Brew Week speakers highlight craft-brewing's community assets

Ohio Brew Week guest speakers Chris O'Brien and Lucy Saunders met Saturday afternoon at the Little Professor Book Center for a book signing. While both authors came to Brew Week because of their love and appreciation of craft beer, they differ in their approach to spreading this appreciation to the public.

O'Brien, author of "The Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World," approaches craft beer as a green way for drinkers to return to community ideals, which is what he believes the original drinking of beer was all about. Friday at Toscano's restaurant in Athens, O'Brien told how his appreciation of craft beer started when he ran out of money to afford industrially made beer and started brewing his own.

"I started making my own beer because I didn't like the beer that I was getting; it was cheap, industrial beer," O'Brien said. "I didn't want to cut my beer intake, so I started home brewing to save money, and I realized that this beer was very different (from industrial beers) and that I liked it better."

Later, when working for a small group where his job was to find and promote green businesses, O'Brien said he realized that in many ways, craft breweries fit the description of what he was looking for.

"I made the connection that all these small, craft-brewing industries are actually small green businesses," O'Brien said. "They don't call themselves that, but they're local and independent using higher-quality ingredients with a focus on craft and community rather than profit. That makes them better community."

According to O'Brien, the market for organic products has grown substantially in the last several years, with the market for organic beer growing at an even faster rate. He noted that craft brewers are beginning to realize that they can make quality beers with organic substances that are better in quality than non-organic ingredients. By doing this, small breweries are not only able to support their community; they can also make the creation of beer a positive feat for both the community and the environment.

"People are beginning to realize that organic ingredients are not just a trend; it's actually a focus on quality," O'Brien explained. "What's good for the environment is good for us, and it's good for beer. It just makes sense."

In his book, O'Brien writes about the history of beer-brewing, and how it originated within the community before becoming a business venture. As an industrial product, beer lost its community roots and became more about alcoholic content and less about quality and taste, he wrote, until craft brewing came along. With the craft-brewing movement, O'Brien believes that communities are starting to get back to the way beer was originally intended to be consumed.

"Good, local, fresh beer brings a community together in a positive way, and it goes hand in hand with a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable business practices, or community practices," O'Brien said. "This book is about home and craft brewers deciding that good beer brings people together and protects our planet, so that's what we should be doing."

Lucy Saunders concurs with O'Brien in many areas, but her approach differs. Saunders, author of "Cooking with Beer" and "Grilling with Beer," said she enjoys craft beer for the experimental and creative choices it offers her when cooking and pairing it with other dishes.

"I think of myself as a food writer who happens to have a great love and appreciation for craft beer," Saunders said.

Saunders said that she went to cooking school where she majored in baking and pastry, but while there she began to experiment and adapt recipes for cooking with beer. Afterwards, when looking to study cooking with beer, she found that no such programs were being offered in the United States. Consequently, Saunders went to London to study under different chefs who were familiar of the process.

"It was really a great experience for me, to work with chefs who were knowledgeable about cooking with beer," Saunders recalled. "This is actually still the way a lot of people learn how to cook with beer; they're either self-taught or they study under someone else in an internship or apprenticeship. That's why I write the cookbooks. So that everyone who wants to take the time to learn can."

Saunders performed several cooking demonstrations Friday at Grover Kitchens, Toscano's and the Ohio Brew Week BrewBQ Cook-off Competition. The audience seemed surprised at the different ways she demonstrated cooking with beer, she said, for example by making pickles, using beer to ferment the vegetables. By doing small things like this, Saunders said that one is able to integrate the flavors of the beer without everything tasting like beer.

As in any cooking experience, taste is everything. When cooking with beer, Saunders said that one of the most important things she advises is to sample the beer before cooking with it.

"As you're sampling the beer, open your mind to the flavors that you're tasting and see what direction it leads you in," Saunders advised. "Thinking as you're drinking is important. Start with a beer that you would drink; you should like the flavors of the beer you're cooking with because that set of flavors is going to intensify with cooking."

Saunders, like O'Brien, also sees craft beer as a way of getting back to community, and Saunders said she really saw this during Ohio Brew Week.

"Cooking with beer and pairing beer with other meals is really all I want people to get from reading my books, just making beer a part of your dining experience because it brings so much pleasure and is a great way to support your community," Saunders said. "Most small breweries have a real community focus, which is something that Ohio Brew Week really proves."

More information on Lucy Saunders and Chris O'Brien is available on the Ohio Brew Week Web site at www.ohiobrewweek.com.

The 2009 Ohio Brew Week festival ended after Saturday's Boogie on the Bricks.