An Evening with Garrett Oliver

“Craft beer is a return to normality.”

-Garrett Oliver

On Wednesday evening the hubby and I went to Binny’s Beverage Depot in the South Loop to meet a true pioneer in the craft beer world: Garrett Oliver.  Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery and author of The Brewmaster’s Table, was in Chicago to promote his newest book The Oxford Companion to Beer, a tome of encyclopedic proportions of anything you would ever want to know about our favorite fermented beverage. My dad, a full supporter of my craft beer obsession, actually sent this book to me as a gift and I was very excited at the prospect of having it signed by the editor-in-chief.

As always, the hubby and I arrived a little early so we walked up to the South Loop Tasting Room located at the east side of the store.  They have 15 taps with quite a few Brooklyn beers among them so we decided to have a little tasting before Mr. Oliver arrived.  I started with the Concoction, a beer inspired by the Penicillin cocktail and brewed with ginger, honey, and lemon.  The initial aroma had a sweet, cinnamon smell that slowly became more grassy, earthy.  The flavor was reminiscent of mulled wine, but it was savory (“Umami”) instead of sweet.  It was well carbonated which added a lovely effervescence.  This was an appealing beer but it was difficult to drink the whole pint; it is definitely for an advanced palate!  Next, hubby and I shared a glass of the Companion, a 9% ABV wheat wine that is much more crisp and less sticky-sweet than other representations of the style.  It is highly carbonated which disguised the high alcohol content, and had the flavors of caramel and fig.

From left: Me, Garrett Oliver, and CBG Nik

This was a much more low-key affair than some of the other beer events I have attended. And it was a welcome reprieve.  When Mr. Oliver arrived, he just came up to the table where we were sitting and chatted with us a bit.  He began with a little speech that covered his take on craft beer in the United States.  He first explained that his voice was a little hoarse due to the many speeches he has been making in recent weeks to promote his book and magically a microphone appeared.  He took it, leaned on our table, and started crooning “The Way You Look Tonight” with a lovely baritone!

After a few bars of the song, he went back to his speech which, I’m not going to lie, blew my mind a little.  He began by saying that we as Americans are used to having a wide variety of choices when it comes to food or drink, something those in other countries are not used to. Immigration brought food and beer styles to America from every culture, from Germany, Poland, England, among others. But with this variety, and the Industrial Revolution, there have been some drawbacks; we have assembly lines that make our food. We are now used to Kraft Cheese Singles, which isn’t real cheese, or Wonder Bread, which isn’t real bread.  The local supermarket is like entering a matrix; we got used to eating “food facsimiles.” And it has been the same with beer.  Americans think that Budweiser and other watery so-called pilsners are beer, but they are not.  “Craft beer is getting back to what is real,” said Oliver. “It is a return to normality.”  What he means is that it is getting back to wholesome, true ingredients and taking pride in quality. I couldn’t agree more.

Dave Berkson gets a bottle of Brooklyn Brewery's Sorachi Ace signed by Garrett Oliver

Oliver also spoke about what craft beer has taught him.  For example, he thought that craft beer was only for a certain demographic but has quickly learned that anyone can find craft beer accessible.  Case in point, he spoke of an 85 year old woman who loved the Black Chocolate Stout because it reminded her of the homebrewed beer her father made during Prohibition.

Oliver hopes that we, the readers, will flip through the Oxford Companion to Beer and discover topics we didn’t know we were interested in. “We don’t flip through books anymore,” said Oliver. And it’s true, especially now with the onslaught of tablets and e-readers (I’m totally guilty of this one… Love my iPad!)  I remember when I was a kid, my parents had a HUGE encyclopedia that we would go through, not in any particular order, to read and learn.  I am excited at the prospect of going through this book this weekend and reading about topics I might not have gone out of my way to look up.

After the speech, Oliver went over to a long table to begin the book signing.  He was gracious and posed for pictures with those in attendance.  He hung around and signed all of the books, bottles, or skateboards (yes, someone brought a Brooklyn Brewery skateboard to be signed) that fans brought.  He even stayed around and chatted with those of us lingering fans that just couldn’t seem to be drawn away. (I’m not a stalker, I swear.)  I am so excited to curl up on the couch this weekend, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout in hand, and flip through this book. –Jessica

Photos generously provided by Christopher Murphy.  We pay him in beer. And he’s totally cool with that.

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The Oxford Companion to Beer