How do I join CBS?

Signing up for a Chicago Beer Society is simple and easy. Membership runs for 12 months from the month of your initial sign up. The fee is $25 for individuals, $40 for couples. Did you know that membership prices haven’t changed since at least 1999?  If dues kept up with inflation, an individual membership would be $45 and couple would be $75 as of 2023.

You must be of legal drinking age (21 or older) to join.

Members receive codes to purchase discounted tickets to all paid events. More importantly, they also get exclusive invitations to our most-popular events (the Brewpub Shootout, Bus Trip to the Great Taste of the Midwest, and our annual picnic), where tickets are now offered only to members. Tickets are indeed limited and membership doesn’t guarantee tickets.

Purchase a CBS membership using PayPal or a credit card via Paypal. Select your membership type from the dropdown list below and click the Subscribe button.  Your membership is in full effect the day you sign up and you will be emailed flyers for upcoming events along with the discount codes to purchase tickets.

By default this will set up a membership subscription that will automatically renew one year from your transaction date. Note that hitting the Subscribe button opens a new page to process the transaction. If you are having trouble signing up via Paypal or need other help, please Contact Us.

Please note that membership applies to events on a going forward basis.  If you are not a member of record at the time the event notification is sent to members, you will likely not be able to get a member specific discount or attend if its a member only event.
Memberships are one per household! As members are always in full control of their payments, CBS is not responsible for duplicate memberships.  Duplicate memberships, even if intended as a gift, will not result in duplicate tickets, only duplicate charges.  Members can always manage their active membership profiles via these instructions.

Membership Type
Preferred email address



How do I check if my membership is still valid.

Note that all our membership payments are processed through Paypal.  Chicago Beer Society cannot bill a membership on your behalf, nor are we ever able to see your full payment information.

  1. Go to https://www.paypal.com/myaccount/autopay/ and login with your Paypal email address on a desktop browser (Mobile instructions likely similar but not provided here)
  2. Look for Chicago Beer Society on the left.  If it does not appear, your membership is likely inactive.  If its inactive, please click Join to setup an active subscription again.

    1. Note that all memberships must auto renew.  Members can cancel their membership at anytime.
  3.   See this link for more information on how to view your automatic payments.
  4. If you are still having issues, please Contact Us and include transaction detail where possible.  Please note that we are completely volunteer run so might take a little bit to get back to you.

How do I change my membership type or change my address?

Its important that we have the most current address on record to ensure that you receive invitations to all of our great events. Most of our events are members only and all of them have members only discounts. Ahead of each event we like to email out a flyer that not only announces the event but also includes a members only passcode that is required to get the members only ticket pricing.

To update your address or request a change in membership type (e.g. Individual to Couples) please Contact Us and include your full name, email address, and brief description of what you are looking to do. We will do our best to promptly respond to your inquiry however do note that we are a volunteer run organization and there might be some delays.

Gifting a membership

As of April 2022, we will no longer be be offering Gift Memberships.  Unfortunately they have become too unwieldy and unreliable to administer with our current membership management setup.

How do I cancel a membership?

If you have signed up through paypal, canceling is easy. Just follow the below steps to stop automatic renewals.
You can also try clicking on the below Unsubscribe button to cancel your membership.


Manual Process

  1. Login to paypal using this link https://www.paypal.com/myaccount/autopay/
  2. Find Chicago Beer Society in the list with a status of Active and click on it.
  3. Once the subscription information loads, you can click Cancel
  4. If your membership just renewed and you would like a refund, please Contact Us and we can process your request.  Please include your name and transaction number. Note that Chicago Beer Society is 100% volunteer run by folks with day jobs but we will respond as soon as possible.

Manual Steps (Alternative Step by Step Process)

  1. Log into http://www.paypal.com with your paypal login information on a desktop computer
  2. Once you are logged in at your account summary page, click the gear (in the upper right hand corner near Logout) to go to the account settings page
  3. Once that settings page loads, click Payments in one of the top header bars and then click Automatic Payments towards the bottom of the page.
  4. Find Chicago Beer Society in the list with a status of Active and click on it.
  5. Once the subscription information loads, you can click Cancel
  6. If your membership just renewed and you would like a refund, please Contact Us and we can process your request.  Please include your name and transaction number. Note that Chicago Beer Society is 100% volunteer run by folks with day jobs but we will respond as soon as possible.

Other Frequently Asked Questions

Can I join CBS without automatic renewal

As of April 2022, all memberships require auto renewal.  A membership profile can be canceled at any time which will effectively prevent further renewal however please keep in mind that we also no longer support habitual cancelation and re-activation of your membership so please only cancel if you intend to no longer become a member.

  1. Follow these instructions to cancel your existing membership after your initial payment has gone through. We suggest waiting a week prior to canceling. Your current year membership will remain intact.

If you are having any issues with canceling your account, or require any other membership help, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us

Is there a discount for membership renewal?

As of Feb 24, 2019, there is no longer a membership renewal discount.  Membership fees have not changed for at least 25 years yet the costs of running world class events has increased substantially.  A $25 membership in 1994, if raised with the cost of inflation, would be over $51 today. Your membership helps offset the costs of these events and ensures we can continue to bring you great events such as the Brewpub Shootout, Fall Tasting, and everyone’s favorite: the Umpteenth Picnic. If you already have an autorenewing membership with the discount applied, you will continue to receive this discount.  New memberships, or new payment profiles (due to credit card expiration, etc) will no longer have the option to receive a renewal discount.

Why does a membership require Paypal?

By using a payment processor such as Paypal, we are able to reduce the administrative overhead as well as the legal and technical challenges of managing and storing payment information.  Paypal never shares your financial data with us, we never have your credit card information, and you remain in complete control of your payment information. The use of Paypal allows us to focus our time on creating and running the unique events everyone has come to love and spend less time worrying about things like PCI compliance.