Mickey Finn's is the brewpub that proves a place can pour award-winning beer and still feel like the bar your dad would meet you at, and it has done both for more than thirty years.
Mickey Finn's sits at 345 N Milwaukee Ave in historic downtown Libertyville, the Lake County suburb about forty miles north of the Loop that anchors this stretch of Chicago-area brewing. The original owners added one of Illinois' first craft breweries beside the tavern in 1994, which makes Mickey Finn's the oldest continuously operated microbrewery in the state, according to Lake County's tourism board. Current owner Brian Grano bought it in 2004 and moved the brewhouse into a 15,000-square-foot, century-old bow-truss building a hundred yards away in 2012.
The room
The room earns its reputation. High brick walls, exposed wood trusses, a long bar, and an outdoor beer garden give it the scale of a beer hall without the echo. As a former bartender I watch how a place handles a packed Friday, and Mickey Finn's keeps the lines moving and the pours honest even when the garden is full. There is a television over the bar for the game, but the brewhouse, not a screen wall, is the centerpiece.
What to order
Start with Helles Belles, the traditional Munich-style helles that shows whether a brewery can do restraint, and this one can. Then chase the awards: Moon Rocks, a session IPA, took silver at the 2022 World Beer Cup, and Dark and Down, a schwarzbier, won at the Great American Beer Festival in 2021, per Illinois Brewing. If you want a bigger pour, the Pineapple Express double IPA is the crowd favorite. With twelve-plus handcrafted beers on tap plus a house root beer, there is a glass for everyone at the table.
The crowd and best time to go
Hours run Tuesday and Wednesday from 11:30am to 10pm, Thursday to 11pm, Friday and Saturday to midnight, and Sunday 11am to 8pm, with Mondays dark. The crowd is Libertyville regulars, Metra commuters off the nearby line, and beer travelers working the Lake County trail. A weekday early evening is the calm window. Warm Friday and Saturday nights fill the beer garden, which is when the place is at its best and its busiest.
What regulars say
Mickey Finn's carries 573 reviews on Yelp as of June 2026, and the recurring praise is for the beer range, the garden, and the kitchen that takes pub food seriously. The Lake County visitors bureau lists it as the area's oldest brewpub and a downtown anchor, and Illinois Brewing's 2023 profile flagged the award shelf and live music as the reasons locals keep the booths full.
Who it is for
This is for the suburban beer drinker who wants medal-winning lagers without a trip downtown, the family that wants a brewpub with a real menu, and the traveler ticking off Illinois' oldest microbrewery. Skip it if you are after cocktails or a late-night club, because Mickey Finn's closes early and keeps the focus on the tap list.
The verdict
Mickey Finn's wins on longevity and on craft. Thirty years in, it still brews lagers and dark beers good enough for national medals while running a beer garden the whole town treats as a living room. Come on a weeknight, order Helles Belles, and add whichever award winner is pouring. For more of the region's tap lists, see our guide to the best craft beer in Chicago and the wider craft beer bars by occasion. For a city-side lager comparison, Dovetail Brewery in Ravenswood is the closest match in spirit, and the full local scene is mapped in the Chicago bar guide.
Sources: Mickey Finn's Brewery official site (2026); Lake County, Illinois CVB; Illinois Brewing (2023); Yelp reviews.
