Why historical beers?

Beer is a storyteller. It’s a way of connecting with history in a physical way. It’s a story you can taste.

I don’t know what it’s like to live in another time, just like I don’t know what it’s like to be someone else. What I do know is that sharing experiences with other people enriches my life. The magic of history is that you can share experiences with people and learn from their lives even if they’re dead! That’s what old stories are, a type of communion with humanity unbound by time. Beer, with its thousands of years of history as a central part of celebrations and meals, is a touchstone we can use to connect to some really interesting people, places and times.

It’s hard to relate to people who died long ago because their world conflicts with our modern sensibilities. Our failure to relate to those who came before us confines history to a different plane of existence, as if the people who lived then are somehow different from us who live now. It’s as if history is fiction, but boring. Except that it isn’t, really.

Step outside and take a deep breath. Watch the wind tussle the leaves. Look into the face of someone you love. What do you feel? Those are the same emotions that stir in everyone else. Then. Now. Forever. One day you will become someone else’s history. We all will. So, doesn’t your existence mean something? Don’t you have a story you’d like to share? Of course you do. And so did everyone else. I want to share these stories with you.

Raise a glass to those who came before us, taste the same beers they toasted with, and share their stories the way you hope someone may someday share yours.

-Nathan Vadeboncoeur, Brewer