The 2021 Festival of Wood & Barrel Aged Beer at Credit Union 1 Arena.
The first FOBAB, in 2003, on the cozy second floor of Rock Bottom brewery in downtown Chicago, amounted to 36 beers from 22 breweries.The nation is home to other festivals that celebrate beer aged in oak barrels, but FOBAB was likely the first, and it remains the most iconic, an essential exploration of innovation and experimentation among breweries both large and small.They were simply trying to tap into the burgeoning energy happening in the form of barrel-aged beer.
How did we get here? Not even the founders quite agree on that. We talked to them, along with Michelle Foik, co-owner of Eris Brewery and Cider House, who attended the first FOBAB and helped run the next several while working for Goose Island. Interviews were edited for clarity.Pete, Todd and I were sitting around at Rock Bottom, drinking Pete’s barrel-aged stout — which was kind of rare at the time — and someone said, “We should do a festival ofbeers.