All About Beer Demo Virtual test : Page 27
Read more of the conversation at www.allaboutbeer.com done before. On top of that, I found out that everybody who waswaiting tables at our brewpub had a liberal arts degree from a Big Ten university. Is that where you were headed? Yes, I was actually an English major at Iowa, with a creative writing bent. Now I write beer labels instead of short stories. They’re very, very, very short stories. How is it working with your dad? Well, we often don’t agree on things, but the nice thing is, with his financial background, he’s most comfortable sitting behind a desk looking at spreadsheets all day. I would rather pokemy eyes out and set them on fire than do that. Your brewery has changed in remarkable ways over they years. The first beer I had there was Honker’s Ale—which I assume is still your flagship. But it’s a long way from Honker’s Ale to Matilda or Sofie. You had a very traditional brewpub start, but you’ve kept moving forward. One of the great things about a brewpub is that you don’t have to go through TTB [government label approval] for every beer—nothing against TTB, of course. But you can make a new beer, put it on the chalkboard, and you’ve got a new brand. When I took over from Victor, we kept six beers on tap all the time with one of them rotating, I thought, there’s really nothing stopping us from doing a lot more beer than that. Pretty soon, we were on a schedule doing about 40 different beers a year. It became our own little laboratory. You’ve drawn attention to the loss of traditional workingmen’s bars around Chicago in recent years and what that means to communities. My sister works in a bar called the Chipp Inn, which is one of the diviest dives you’ll ever imagine. We now have three of the four beers on tap, including Matilda, which is shocking. I’d say three-quarters of the clientele are drinking High Life or PBR, whatever’s on special. Then some hipster or a working guy will come in and plop down seven to eight dollars for Matilda. Sometimes, I think some people in the brewing community get a little too passionate about one brewery versus another. It’s all beer, and beer’s good. Why bother talking about the things you don’t like, when there are so many things to like? Without a doubt the best looking festival on the east coast. Thanks to all the breweries, sponsors, volunteers and beer enthusiasts who made this event so much fun. Orkney Brewery Pabst Brewing Co. Pyramid Breweries Redhook Ale Brewery Saranac Brewery Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Smuttynose Brewing Co. Spaten Braü St. George Brewing Co. St. Peter’s Brewery Starr Hill Brewery Sünner Terrapin Beer Co. Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. Thomas Creek Brewery Troegs Brewing Co. Unibroue Brewery Urthel Brewery Van Eecke Brouwerij Van Steenberge Brouwerij Victory Brewing Co. Weeping Radish Brewery & Restaurant Weyerbacher Brewing Co. Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. Williams Brothers Brewing Co. Woodchuck Cider Würzburger Hofbräu Wychwood Brewery Yanjing VOL. 31, NO.4 SEPTEMBER 2010 ALL ABOUT BEER 27 SEE YOU AGAIN IN 20II!
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