The Bartender’s Bookshelf with Josh Noel (‘Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit’)

On Sunday, September 15th, join James Beard Award-winning author and barman Toby Maloney as he welcomes Josh Noel, author of ‘Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit’ to The Violet Hour for another installment of “The Bartender’s Bookshelf.” The Violet Hour will be celebrating the release of Noel’s latest book and all things Malört. (Yes, Chicago Handshakes will be available!)

Get tickets for a private reception and author chat with Toby and Josh from 5 pm to 7 pm. Following the reception, The Violet Hour will open its doors to the public, inviting local cocktail enthusiasts to meet Josh and Toby while grabbing a drink from the one-night-only menu—a revival of classic Malört-based cocktails from The Violet Hour archives and Old Style beer.

Copies of ‘Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit’ will be available for purchase at the event and author Josh Noel will be signing until 9 pm. And we’ll have Chicago-themed food specials coming out of The Violet Hour kitchen available for purchase—Italian Beef-Stuffed Pizza Puffs with Malört-Spiked Giardiniera and Old Style-Battered Pickles and Cheese Curds with Giardiniera Aioli

Your ticket includes:
– Entrance to the reception and author chat from 5-7pm
– Two specialty Malort-based cocktail menu selections
– A can of ice cold Old Style

(No ticket required past 7pm. Speciality cocktail menu available all night.)

Author bio: Josh Noel is the author of “Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit” (2024) and “Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out: Goose Island, Anheuser-Busch and How Craft Beer Became Big Business” (2018). He wrote about beer and travel for the Chicago Tribune for more than a decade, becoming one of the nation’s most recognizable beer and beverage journalists and winning multiple awards from the North American Guild of Beer Writers. He lives in Chicago.