silver: Karetas Brewing – Sacre Coeur

Bronze: Nebraska Brewing – Melange a Trois

Category: Classic Beer Styles

Gold: Middle Brow Beer Company – Sassafras Brut

Silver: Church Street Brewing – Holly Moly

Bronze: Black Horizon Brewing – Gin Barrel Aged Fooled Me Once

Category: Barleywine/Wheatwine

Gold: Verboten Brewing Cognac/Whiskey Grow Old with You

Silver: Goose Island Beer Company – Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine

Bronze: Revolution Brewing(Kedzie) – Straight Jacket

Category: Specialty Strong Porter/Stout

Gold: Bottle Logic Brewing – Fundamental Observation

Silver: Freemont Brewing – The Rusty Nail

Bronze: Four Fathers Brewing – Double Barrel Aged Wheelhouse

Category: Strong Porter/Stout

Gold: More Brewing – Barrel-Aged Mehndi

Silver: Saugatuck Brewing – BBA Gramanatrixxx

Bronze: Emperical Brewery – Neutronium

Best in Show: Bottle Logic Brewing – Fundamental Observation

Runner Up: The Hopewell Brewing – Crudites