From the board room to the Map Room in a single jump? This is Robert Finkel, founder of Forbidden Root, a botanic beer company starting up in Chicago. His business background prepared him, sort of, for the bizarre world of craft beer, but it's mostly been an inspiration to see this guy's obsession with spices and herbs blossom into a completely new career in brewing. This past week, he celebrated a major milestone — a collaboration with Pipework's Brewing called "Ceci n’est pas une bière" — a pipe tobacco-inspired old ale with nuanced layers of oak, lily, Peru basalm, and cherry stems.
Talk about "natural habitats."