Garrett Oliver (born July 29, 1962)[1] is an American brewer and beer author from New York City. Since 1994, he has worked as the brewmaster at the Brooklyn Brewery.

Garrett Oliver
Born (1962-07-29) 29 July 1962 (age 62)
Alma materBoston University
Occupation(s)Brewer, writer
Employer(s)Manhattan Brewing Company
Brooklyn Brewery

Early life

edit

Oliver grew up in Hollis, Queens to a father who enjoyed hunting and cooking. Oliver studied filmmaking at Boston University, and as a student organized concerts for bands such as R.E.M., The Ramones, The English Beat, and The Gun Club. After graduation, he spent a year stage-managing bands at the University of London. He then traveled in Europe, sampling beers in countries such as Belgium, West Germany, and Czechoslovakia.[2][3] After returning to the United States in 1983, he began homebrewing, working for HBO and a New York law firm.[2]

Brewing career

edit

In 1989, Oliver became an apprentice brewer at the Manhattan Brewing Company. In 1993, he was appointed brewmaster of the company,[4] which closed and reopened twice in the early 90s. In 1994, he left Manhattan to become brewmaster at the Brooklyn Brewery, a position he has held since.[2] He has also become a partner in the company.[5]

Oliver has an interest in beer pairing and cooking with beer, having written several books on the subjects, including 2003's The Brewmaster's Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food. This interest has led him to become involved in the Slow Food movement.[6] He was also the editor of the 2011 Oxford Companion to Beer,[5][7] and has served as a judge at the Great American Beer Festival.[8]

In May 2012 Garrett Oliver was honoured by the Institute of Brewing and Distilling through the Beer Academy as an 'International Beer Champion' and was made an 'Honorary Beer Academy Sommelier'. He was the first (with Bill Taylor) to be given this title from the British organisation that educates and certifies beer sommeliers.[9]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Beer Birthday: Garrett Oliver - Brookston Beer Bulletin". 29 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Acitelli, p. 228
  3. ^ Schriffen, Poppy, & Monroy
  4. ^ "Garrett Oliver : Brooklyn Brewery". Brooklyn Brewery. Archived from the original on 2 August 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  5. ^ a b Acitelli, p. 342
  6. ^ Acitelli, p. 309
  7. ^ Del Signore
  8. ^ Smagalski
  9. ^ "Beer Academy release 8 May 2012". Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2015.

Bibliography

edit

Further reading

edit
edit