The goal of the documentary Brewmaster, director Douglas Tirola says, “is to tell the story of the craft beer boom.” It encompasses more than craft beer, though: it also follows Drew Kostick, a New York lawyer trying to start his own brewery, and Brian Reed, a trade brewer for Tenth and Blake who’s studying to become a Master Cicerone. Tenth and Blake is the craft and import division of MillerCoors, and while it includes several craft beer brands—including Pilsner Urquell, which provided funding for the documentary—the company isn’t exactly a microbrewery. (Whether craft brands owned by megabreweries still qualify as “craft” is a topic for another day, though the Brewers Association says no.)
“I think the film is about people just trying to find a way to make a career out of working around their passion,” Tirola says. “Whether it’s being a brewmaster, helping bottle the beer, working in marketing. . . . People love baseball, doesn’t mean everyone’s going to be on the starting lineup, but they just want to be around it. There’s connections people have with beer that I didn’t understand until we went out and talked to hundreds of people in beer communities around the country and the world. People are really passionate about beer. It’s pretty amazing.”
Brewmaster screening, Tue 11/20, 7 PM, Music Box, 3722 N. Southport, 773-871-6604, musicboxtheatre.org, $20, $40 VIP (VIP reception begins at 6).
