O'Leary's Barn Burner - The Inspiration

Let me tell you some stories.

There are things that inspire me and there are things that lead me to wonder why. This is the story behind my first beer recipe.

I'm from Chicago, the City of Big Shoulders, Hog Butcher for the World, the Windy City. I love the city of my birth and youth. I love its history and culture, its beauty and the dark places of its soul.

As a child and teen I would immerse myself in books on my city's history. I was obsessed, and still am, with the tragedies that built my city into what it is today. I could tell you all about the Iroquois Theater and the Eastland but my number one fascination was the Great Chicago Fire.

The fire that destroyed Chicago in the early autumn of 1871 started in or near the barn of Mrs. Catherine O'Leary and lead to the destruction of more than 18,000 structures in a 3.5 square mile area. While it wasn't the deadliest or largest fire that year, the City of Peshtigo, WI burned on the same day in a forest fire that killed more than 1,200 people and burned more than 1.2 million acres, it was a fire that shaped how the city of my youth grew in its youth.

The site where the Great Chicago Fire started is now the home of the Chicago Fire Academy. The majority of my childhood was spent hanging out at or with paramedics and fire fighters. My father is a member of the Chicago Fire Department. He's the one who taught me to love beer.

He taught me how beer is brewed and what goes into it. He taught me the love that is put into a brew by a homebrewer. So I knew one day that I would start brewing too. When that day came I knew I wanted the first beer recipe that I developed to be a tribute to things that are important to me. It would be a beer that would always have a place in my heart and a beer that is a piece of me.

But the O'Leary referenced in the name is not the same O'Leary of the fire fame. No, my O'Leary is a friend.

I first met Mariana in 2004 when she was a third class petty officer and we were in a Coast Guard "c" school  together. She and I worked together off and on throughout my career. She is an awesome person who is full of life and deserves all of the rewards that life brings.

Unfortunately life also brings tragedy.

In August 2011, Colin O'Leary, Mariana's husband, unexpectedly passed away. While I never had the pleasure of meeting Colin. I know how much joy he brought to Mariana. I promised her that I would name my first beer after Colin.

So in the end this beer is named for things that have a lot of meaning for me. It's meant to stir memories of campfires and friends.

O'Leary's Barn Burner, in memory of a friend, a city's history and my father. This smoked-Irish Red Ale is for all of you.