Beer was central to early modern life — sustaining labour, shaping sociability, and underpinning institutional power. Yet while historians have explored its cultural meanings, the drink itself has rarely been tested. How strong was it? How nourishing? How consistent?

This session centres on a screening of Drunk? Adventures in Sixteenth-Century Brewing, a research-based film supported by the European Research Council and produced within the ERC-funded FoodCultcult.eu. The film follows the reconstruction of Irish beer brewed at Dublin Castle in 1574, moving from archive to brewhouse to laboratory through a collaboration between historians, craftspeople, scientists, and filmmakers.

The experiment yielded unexpected results. This everyday beer fermented to over 5% ABV and delivered calorific values comparable to modern lager, challenging assumptions that early modern beer was weak or nutritionally insignificant. More importantly, reconstruction generated new knowledge. Brewing in practice revealed how much the process depended on embodied skill and accumulated judgement — forms of expertise that remain largely invisible in written records.

The project also extended beyond the initial experiment. The challenges of sourcing appropriate grains and working with pre-industrial technologies led to sustained collaborations with brewers, maltsters, and growers, renewed engagement with heritage cereals, and practical experimentation around low-input production and local supply chains. What began as a historical reconstruction has developed into an ongoing conversation about sustainability, craft, and how working with the past can reshape contemporary brewing practice.

Following the screening, Susan Flavin and Marc Meltonville will join live for discussion and audience Q&A.

This session explores how early Midwest cities often overlooked - and at times deliberately erased - the presence and contributions of Black saloonkeepers in shaping local alcohol economies. Centered on Chicago, it brings together evidence from historic newspapers, city directories, police records, and genealogical research to shed light on the lives and work of Black entrepreneurs in the saloon trade.

Drawing on the idea of the “urban commons,” the lecture from Onteya Zachary highlights the neighborhoods and gathering places where Black communities built social networks, created opportunity, and carved out space within a rapidly changing city. These saloons were more than places to drink—they were sites of connection, creativity, and economic activity. 

By revisiting familiar stories about the rise of urban saloons, this session challenges the notion that these spaces were driven solely by European influence. Instead, it reveals the important and often unrecognized role Black saloonkeepers and their communities played in building and sustaining these economies - contributions that continue to shape cities like Chicago today.

This talk invites a broader, more inclusive view of alcohol history, one that recognizes the diverse people and communities who have long been part of its story.

Mexican lagers have become one of the most discussed and brewed styles in the U.S. craft beer world. From conference panels and podcasts to taproom debates and sensory workshops, the style is everywhere. But there’s a glaring omission in many of these conversations: Mexican brewers themselves.

This panel centers Mexican industry voices to explore the history, evolution, and modern interpretations of Mexican lagers through the perspectives of those who grew up drinking, brewing, and reimagining them. From Vienna lager roots to contemporary light lager expressions, we’ll examine why defining a “Mexican lager” is complex, why that ambiguity matters, and how the conversation shifts when lived experience is part of it.

Inspired by a 2024 Instagram post from Adrián Rodríguez-Montfort of Cervecería Paracaidista, this is a good-faith discussion about history, brewing practice, and the value of including the right voices in the room. What happens when Mexican brewers are invited into the conversation about Mexican lagers?

We strive to frame beer culture as young, energetic, and forward-looking. But what happens as brewers, drinkers, judges, writers, and publicans grow older alongside the culture they helped build?

This panel with Denny Conn, Julia Herz, Lucas Livingston, Laurin Mack, and Randy Mosher, explores aging not as a problem to solve, but as a lived experience to examine, celebrate, and question. Panelists will reflect on how time shapes our bodies, palates, priorities, creativity, and participation in beer culture. Topics may include ageism and gendered expectations, changes in sensory perception and consumption habits, physical adaptations in brewing and work practices, and what an aging population means for the future of the beer community as a whole.

This conversation welcomes older (and less older) participants to consider how beer culture can be more inclusive, sustainable, and humane across the lifespan. Drawing on perspectives from brewing, hospitality, sensory science, advocacy, and long involvement in the beer world, the panel offers space for candor, humor, and insight, with the goal of fostering intergenerational understanding and a healthier culture for everyone.

World War II created traumatic stresses on the brewing business and beer culture that could have been devastating. Ingredients, equipment, packaging and labor all were in short supply. Prohibitionists jumped at the opportunity to finish their quest.

Brewing historian Doug Hoverson tells the story of how suppliers, brewers and workers across the nations supported the war effort and how breweries kept the beer flowing to support morale in the Armed Forces and on the Home Front. Through changes in recipe, manufacturing, and marketing, the war shaped how Americans would experience beer for the next several decades.

Step inside one of Europe’s most storied breweries for a rare, behind-the-scenes look at Stiegl Brewery.

This virtual tour traces Stiegl’s remarkable evolution from its origins in a narrow Salzburg alley to the height of the city’s beer culture, and into today’s state-of-the-art brewhouse, where tradition meets precision in gleaming stainless-steel vessels. Along the way, participants will enjoy a curated glimpse of the brewery’s museum, its “Hausbrauerei” (small-batch experimental brewery), and the atmospheric tasting cellar.

The experience concludes with a live Q&A from the Stiegl Brewery with Thomas Necker, Export Manager at Stiegl and Markus Schwaiger, Dipl. Beer Sommelier and Salzburg City Guide.

Some of the world’s most celebrated beers are brewed by Trappist monks - individuals whose primary vocation is not brewing, but living in community, serving others, and worshiping God. This talk explores how the distinctive spirituality of Trappist monastic life shapes the beers produced within abbey walls. Rather than being merely the result of centuries of technical refinement, the excellence of Trappist beer emerges from a way of life rooted in theological and ethical commitments.

Drawing on themes such as caritas (charitable love), the understanding of labor as integral to the dignity of the human person, and a deep commitment to caring for creation, this presentation from Marty Tomszak examines how these values inform both the process and purpose of Trappist brewing. The result is a beverage that reflects not only technical mastery but also a spiritual vision of work and community.

At the same time, Trappist brewing communities are often misunderstood. Religious pilgrims who travel to abbeys may appreciate the beer but overlook the technical and vocational dimensions of monastic life that make its production possible. Meanwhile, many beer enthusiasts eagerly seek out these highly regarded brews without considering the religious and philosophical framework that distinguishes them. This lecture seeks to bridge these perspectives, illuminating the relationship between theology, everyday practices of enjoying beer, and the monastic vocation that brings these traditions together.

Marty Tomszak is a Lecturer in Religious Studies at Valparaiso University, where he teaches courses in religion, theology, and liberationist ethics. His research explores the intersections of theology, continental philosophy, and radical forms of community life. He is the recipient of a Visiting Researcher Grant from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, which supported the development of his recently released monograph, Time, Silence, and Yeast: A Song of Appreciation for Trappist Communities and Their Beer (Cascade Books).

Beyond his academic work, Tomszak integrates theory and practice through a range of community initiatives. He serves as director of the Fire for Food Drive, a partnership with the Chicago Fire Soccer Club that works to address food insecurity in Chicago. His teaching frequently incorporates experiential learning through collaborations with Catholic Worker communities in the Chicagoland area, and he is actively involved in mutual aid initiatives on Chicago’s North Side. Outside the classroom, he can occasionally be found behind the bar at Off Color Brewing.

Few artists shaped a brand’s visual identity as memorably as John Gilroy. Active from the 1930s through the 1960s, Gilroy brought the world of Guinness to life with fearless color, bold graphics, mischievous humor, and unforgettable characters. His posters didn’t just advertise a beer, they built a playful, enduring visual universe that remains instantly recognizable today.

Eibhlin Colgan, Archive & Heritage Manager at Guinness St. James’s Gate, joins us live from Dublin for a deep dive into Gilroy’s creative legacy. You’ll explore the evolution of the famous Guinness animals (including the iconic toucan), discover how these designs came to define the brand, and see why Gilroy’s work still influences design and advertising nearly a century later.