EP-129 Bill Savage of Northwestern University

Published: July 1, 2017, 1:11 p.m.

b'Chicago\\u2019s beer story is an historical one, full of the bawdiness that to this day continues the association of beer with the rougher parts of our civility. It\\u2019s political - in the burbs is where the temperance movement spawned, we\\u2019ve had workers riots and rallies, and our alderman would use their saloons to sway the vote. As American craft brewing brings beer back to the local, and hyperlocal level, some of these histories don\\u2019t seem so remote. Tied houses, saloon culture, and good old-fashioned bartending are newly refreshed in their relevance to our daily experience, but the ways in which history repeats itself are sometimes not what we expect.\\xa0 Are breweries with taprooms the same concern as tied houses a hundred years ago? Does "local" mean the same thing in contemporary craft brewing? What\\u2019s the role of a bar when it\\u2019s not just the corner spot but some sort of craft beer concept, or a sportsbar.\\xa0 And for today\\u2019s guest, a lot of that is tied to the role of the bartender themselves.\\xa0 Bill Savage is a Chicago historian, writer, teacher, and long-time bartender going back some 30 years.\\xa0 All of that has led to him being one of the most important voices in Chicago\\u2019s drinking culture, and that of our entire country.\\xa0 His new project, The Old Time Saloon originally written by George Ade and resurrected by Bill, kicks off today\\u2019s conversation. And it serves as great window into many topics relevant to today\\u2019s craft beer drinker.'