Mark McDermott

The Boston Beer Co. (Samuel Adams) is debuting a new year-round beer this month, Sam ‘76. As part of the promotional push for the new beer, Sam Adams founder Jim Koch has been available for interviews.

PDF versions of articles in the Chicago Tribune CareerBuilder section. 2003-2004

This remains one of my most popular articles, thanks to people Googling to find out whatever happened to this Chicago brand beer.

First of a series, for Groupon's new Chicago Restaurant Guide, on the best breweries, brewpubs and beer bars in town.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications

The Flip Wilson Show was the first successful network variety series with an African-American star. In its first two seasons, its Nielsen ratings placed it as America's second most-watched show. Flip Wilson based his storytelling humor on his background in black clubs, but adapted easily to a television audience. The show's format dispensed with much of the clutter of previous variety programs and focused on the star and his guests.

Tales of Chicago Bars as Fischman's Announces Reopening

This month, we have the debut of “Drinking Buddies,” an independent movie centered around people who work at a craft brewery. The movie, written and directed by Joe Swanberg, debuted online July 25

The Museum of Broadcast Communications

Mark Goodson and Bill Todman were among television's most successful producers of game shows. They refined celebrity panel quizzes with What's My Line and I've Got a Secret, and created games that lasted for years. Some, like The Price is Right, became even more popular in revived versions. Many of their shows have been adapted for production in television systems outside the United States.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications
In his various executive positions Duncan Dickie Ebersol has contributed several innovations to the NBC television network. He shepherded Saturday Night Live onto the air, then returned as producer to "rescue" the show in the early 1980s.

No holds are barred in my review of the new cheap beer available at Walgreens... Read more »

I was having so much fun sampling at talking beer last Saturday, that it's only now that I realized I had been to my first film premiere. A fourth floor loft studio on North Racine was packed full for the debut of "FOBAB," a documentary shot at Chicago's tenth annual Festival of Barrel Aged Beer. It was a short film, to be sure, and the producers did not discuss what would happen to it next, but the crowd was very appreciative, cheering on-screen appearances of John Laffler (ex-of Goose Island's Barrel program, now a partner in the forthcoming Off Color Brewing), Randy Mosher (5 Rabbit) and Pete Crowley (Haymarket Pub & Brewing), among the many "Kahunae" of barrel-aged beers...

Widmer Brothers Brewmaster Joe Casey with his Omission Pale Ale. He created a whole new beer category just for his wife. Okay, and his boss.
This October has been Celiac Awareness Month,* intended to ...