EP-249 Jonny Coffman of Goose Island Beer Co.
Today\u2019s conversation is one of the hardest\u2014and most edifying\u2014that I\u2019ve been lucky to have. It reaches that level of dialogue and storytelling that I think, on occasion, puts the GBH podcast on the level of oral history. It has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with the quality of people who we\u2019re lucky enough to have share their stories on this platform. And each guest of this caliber serves as a sort of searchlight to others who might find their way here next.
Jonny Coffman has been a bartender in Goose Island\u2019s taproom, just down the street from our studio, for some time now. He\u2019s worked in breweries and bars like Chicago\u2019s Local Option, and serves as a warm, inviting face to the world of beer for so many.\xa0He\u2019s the kind of unassuming and energetic person that makes you feel like you always made a great choice.
But the last four years of Jonny\u2019s life\u2014including a long, sprawling battle with cancer\u2014challenged that disposition in the most profound ways. And they did so over and over again.
I recently ran into Jonny at the Goose Island taproom when he was celebrating the national release of the beer he helped design and that he and his colleagues used as a symbol to celebrate his new lease on life. That beer is called Lost Palate\u2014for reasons you\u2019ll hear about in excruciating detail in this interview. It\u2019s a Hazy IPA with cinnamon, lactose, mango, and graham crackers. It\u2019s a wild beer for Goose to have made. But Jonny is kind of a wild guy.\xa0
In the end, this interview is not about a beer. It\u2019s actually a struggle for me to even talk about the beer itself in the context of this interview, but for Jonny it\u2019s critical that we do. Rather, this interview is about all the things that this simple beer has come to represent\u2014for Jonny, his colleagues, family and friends, and the message he hopes it carries to the rest of the world\u2014as it spreads out onto shelves all across the country. This beer, and Jonny\u2019s story, are going to pop up everywhere.
Fair warning that this is a long one\u2014and the listening will be hard-going at times. It was for me and Jonny, too. But I know I walked away better for having heard it.
This is Jonny Coffman of Goose Island Beer Co. Listen in.