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Silver in Historical Beer

Left Fork

Black Lung Brewing Co., Grayslake, IL

Category
Historical Beer
Entries
39
ABV
5.2%
IBU
20
Style
Kentucky Common Ale
Malts
Black malt, Flaked maize
Yeast
Not Found
Adjuncts
Not Found

Hops

Tasting Notes

A light and crushable ale with flaked maize, a light amount of black malt and Callista, Fuggle and Ariana hops. This very traditional American style drinks like…

Source: blacklungbrewing.com

The Beer's Page at the Brewery

Brewery Medal HistoryCategory HistoryBrewery Website

Hop Profile

Hop Profile. Select a column header to sort.
FormUseFarm or LotSource
CallistaCallistaNot FoundNot FoundNot Foundblacklungbrewing.com
FuggleFuggleNot FoundNot FoundNot Foundblacklungbrewing.com
ArianaArianaNot FoundNot FoundNot Foundblacklungbrewing.com

Hop Profile Cards

Callista

Origin Country
Germany
Alpha Acid
2 to 5%
Oils
1.4 to 2.1 mL per 100 g
US Acreage
Not Found
Medal Beers in 2026
4
Breeder
Hüll Hop Research Center (Germany)

Aroma

Strawberry, orange, passion fruit, pear, caramel

Grown by

Not Found

Open the Hop Page

Fuggle

Origin Country
England
Alpha Acid
3 to 6%
Oils
0.7 to 1.2 mL per 100 g
US Acreage
Not Found
Medal Beers in 2026
2
Breeder
English seedling selection

Aroma

mild, grassy, mint, earthy

Grown by

Open the Hop Page

Ariana

Origin Country
Germany
Alpha Acid
9.7 to 9.7%
Oils
1.3 to 1.3 mL per 100 g
US Acreage
Not Found
Medal Beers in 2026
1
Breeder
Hop Research Center Hüll

Aroma

Not Found

Grown by

Not Found

Open the Hop Page

Where These Hops Are Grown

Grown by. These farms publish the variety as grown. It does not mean this beer used hops from them.

Fuggle, Farms on Record: 1

Beer Details

Description
Light and crushable with flaked maize, black malt, Noble hops.Source beerandbrewing.com
Tasting Notes
A light and crushable ale with flaked maize, a light amount of black malt and Callista, Fuggle and Ariana hops. This very traditional American style drinks like a crisp brown ale and is great even in summer!Source blacklungbrewing.com

Research Notes

Left Fork is a beer from Black Lung Brewing Co., a craft brewery and taproom with a location at 2 South Lake Street in Grayslake, Illinois.

Award

Category Medal Entries Brewery Location
25, Historical Beer Silver (2nd place) 39 Black Lung Brewing Co. Grayslake, IL

Specs

Field Value Source
Style Kentucky Common Ale Craft Beer and Brewing: Left Fork
ABV 5.2% Craft Beer and Brewing: Left Fork
IBU 20 Craft Beer and Brewing: Left Fork
Hops Callista, Fuggle, Ariana Black Lung Brewing: Left Fork
Malts and grains Black malt, flaked maize Craft Beer and Brewing: Left Fork
Yeast Not Found Not Found
Adjuncts, fruit, spices Not Found Not Found
Other Not Found Not Found

Brewery Description

Light and crushable with flaked maize, black malt, Noble hops.

Source: Craft Beer and Brewing: Left Fork

Tasting Notes

A light and crushable ale with flaked maize, a light amount of black malt and Callista, Fuggle and Ariana hops. This very traditional American style drinks like a crisp brown ale and is great even in summer!

Source: blacklungbrewing.com

Ingredients

The brewer's description names a hop family but no individual variety; no yeast strain is published. Craft Beer and Brewing: Left Fork

Hop Profile

Hop as Published Variety Form Use Lot or Farm Source
Callista Callista Not Found Not Found Not Found blacklungbrewing.com
Fuggle Fuggle Not Found Not Found Not Found blacklungbrewing.com
Ariana Ariana Not Found Not Found Not Found blacklungbrewing.com

Brewing Details

Field Value Source
Color (SRM) Not Found Not Found
Original gravity Not Found Not Found
Final gravity Not Found Not Found
Water Not Found Not Found
Process Not Found Not Found

Style Context

As category context only, the Brewers Association guidelines define Historical Beer as established historical beers or brewing traditions from any era or part of the world that do not fit another defined style, with ABV, IBU and color varying with the underlying style. The published Kentucky Common identity provides the historical style context.

Awards History

Year Competition Category Medal
2026 Great American Beer Festival Historical Beer Silver

Generated from the loaded results for this brewery and beer name, not researched separately; years not loaded are not covered.

Brewery Context

Black Lung Brewing Co. is in Grayslake, IL.

Links checked 2026-10-14: Website, Instagram, Untappd.

Related

Each farm listed as growing a variety grows that variety according to the hop farm data; the brewery has not said it bought hops from that farm.

Links

Gaps

Research Notes

  • The brewery home page URL is the website link on the Visit Lake County listing, which also gives the Grayslake address; the site itself returned HTTP 429 and could not be read.
  • A web search summary of a paywalled GuysDrinkingBeer newsletter (https://karlgdb.substack.com/p/this-weeks-best-of-the-year-beer) referred to a Black Lung "Left Fork Kentucky Common"; the readable part of that page did not contain it, so the style is unverified and is not used above.
  • Four web searches for the beer, including Untappd, found no listing; the site was retried at the end of research and still returned HTTP 429.
  • No brewery medal announcement was found.
  • Researched 2026-10-13.
  • Second pass 2026-10-13: Found the matching magazine review with ABV, IBU and the brewer's ingredient description. Noble hops is the published family, not a verified variety. No dedicated brewery beer page was found.
  • Field pass 2026-10-13: A search restricted to the brewery domain found no Left Fork beer or tap-list page; earlier home-page failures and third-party searches were not repeated.
  • Deep dive pass 2026-10-14: the brewery's own Left Fork page (found in its sitemap) names Callista, Fuggle and Ariana hops, flaked maize and black malt, 5.2% ABV and 20 IBU; its hop varieties replace the review's "Noble hops" family, and it becomes the beer url.