With the 2022 iteration of The Brewers Congress almost among us, it was only right we revisited
the closing remarks from last year’s event, delivered by Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster at Brooklyn
Brewery.
At the end of the 2021 Brewers Congress, we learned that in beer, and the wider world, what
people love is for you to have the respect to show them what you love. And in doing so, they have
an opportunity to walk through a little door and potentially find something they really enjoy. But if
you don’t give people the chance, then they can’t respect you.
Garrett Oliver, as well all know, has hosted countless tastings. And he has seen that people can
surprise you. With their knowledge, their taste, with their enthusiasm.
In London, he told us that you should never assume that you know more than the person sitting in
front of you. That we all should be more inclusive, and to have the courage to put ourselves in front
of people who don’t look like us and maybe haven’t heard about our beer.
And also, he said that if you want to have a really good time, get everybody in the room. Not just
the people you know, but everybody because, put simply, everybody loves beer.
Photo: Nic Crilly-Hargrave