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• Best Beer Selection: The Blind Pig

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The Blind Pig Brewery in Champaign offers an extremely wide range of beers. Photo by Tom Root (Tom Root, Buzz photographer)

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Blind Pig Co., The »
Address: 120 N. Walnut St. Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 398-1532
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It might not be the first thing you notice about The Blind Pig, winner of CU’s best beer selection, but one aspect of this place that contributes to its laid-back ambience is awfully important.

“There isn’t a single television in this entire bar,” says bartender Sarah Couch, “and that definitely contributes to a conversational atmosphere.”

By virtue of being in downtown Champaign, The Blind Pig doesn’t have to focus on cheap deals with dime-a-dozen domestic beers. Instead, the selection of beer at this bar should be categorized with the Dewey Decimal System; it takes two whole sides of a menu to outline all the bottled and draft beers available. And don’t worry if you don’t know your beers like you know the alphabet; the bartenders are awfully helpful in narrowing your tastes down to a few specific brews.

“We have a very diverse clientele with all sorts of different tastes,” quips Couch.

So expand your tastes, and head downtown for some high-quality beer with a classy atmosphere.