On Saturday morning, I walked into the Blind Pig Brewery to find Bill Morgan in the middle of a brew. As steam poured from equipment, and the smell of malted barley filled the air, I had the opportunity to ask Bill a few questions.
With 21 years of professional experience and a founding member of the local BUZZ club, it was a little shocking to hear that Morgan wasn’t committed to beer from an early age. Even with a little influence from a cousin, it wasn’t until he unpacked a box of books, during a part time job, containing Michael Jackson’s pocket guide to beer did the relationship begin to mature. Bill describes his first mixed six pack: “I was shocked with what was hitting my taste buds.”
A fortunate happenstance led Morgan to Chief’s (now known as Joe’s Brewery) opening where he was hired on the spot as a brewer. Morgan was given the opportunity to experiment with beers and soon he was the head brewer. After making the transition to Joe’s Brewery as the head brewmaster, Morgan was always looking to expand his knowledge. Breweries were opening up across the country, and brewmasters were in high demand, so Bill headed off to the Siebel Institute in Chicago for a more formal training. It wasn’t long before he landed a job in Cleveland, Ohio, working as the head brewer Diamondback Brewery. It isn’t surprising that the man who designed the brewery from the ground up also began winning awards for beers. In 1997, he was awarded a gold medal for a sour lambic-style ale. This was the first time the Great American Beer Festival had awarded a gold medal for a sour beer.
After a few more medals, Morgan was notified of a job in Japan to run a much larger facility. When he arrived, he immediately began training the workers on laboratory work, as well as quality control on the production line. While the Japanese market was diluted with bland styles, Bill experimented with different beers, eventually landing on the wit style that became 10% of his company’s production. Even with all this success, after five years, Bill questioned whether he wanted to continue brewing at this level.
Returning to Urbana-Champaign to pursue a Master’s degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, he was contacted by Chris Knight (the owner of The Blind Pig Co. and The Blind Pig Brewery) about starting a brewery in Champaign. Since 2009, they’ve been producing rustic beers with unique flavors, no two of which will be the same.
But brewing beer isn’t the only concern for this experienced brewmaster. Morgan, a former member of Students for Environmental Concerns, says that his degree in Ecology, Ethology and Evolution made him acutely aware of reducing the breweries’ ecological footprint as much as possible. Recapturing waste heat in water that is used to cool the wort is then reused to clean equipment. Keeping other waste in mind, Morgan contacted a local farmer to help dispose of spent grains, using it for animal feed.
Also, Morgan tries to minimize the amount of cleaning chemicals that make it down the drain, picking the most innocuous to reduce effects on our waterways. Finally, Bill is very interested in sourcing materials locally, though he explained that at the amount of grain he needs, malting can be rather technical to produce a high enough quality. Even so, this brewmaster is looking forward to the future, noting that even hops may become a part of the Midwest landscape due to popular movements.
Morgan continues to strive for an atmosphere that is inviting to people. This self-titled man with “strong opinions” likes the English brewpub style that neglects having T.V.s on the wall, to facilitate conversations between people. Bill strives to get people to talk, especially about the beer. After a few sips of the natural and unfiltered beers, you may have an opinion, and Bill wants you to share it.
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