# QUALITY BEER **Source:** Pinball News Website **Type:** article **Published:** 2018-03-21 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2018/03/21/quality-beer --- ## Analysis Quality Beer is a craft beer bar in Champaign, Illinois that opened in 2012 and features two Stern pinball machines (Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy) alongside board games, darts, and an arcade cabinet. The venue emphasizes community interaction by intentionally avoiding TVs and Wi-Fi, hosts beer events and IFPA tournaments, and maintains a retro-modern aesthetic with games priced at $1 per play. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Quality Beer opened to the public in 2012 — _Direct statement in article introduction_ - [HIGH] Quality intentionally has no TVs or Wi-Fi to encourage live conversation — _Bartender quote: owners 'wanted to offer a place where people could go to talk live to each other'_ - [HIGH] Quality Beer hosted an IFPA event in March 2017 featuring Stern's Aerosmith pinball — _Stated in events section_ - [HIGH] The bar is named after a grocery store in Watseka, IL belonging to the owners' great-grandfather — _Direct statement about bar naming and ownership history_ - [MEDIUM] Both Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy pinballs were in mint condition with few games played — _Author observation: 'looked like they had only a few games played on them and for all intents and purposes were in mint condition'_ ### Notable Quotes > "they wanted to offer a place where people could go to talk live to each other" > — **Quality Beer bartender (paraphrased)**, N/A > _Explains the venue's deliberate design philosophy of no TVs or Wi-Fi_ > "Quality frequently hosts beer launch parties and tap takeovers with local craft breweries" > — **Article author (reporting venue information)**, N/A > _Describes venue's community engagement and event strategy_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Quality Beer | organization | Craft beer bar and pinball venue in Champaign, Illinois, opened 2012 | | Champaign-Urbana, Illinois | organization | Geographic location where Quality Beer is situated | | Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy pinball machines at the venue | | Star Wars | game | Stern pinball machine installed at Quality Beer (2017) | | Guardians of the Galaxy | game | Stern pinball machine installed at Quality Beer (2018) | | Neil | person | Co-owner of Quality Beer (brother of Aaron) | | Aaron | person | Co-owner of Quality Beer (brother of Neil) | | Two Brothers Brewing Company | company | Illinois craft brewery featured on Quality Beer taps | | Founders Brewing | company | Michigan craft brewery featured on Quality Beer taps | | Flossmoor Station | company | Illinois craft brewery featured on Quality Beer taps | | Surly Brewing Company | company | Partner brewery for Quality Beer's Pinewood Derby events | | Pizzeria Antica | organization | Adjacent restaurant providing food delivery to Quality Beer customers | | IFPA | organization | Tournament organization; Quality hosted IFPA event in March 2017 | | Aerosmith | game | Stern pinball machine featured at Quality Beer's March 2017 IFPA event | ### Topics - **Primary:** Venue profile and operations, Pinball machine placement and condition, Craft beer culture and curation - **Secondary:** Community engagement and events, Bar design and philosophy ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Article is promotional and enthusiastic about Quality Beer's design, beer selection, community focus, and gaming offerings. Author recommends visit with encouraging language ('I'd urge you to give Quality a visit'). No critical observations or negative comments. --- ## Transcript Date: March 2018 Location: 110 N. Neil Street, Champaign, IL USA Games: Star Wars (Stern, 2017) Guardians of the Galaxy (Stern, 2018) Opened to the public in 2012, Quality Beer is Champaign-Urbana’s (or as the locals call it, “Chambana”) newest watering hole. Quality’s focus is on American craft beers; on tap they feature 16 small-batch beers, including a few pale ales, a wheat beer, stout and others. ![A Quality billboard](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/quality-beer/14-quality-beer.jpg) A Quality billboard ![Quality's frontage and entrance](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/quality-beer/09-quality-beer.jpg) Quality’s frontage and entrance The beers on tap, such as from Two Brothers Brewing Company and Flossmoor Station of Illinois and Founders Brewing of Michigan, are generally rotated with products from other small batch breweries. You might assume that a place named Quality Beer might be a beer-only bar, however, Quality has an impressive selection of not only liquor, but soft drinks too. No macro-brewed beer was on hand other than Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) which seems to have attained a cult status with the hipster crowd here in the middle of the USA. ![The taps at Quality](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/quality-beer/11-quality-beer.jpg) The taps at Quality Quality offers a wide selection of American craft beers on tap from Left Hand and Boulder Beer Brewery, among others. These specialty beers arrive in small quantities, which means new beers are frequently introduced during the week. Quality keeps an updated list of beers on a blackboard across from the bar. ![Quality's beer list](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/quality-beer/08-quality-beer.jpg) Quality’s beer list Unfortunately Quality does not have a kitchen, but Pizzeria Antica located literally next door is happy to accept phone orders and will deliver directly to your table. I was told that Quality frequently hosts beer launch parties and tap takeovers with local craft breweries. For the last 2 years, Quality has hosted a ‘Pinewood Derby’ race for gravity powered scale model cars in conjunction with Surly Brewing Company. Quality also hosted an IFPA event in March 2017 featuring Stern’s Aerosmith pinball and Two Brothers Brewing’s Pinball Juicy Hop Pale Ale. ![Founders Tap Takeover event](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/quality-beer/10-quality-beer-1.jpg) Founders Tap Takeover event ![Another Quality event](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/quality-beer/06-quality-beer.jpg) Another Quality event Quality offers outside seating in the warmer months in their somewhat sparsely decorated but inviting patio area. The owners, brothers Neil and Aaron, hail from a small town, and Quality was named after a grocery store in Watseka, IL belonging to their great-grandfather. A friend of theirs from Watseka did all of the retro-modern woodworking, from the walls to the towering bookcase; which is stocked with sci-fi and fantasy novels, old yearbooks, board games, and the Guinness Book of World Records for customer enjoyment. ![The games area](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/quality-beer/01-quality-beer.jpg) The games area Probably one of the most interesting things about Quality is that they have no TVs and no Wi-Fi. The bartender told me that this was on purpose- the owners felt that they wanted to offer a place where people could go “…to talk live to each other”. In the game room you can find board games, ‘sharps’ darts, an iCade cocktail table arcade game and two of the newest Stern pinballs: Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy. Both tables looked like they had only a few games played on them and for all intents and purposes were in mint condition. There’s plenty of elbow room to allow you to get your game on without bumping into other players or the wall. ![The two pinballs at Quality Beer](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/quality-beer/05-quality-beer-1.jpg) The two pinballs at Quality Beer ![Stern's Star Wars](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/quality-beer/12-quality-beer.jpg) Stern’s Star Wars ![Stern's Guardians of the Galaxy](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/quality-beer/03-quality-beer.jpg) Stern’s Guardians of the Galaxy ![Both pinballs are priced the same at $1 per game](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/quality-beer/02-quality-beer.jpg) Both game ![The iCade multi-game cocktail video](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/quality-beer/04-quality-beer.jpg) The iCade multi-game cocktail video A small note about the darts area- if you are as duff at darts as I am, you will appreciatethat the entire wall behind the dart boards is cork. Really. Each dart board has an overhead lamp that nicely illuminates the playing area. I’d urge you to give Quality a visit the next time you are in the Champaign-Urbana Illinois area. _(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 1cd7bcb3-2a9e-45cf-b1b0-38732551c518*