The Field Museum Is Launching Another Historic Beer, Inspired By Ancient China

By Anthony Todd in Food on Jul 10, 2017 8:58PM

The final product! Photo courtesy of the Field Museum.

The Field Museum's beer program is one of the most fun things going on in the Chicago brewing world right now. In partnership with Off Color Brewing, the museum has launched a beer inspired by Sue, a pink brew from an ancient Peruvian recipe, and now a beer inspired by a Chinese tomb.

According to a release, the new beer (called QingMing), was influenced by evidence of "sacchrificaton," the process of converting starch to sugar, found inside of Chinese tombs from about 1600 BCE. Off Color Brewmaster John Laffler told the Sun-Times that they also found evidence of "ingredients including hemp seeds, osmanthus flowers, honey and more."

Laffler modified his equipment to get as close to the ancient process as he possibly could, though some ingredients weren't FDA-approved for beer. Flavors include peach, tea, lemon rind and bubblegum.

The beer will debut on July 13 at Hop To It, a special evening event featuring a talk by Laffler, Gary Feinman, Curator of East Asian Anthropology and Jamie Kelly, Head of Anthropological Collections. Light appetizers will be served and, of course, you'll get to taste the new beer. Tickets are $40. The beer will be available more widely starting on July 14.