Crafting Dreams: The Inspiring Story of Old Irving Brewing & The Trotter Project

You can find Trevor and Old Irving Brewing Co. at the Chicago Brew Fest!

We had the pleasure of speaking with Trevor Rose-Hamblin, one of the founders of Old Irving Brewing Co. He is a long-time Trotter Project supporter and partner, and will be one of the brewers slinging refreshing beers at our 3rd Annual Chicago Brewfest! Learn more about Trevor’s story, community outlook, and favorite beers below.

Thanks for chatting with us today, Trevor! Can you tell us about your background and how you got started in the brewing industry?

My background was first and foremost in restaurants. I came out to Chicago from Michigan many moons ago to pursue a culinary career and education. I went to Kendall College, and ended up staging (a working interview) at a place called Moto.

Moto was owned by Homaro Cantu, a graduate of the Charlie Trotter program, after working in his restaurant. Over the years, Homaro and I became quite close, and then eventually we drummed up the smart idea of one day opening our own brewing restaurant. That's where it all started, and that's how we got here.

I did a lot of apprenticeships with other breweries in Chicago and beyond. A lot of local breweries let me cut my teeth from their breweries, like Pipeworks Brewing Company, DryHop, and Flossmoor Station. That's how I learned the trade since I spent all my money on culinary school.

Then in 2016 we opened Old Irving Brewing Co.’s site and have learned a lot since.

How did you get involved with The Trotter Project?

I've always been excited about The Trotter Project from its earliest inception. Homaro Cantu was dreaming this thing up a long time ago. And, when he first talked about it, I thought it was one of the coolest ideas of being a charity wherein you could help underprivileged youth get into an industry that, honestly, I'm massively indebted to, and it saved my life more than once.

I think it creates a ton of opportunities for young people who want to pursue a job and a future within the culinary arts, within management. And, that's probably the most exciting part about it.

Besides the aforementioned history behind myself and The Trotter Project, I have the utmost respect for who Charlie Trotter was as a person—really building a foundation for the culinary arts and creating all these amazing chefs who have carried on the legacy of Charlie Trotter. And not to mention just absolutely ballooning Chicago into the greatest food city, in my opinion.

I find a lot of connection with The Trotter Project because I do believe that as a business owner one of the biggest missions, besides hopefully one day making money, is being able to help our communities, whether that is providing employment or being able to use our resources and our voice to create opportunities for a younger generation, to really stoke the culinary industry here in Chicago for many, many generations to come.

The way we do that is building something with such a very strong foundation like The Trotter Project, wherein we can get excited, new youth involved, and we can keep all of us from becoming old hats. Making sure that we have fresh ideas, fresh visions, and some really excited young people to carry on the torch.

What is one of your favorite memories working with The Trotter Project?

I probably would say a lot of the banter with Derrek Miller. We've known each other for a long time, since the old days of Moto. We actually worked together directly. We've traveled over to Europe and all these other great memories. So watching Derrek and the rest of the team take this and watch it blossom and grow.

Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Brew Fests in the past. They've always been a lot of fun. It's been really cool to see my two worlds collide: my older life of fine dining, restaurants and all the connections I made there, and now all of my friends in the beer community coming together for a larger cause.

Why do you love Chicago Brew Fest and what can we expect this year?

The coolest part is always seeing the brewers’ willingness to participate and put forth their beer, expertise, donations, time, without hesitation or question. I ask them, they say, “Absolutely, I'm in.” I think that's probably my favorite part, the sense of community.

We're gonna be serving a couple of different beer styles this year: One that we usually bring to a lot of these brew fests is Della, our old-style ale, which won silver at The Great American Beer Festival in 2021, a really high honor, especially for something that's really about the nuance of flavors. It’s very easy to drink—as soon as you get to know it, you want another glass of it.

What’s your favorite beer to drink?

As I carry on in the beer industry, I think I like lighter and lighter, easier and easier beer to drink. I used to drink a lot of IPAs in my youth, and I do tend to reach for a lot more for German-style beers these days. 

We just made recently an actual white beer for our friends in the band One Letter. We work a lot with local musicians, so I kind of get a kick outta that. Then a lot of times, I go the exact opposite way, where if I'm drinking something extremely light, I'll also be enjoying a full style ale.

Why should everyone join us at Chicago Brew Fest?

I'm excited to be a part of the Chicago Brew Fest because as I mentioned before, I love watching these two realms come together for me: the culinary side and the beer side for one beautiful, harmonious day. And having Wintrust involved and seeing their involvement and just how much they support this community and the same initiative that The Trotter Project has always been known for. It is always humbling and very cool. And then, of course, drinking beer during the day, which I am a very big advocate of. I love that part.