What makes Jared truly unique amongst brewers is his extremely impressive restaurant industry resume. Before following his calling as a brewer, Jared spent time working in some of the best kitchens in the world — including Thomas Keller’s three Michelin Star Per Se in New York City. He is also a graduated of the Culinary Institute, as well as the Siebel Institute of Technology — America’s Oldest Brewing School.

Since joining the Goose Island team in 2009, Jared has been focused on bringing innovations in cooking to brewing. One such project is the Famer’s Market Series. Each week, Jared and his fellow brewers peruse through the local farmer’s market seeking inspiration from high quality, fresh ingredients. After selecting various treasures, the team heads back to the brewery for some Farmer’s Market R & D. A week later, a new seasonally relevant beer appears on the menu.

After reading a recent article in the Chicago Tribune about this innovative brewing project, I knew I needed to ask Jared a few questions of my own. And like the little good brewer boy that he is, Jared complied.

Photo: José M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune

Beer Wench: How long have you been brewing beer’s inspired by ingredients found at the Farmer’s Market?

Jared Rouben: I was first inspired by the farmer’s markets when I was out in Napa cooking at the Martini house. I just remember going to the Napa farmers market and cutting open an heirloom tomato and thinking this has the colors of a firework display, truly beautiful. And having the farmer’s and produce from the Green City MARKET a stone’s throw away makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop. Fruits and vegetables with the most intense flavors and colors created by people who really love what they do and produce. I love it so much. The farmers are like family and the Green city market is something that I look forward to every year.

Why did you decided to start the Farmer’s Market series?

I realized that the best chefs in the city were going to the market every Wednesday and Saturday to get the best ingredients — and as a brewer why wouldn’t I do the exact same thing? I know that in order to make great beer you have to start with great ingredients. And there was no better source for great ingredients then at the Green City Market. It has also been an excellent way of challenging my palette and given me a stronger understanding of ingredients we might not normally find in a brew house.

What have been some of your biggest “successes” in the Farmer’s Market series?

You have to give credit to the great ingredients for the great results. Some of my favorites have been the paw paw pale ale, bubble gum plum Belgian blonde , and the Apple wood smoked helles

Any flops, or beers that didn’t quite meet your expectations?

There are a couple beers where the ingredients just didn’t show themselves in the fashion that I had hoped. This makes me so sad because the last thing I am trying to do is compromise the complexity of the ingredient or the integrity of the beer style. they should go hand in hand and compliment each other. The blueberries in my blueberry oatmeal stout were MIA, which was a shame. I should have increased the amount of blueberries because of the high water content.

Let’s talk brewing…..

During which stage of the brewing process do you typically add the ingredients found at the Farmer’s Market?

This really depends on the ingredient. I usually gravitate towards adding the ingredient post fermentation so that we showcase the ingredient with as little manipulation as possible in its natural state.Produce like this is so tasty that to change it should be a crime. However, there are some ingredients like the klug farm fairy tale pumpkin that I put in the kettle during whirlpool. You have to be careful because there are few ingredients that show themselves better after being submerged in a 200 degree liquid.

Which comes first — do the ingredients inspire the style of beer you choose, or does the style of beer help to dictate the ingredients you select at the market?

I try to go into this with an open mind. I start at the market so I start with the ingredient and then head back to the brewery to taste all of our beers in the tanks and on tap. There are so many times that I am sure an ingredient and beer will work together but after tasting it, I am left disappointed. It’s very important to taste everything and keep an open mind. The best part of this series is the delightful surprises you figure out through tasting

What does a typical R&D session for the Farmer’s Market series consist of?

Tasting, tasting, and more tasting. What is really important is tasting the beer every day after it has been infused. The beer will change every day as the ingredient and beer become more accustomed to each other. As the flavors change it’s important to transfer it as soon as you think its perfect.

Do you foresee turning any of your creations into commercially available product (aka sell it outside of the pub location)?

I don’t see this happening in the near future. These beers are truly created to be consumed during the season the ingredient was produced.

Does the pub and/or you design food pairings around the new beers?

Not yet but hopefully we can do this in the future. I have the luxury of working with Chef Andrew Hroza who is not only a chef but also a cicerone and hombrewer.

Follow Jared on Twitter: @jbrew312

Now, before we get to the video, I must give credit where credit is due! I found out about the video from Ken Hunnemeder (@HopCastKen), Communications Coordinator at Goose Island and the charming  co-founder of Hop Cast, one of the Wench’s favorite video beer podcasts on the Interwebs. The tweet read as follows:

Beer, dance sequence and Hall & Oats all mentioned in the same 140 character sentence? Color me intrigued!

And, if the video itself was awesome enough, Ken’s adorable face makes several appearances. FTW, for certain my friends, FTW.

50 states. 20 contests. One great brewer.

The Next Great American Brewer is a reality competition television series, produced by Main Gate Visuals (who have worked with the US Army, Top Chef and Project Runway — to name a few).

The show is bringing twenty of the best amateur and professional craft brewers across the United States to compete against each other in challenges related to brewing beer and running a successful brewing company. The winner of the competition will have their beer brewed, bottled and distributed by Goose Island Brewing Company across the country.

But don’t let the show’s title fool you, it isn’t all about brewing. Although beer design and brewing skills are critical components to the show, the brewers will also be challenged on their ability to conceptualize packaging, market and sell beer, serve beer in a busy brewpub environment, cook with beer, pair food with beer, and troubleshoot all sorts of operational problems. For more information, check out the official trailer here.

Although the rockstar team of judges might not be as harsh and dramatic as Gordon Ramsey, they are promising to put a no-holds-barred smack-down on the contestants. As someone who has worked every angle of the industry — from shoveling spent grain and cleaning kegs, to package design, to marketing and sales, to working in kitchens and serving behind busy bars — I cannot wait to see how the contestants handle it. And as a huge evangelist and advocate for craft beer, I just really excited for craft beer to get the mainstream attention it deserves!

Hopefully, there will be a Season 2. Because y’all know I’m itching to audition!!

For news on the show, like The Next American Brewer on Facebook and follow @AmericanBrewer on Twitter!

In my world, nothing truly beats an amazing food & beer pairing. Well, there might be an exception or two, but I will leave that to your imagination.

Food and beverage pairings, let alone food and beer pairings, are not easy. They require a palate far beyond the average chef, sommelier and brewer. Few chefs understand the complexities of nuances of beer like a brewmaster, and in contrast, few brewers understand the complexities and nuances of food like an executive chef. Those capable of crossing the line between brewmaster and executive chef are not just few and far between, they are virtually mythological in nature — beings of legends and lore.

A few select individuals, humans capable of transcending the science and artistry of brewing and the science and artistry of cooking, actually do exist. These supertasters possess amazing abilities, almost incomprehensible to us mere mortals. One such modern wonder is Jared Rouben, Pub Brewmaster for the Goose Island Brewpubs in Chicago, IL.

Now before some of you get all huffy puffy on me, it is crucial to note that the Goose Island Brewpubs are NOT owned by AB-InBev. It’s okay, breathe a sigh of relief with me now. Okay, feel better?

Back to the story.

Isn't he adorable?

Not only is Jared a phenomenal brewer, as exemplified by the amazing beers he produces for Goose Island, he is also an Culinary Institute of America graduate with an extraordinary culinary resume, including working with the legendary Thomas Keller — arguably one of the best chefs in the world — at Keller’s prestigious Per Se in Manhattan.

So yes, you heard me right. Jared Rouben is both a genius brewmaster and a professionally trained chef, which essentially makes him a foremost expert on beer and food pairings. And that brings us to the Great American Beer Festival.

During the Friday night session of GABF, between 7:30 and 8pm, Jared will be teaming up with Stephanie Izard, Top Chef winner and owner/chef of Girl & the Goat, on the stage of the convention floor, where they will will provide insights on brewing beers to complement food and creating food to complement beers. The presentation, called “Sweet and Smokey Chicago Style”, will feature samples of their collaboration: “Farmer’s Market,” a honey smoked Porter made with wildflower honey from Ellis Family Farms in Illinois. This unique, medium-full bodied beer balances honey, roast and smoke flavors, and will be shared with the panel’s audience and paired with a sweet and smoky dish, to be announced. (Check out the video below for more information on the collaboration beer).

But the main event, the raison d’etre, the inspiration of this post, is the night before.

On the evening of September 29th, Stephanie and Jared are partnering with ChoLon Bistro Chef Lon Symensma & Alex Seidel of Fruition to present a beer dinner of epic proportions. All proceeds from the dinner will benefit Share Our Strength (strength.org), a charity dedicated to ending childhood hunger in the US by 2015. The details are such:

• Date: Sseptember 29, 2011
• Where: Cholon Bistro
• Time: 6pm for beer cocktail reception and snacks, 7pm dinner
• Cost: $125

Alongside the Honey Porter, the dynamic beer menu will be showcasing Rumble Oak-aged IPA from Great Divide and Funkwerks Belgium White, finishing with Dulce — Jared’s American Stout made with “crop 2 cup” Ugandan french roast coffee & Seville oranges. Each chef will create a family style dish to accompany the different beers from Jared’s list, to show the many directions one can go and the various styles of cooking that can work well when pairing beer and food.

“We wanted it to be unique as well as representative of both Jared’s brew style and my cooking. One of many qualities that makes Jared unique as a brewer is that he started his career, back in the kitchen, at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. The way that he thinks about layers of flavor in his beers is similar to my approach to food at Girl & the Goat.” — Stephanie Izard.

Naturally, I’ll be there, which can only mean one thing… you should be there as well. And trust me, a beer dinner with an amazing brewmaster with experience from Thomas Keller’s prized Per Se in NYC is no joke. And for $125, it is a steal. BE THERE. Or be sorry…

About Jared Rouben

Originally from Louisville, Jared is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, as well as the Culinary Institute of America in New York and the Siebel Diploma course. After culinary school, he worked as a chef at the Michelin Star Martini House in Napa and as Expeditor at the three Michelin Star Thomas Keller’s Per Se in New York City. After New York, Jared moved to Chicago to become a part of the Rock Bottom brewing team. Jared first joined the Goose Island Clybourn brewing team in 2009 and became the Head Pub Brewer in January of 2010. Since starting at Goose Island Jared has created the Chef Collaboration Series, Farmers Market Series and focused on experimental brewing. His passion for both beer and food is infectious.