Join us for a special beer dinner at one of Chicago’s most celebrated restaurants. This exclusive experience offers you a five-course family-style dinner specially curated by Chef Stephanie Izard and features her favorite staples alongside seasonal dishes. We’ve thoughtfully paired eight savory dishes with a Chicagoland beer to highlight our city’s food and beverage artistry.

This unique gathering takes place in the Underground Goat, a private casual and rustic dining area. It is this space where we toast the conclusion of the Summit and where we’ll raise another glass to begin planning for next year.

Join Randy Mosher as he demonstrates that tasting beer leads to richer understanding of our often hidden inner life. From the way our senses work to their connection to our emotion and memory tasting reveals an almost totally hidden part of our selves that usually operates without conscious intervention. Sensory learning is quite different from the type of learning we normally engage in and takes a different approach to do it successfully. Along the way, we'll get a tour of the mind as well as the landscape of beer flavor and pick up a few hints about becoming a better and more perceptive taster.

Led by: Randy Mosher

In-person at Forbidden Root Brewery.

This conference gathers beer scholars and experts from all over. We’re giving them a beer and a platform so they can do what they do best! Learn about and discuss their passion projects (which just so happen to be cutting-edge insights about beer history and culture) in the time it takes to drink a pint.

Scholars and Pints will all take place in the various bars and breweries that make up Malt Row, a beercentric area on the north side of Chicago.

What better way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 18th Amendment, or the beginnings of Prohibition, than with a toast? Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood is steeped in beer history, especially through its taverns. Join historian Liz Garibay on an exploration of historic taverns and speakeasies. From the 1893 World’s Fair to Prohibition bootlegging to modern pop culture, this historic pub crawl provides a fun overview of Windy City history, culture and identity.

Led by: Liz Garibay (Chicago Brewseum)

It’s hard to talk about beer history without sampling some historic brews! Historians and experts are teaming up with brewers around the world to resurrect forgotten beers using original techniques and recipes or crafting beers with historic narratives. We’ve put together a selection of amazing historic beers and invited the experts behind them to discuss what they did and how they did it.

Panelists: John Laffler (Off Color Brewing Company), Mike Siegel (Goose Island Beer Company), Kyle Spears, (Carillon Brewing Company), Mike Stein (Lost Lagers), David Thieme (Thieme & Wagner Brewing Company).

In-person at the Nisei Lounge.

What happens when brewing history isn’t just found in a museum or a book, but in the very beer we drink? Select brewers throughout the country have resurrected and maintained historic brands hundreds of years in the making, drawing on legacies and recipes alike to infuse beer’s past into its present. This panel asks some of these stewards what it means to bring unique and historic brands into a 21st-century marketplace.

Panelists: David Berg (August Schell Brewing Co), Greg Hardman (Christian Moerlein Brewing Co), John Harry (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee), Laurin Mack (Conrad Seipp Brewing Co), David Thieme (Thieme & Wagner Brewing Co).

In-person at the Nisei Lounge.

The business of beer is hot! And sometimes love and romance - for better or worse - are part of the beer story. Join us as we gather with a diverse group of brewing industry couples to hear about their journey together in beer. Warning: fun loving stories might make cameos. Event includes a light snacks and beer.

Panelists: Steve and Libby Crider (2nd Shift Brewing), Samantha Lee and Stephen Bossu (Hopewell Brewing Company), Julie Verratti and Emily Bruno (Denizens Brewing) ,Adam Vavrick (Do Right Distribution), Kim Vavrick (Anheuser-Busch)
Moderator: Kate Bernot (The Takeout)

In-person at Kaiser Tiger.

Despite some off-years under the 18th Amendment, thinking and drinking is a longstanding American institution. Beer, in particular, has played a central role in the cultural, economic, and political development of the nation. In this conversation, Alison Cuddy of the Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago Brewseum founder Liz Garibay and Theresa McCulla, Curator of the Brewery History Initiative at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, will peer through their pint glasses into the past, and examine the many ways beer refracts and enhances our perceptions of history.

Panelists: Alison Cuddy (Chicago Humanities Festival), Liz Garibay (Chicago Brewseum), Dr. Theresa McCulla (Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History).

In-person at the Chicago Architecture Center. Featured event for the Chicago Humanities Festival 2019 Fall Festival.

Beer brings people together...or at least it should. The sad truth is that beer is no more immune from the problems that divide us than the rest of society. Many industry insiders and drinkers alike have faced exclusion, discrimination, and even harassment. But beer can also be a vehicle for positive change we can all raise a glass to. This panel discusses both the successes and challenges that beer brings to communities.

Panelists: Carla Jean Lauter (The Beer Babe ), Sally Selwan, Craft Beer Specialist (Breakthru Beverage), Chalonda White (Afro.Beer.Chick).

In-person at the Chicago History Museum.

Immigrants don’t just bring their own brewing and drinking culture to the United States. Centuries ago and today, they’ve completely redefined the way Americans produce, think about, and consume beer, just as immigrants have reshaped American society for centuries. This panel combines a past and present look at migration and ethnicity to illustrate not only how immigrant perspectives affect our beer, but also how they help us define what it means to be American in the first place.

Panelists: Dr. Nathaniel Chapman (Arkansas Tech University), Dr. Julius L. Jones (Chicago History Museum), Cesareo Moreno (National Museum of Mexican Art), Dr. Alison Orton (University of Illinois at Chicago).

In-person at the Chicago History Museum.

This evening we gather to unveil a new collaborative history based beer made with Eris Brewery + Cidery in Chicago and 3 Sheeps Brewing in Sheboygan, WI inspired by historical research being conducted by Dr. Jennifer Jordan at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Ella, a single hop harvest ale tells the story of young Wisconsin women who tirelessly labored on hop farms during the mid-1800s. At a time when every hop blossom in the world was picked by hand, these seasonal workers traveled the countryside harvesting Cluster hops by day and sleeping in the family farmhouse at night. It is with Ella that we remember, honor and commemorate these hardworking women - without their labor, we might not have American beer at all.

Dr. Jennifer Jordan will share stories about these women while our modern day brewers discuss their approach to making the beer and interpreting history. Event includes a light snacks, a ¼ liter of Ella, samples of select Eris and 3 Sheeps beers, and a half liter of Metropolitan Brewing beer.

Panelists: Michelle Foik (Eris Brewery + Cidery), Dr. Jennifer Jordan (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee), Grant Pauly (3 Sheeps Brewing Company).

In-person at Metropolitan Brewing.

Professionals and scholars work best when they work together, but to what end? What fundamental research questions must we investigate to better understand beer’s historical and cultural significance? What narratives and stories are the most important to convey via exhibits and public programming? This panel brings cutting edge scholars, museum professionals, and archivists to the table to consider what questions and goals should drive our field of study.

Panelists: Liz Garibay (Chicago Brewseum), Dr. Jennifer Jordan (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Dr. Theresa McCulla, Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Michael Morgan (Queen City History and Education).

In-person at the Field Museum.

St. Louis to the south. Milwaukee to the north. Chicago is surrounded by major Midwestern brewing centers but the Second City’s place in American history stands apart. The city’s political, industrial and cultural relationship with beer not only helped define an urban landscape but radiated out through the rest of the country – not through beer on refrigerated rail car but via scientific expertise and cultural influence. And the city’s beer legacy continues today. This panel explores the many ways that Chicago’s beer and its community historically gives as good as it gets.

Panelists: Ray Daniels (Cicerone Certification Program), John Hannafan (Siebel Institute), Pat Odon (Chicago Bars), Dr. Maureen Ogle (Beer Historian), Michael Rehberg (Black Point Estate and Gardens)

In-person at the Field Museum.

Beer was the cornerstone of early civilization. It gave us writing, built the pyramids, and was eventually a cultural anchor in colonial America. Beer led us to agriculture, hygiene and medicine, and helped define social standards. Tastes and methods may have changed, but beer’s important social role has remained for thousands of years. This panel of experts in the history, archaeology, science, and visual culture of ancient, medieval, and colonial brewing will not only explore the age-old insights beer can provide, but also how ancient beer styles have been resurrected for the modern beer community.

Panelists: Frank Clark (Colonial Williamsburg), Lucas Livingston (Art Institute of Chicago), Randy Mosher, Travis Rupp (University of Colorado, Boulder), Dr. Ryan Williams (Field Museum).

In-person at the Field Museum.

You are cordially invited to the official conference kick off celebration! Get introduced to a weekend that gathers scholars, museum professionals, beer industry and the wonderful public together. Our lively evening includes music, food and beer pairings, tours of the barrel aging facility, and samples of Goose Island barrel aged selections. Enjoy a delicious line-up of light appetizers curated by Chef Stephanie Izard’s Goat Group Catering. A one of a kind weekend of beer history and culture and festivities starts here.

With Liz Garibay, Founder & Executive Director, Chicago Brewseum; John Hall, Founder, Goose Island Beer Company; Theresa McCulla, Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

In-person at Goose Island Barrel House.