On June 13, 2009, The Drinking & Writing Brewery will hold The 5th Annual Drinking & Writing Festival.  This year the focus is on the city that works...our very own Chicago.  What does drinking and writing mean to our fair city?  This is what you will find out.

So far the lineup includes Northwestern University's Bill Savage; Pete Crowley, Brewmaster from Rock Bottom Brewery and Radio Brewmaster for The Drinking and Writing Brewery Radio Show; Dr. Denese Neu, PhD, Urban Social Scientist; and members of Forgotten Chicago.

Ray Daniels is the recipient of this years Drinking and Writing Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drinking and Writing.  Ray Daniels is founder of Cicerone Certification Program (Cicerone is to beer what a sommelier is to wine.) president of the Craft Beer Institute, has written, edited,or published over a dozen books on beer and brewing (including Designing Great Beers: The Ultimate Guide to Brewing Classic Beer Styles and The Brewers Association's Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery), past director of the Brewers Association Craft Beer Marketing Program, and senior faculty member at the Siebel Institute of Technology.  The award goes to a drinker/writer who exemplifies the best of both.  Previous recipients include Chicago Tribunes Rick Kogan and Bill Jauss and Modern Drunkard author and editor Frank Kelly Rich.

We will have beer from some great microbreweries and brewpubs including Rock Bottom, Goose Island, Metropolitan Brewing, Bluecat Brewpub, Brickstone Brewery, and Mickey Finns.  Of course, there will be the ever popular Two Drink Minimum Writing Contest.  For this contest, everyone who has been using their drink tickets is given paper, pen, theme, and two minutes to write a story related to that theme.  All legible and illegible entries will be judged immediately and the winner will receive a fabulous prize (previous prizes include a tour and tasting for 10 at Goose Island Beer Company your weight in beer from Goose Island!).  The festival will also feature local homebrewers with tasty samples of their beer,and The Bukstore will be on hand with some books on Chicago, drinking, writing, and drinking and writing.

Admission is $20.00 for tickets purchased in advance (www.drinkingandwriting.com) or $25.00 at the door.  Ticket price includes a festival souvenir sampling glass, all events for the day, and 10 drink sample tickets good for all the Hopleaf beers and the guest beers.   Event takes place from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Hopleaf Bar, 5148 N. Clark Street.