CHICAGO — Once again, a Chicago museum is giving fans of one of the most popular adult beverages the chance to learn some history about the drink.

The Chicago Brewseum is hosting its fifth annual Beer Culture Summit from Wednesday through Saturday, with events taking place both at the Chicago History Museum, 1601 North Clark Street, and virtually over Zoom.

Operating with the same mantra as the Brewseum itself, that beer is more than a beverage, the summit offers attendees the opportunity to learn about the history of it while also discovering its impact on society.

“It’s really about sharing stories about how beer has shaped humanity past and present,” said Chicago Breseum executive director Liz Garibay to WGN News Now about the Beer Culture Summit. “With most history, it’s only written by certain people for certain people. Beer is no different, so when our organization started – and really the summit is really a reflection of our organization – it’s really focuses on sharing stories that are lesser known, lesser heard voices.”

The three-day program tries to explore that with a diverse set of seminars that address a number of unique topics in the history of brewing. It begins Wednesady at the Chicago History Museum on Wednesday at 6 p.m. as Richard and Jessica Fierro of Atrevida Beer Company of Colorado Springs.

Richard will share his story of the mass shooting that occured at Club Q in that city on November 19, 2022 in which five people were killed. He tackled gunman Anderson Lee Aldrich, stopping the shooting and preventing further injuries, loss of life.

Other events during the summitt include the attempt to save artifacts from the shuttered Anchor Brewing Company, designs of taprooms, tavern painting, beer in the bible, beer in films, a discussion with the National Black Brewers Association, and a glass-making course among others.

The summit will conclude on Saturday evening at the new Guinness Open Gate Brewery with a lecture from Dr. Edward Slingerland along with a special announcement from the Brewseum.

“You’ll see so many kinds of different sessions that will appeal to very different people,” said Garibay about the schedule.

One thing that has helped expand the reach of the summit is to be able to have sessions virtually, which allows the reach to go beyond the Chicago area and even the United States.

“While we like to meet in person, the ability, the flexability of being able to do this virtually is really special,” said Garibay. “We now have presenters and participants from all over the world, and so that helps us amplify and diversify the kind of information we’re sharing.”

Larry Hawley has more on the fifth-annual Chicago Brewseum Beer Summit on WGN News Now in the video above.