Great Beer and the Illinois Humanities Council
by Jim Vondracek on 04/01/12
Last Tuesday night, I had one of the most fun and rewarding beer-related evenings of my life. The Illinois Humanities Council's Public Square put on a program at the Haymarket Pub and Brewery called What's Brewing in Chicago: The Politics of Beer. The event sold out - standing room only - and was exactly what beer culture should be: great beer, good food, interesting people, outstanding conversation.
Liz Garibay and the Tales, Taverns and Towns Project
The first speaker was a member of the staff at the Chicago History Museum, Liz Garibay. Liz had a presentation that she was only able to touch on because of time, but talked about her research on some of the founding of the earliest taverns in Chicago's history, how beer and politics intersected in 19th century Chicago, and the role of immigration in the civic life and its impact on brewing.
She has a website for her project, with a blog with some interesting stories http://www.talestavernsandtowns.com/blog/ She would be a great guest at a homebrew or beer club gathering - she has interesting information and shares it in a compelling way.
Pete Crowley: Brewmaster at Haymarket Pub and Brewery
Our host for the evening, Pete Crowley at Haymarket Pub and Brewery then spoke for a few minutes, about why craft beer in the metropolitan area is growing and how drinking locally made craft beer is a political statement.
Pete and Liz took questions from the crowd. This guy asked whether Liz knew if it was true or not that the old Schoenhofen Brewery, run by German immigrants, was shut down during WWI by the feds on charges that they were using their tall water tower to broadcast messages to German agents. She hadn't heard that story before.
Its About Beer
During the program, I had two outstanding Haymarket beers. The first was the Lizzie's Simcoe IPA. The simcoe aroma and flavor were strong and citrusy, balanced with a nice malt backbone in the beer. This is an outstanding IPA. Next, I enjoyed The Defender Double American Stout. This is a strong stout, close to 10% abv, I'm guessing, and hoppier than some stouts. Really delicious, with strong roasty, coffee-like flavors balanced with maltiness and chocolate malt. Both were outstanding.
One of the great things about the evening is that it was an example of beer culture. We were seated at communal tables, with people we didn't know when the evening started, but that soon changed. At my table, across from me were two younger men, one of whom had recently graduated from college. They were obviously on a date, very interested in the topic but self-described mass-produced beer drinkers. I pointed them toward Haymarket's Pilsner, which they enjoyed. I told them about how when I was their age, 100 years ago, one of my first experiences of 'better beer' was also a pilsner - Pilsner Urquell - at a pub in Iowa City called the Sanctuary. Like Haymarket, the Sanctuary was the sort of place where beer culture thrived and new friends were easy to meet.
Speaking of new friends, another person at our table was Serge, a photographer who gave me permission to use his photos for this blog entry. He enjoys lighter beers, photography is his art and hobby, and you can see some of his photos on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/people/saumacus/
