Mic Check, Mic Check. Is This Thing Even On?

If I’m being perfectly honest, the direction of this site has not been one hundred percent conceived. Nor vetted by my wife. Nor professionally edited. Here’s the bottom line: I have ambitions to open a commercial brewery at some point in the future. So this site will be some part brewery-in-planning highlighting the process and events to that end; it will be part homebrew blog since that’s what I do on the regular and wish to share with all you pretty masses; and it will probably become part cathartic homebrewer, wishful entrepreneur, new parent, thirty something-dear diary because we all have an eleven year old girl in us just wishing to talk about feelings.

There are many reasons why I’ve fallen in love with beer and the brewing process. Indulge me and I’ll explain it all away.

Brewing stimulates creativity and my being able to construct something real when the actual day-to-day is sitting at a desk on a computer doing something I’m often lukewarm on. Even better, I get to share my creation with any number of people until the keg runs dry.

Beer has a rich history across the globe. For me it represents a connection to our common pasts be it nationally, ethnically, familiarly, etc. Whether playing with ingredients likely used before modern malting processes, exploring native hops, or using traditional grains and processes to clone an 18th century farmhouse ale, brewing allows me to see, touch, taste, and smell as though many of our ancestors did. It represents a tangible connection to a past that I would otherwise only read about.    

Socially there are few things that have brought more people together, solved political impasses (British public houses), or created more excuses to throw a big party (Oktoberfest anyone?) than beer. I firmly believe that with enough beer and a table long enough we can solve most of the planet’s problems if we’d just take the time to try (cue Kumbaya scene).   

There is something very educational in any hobby, let alone one with an infinite number or iterations, natural variations, and a few thousand years of trial and error. The day I stop learning, or being curious to learn, will be very sad. Learning new styles, processes, techniques, and senses is an incredible experience for me and I want to share that love of beerducation (trademark pending) with those new to beer or homebrewing.    

Many things in this world produce nostalgia, create a sense of place, or generate memories that we attribute to a specific day or time in our lives. Beer and drink, like food and music, does this on several levels. Not all of my fondest memories include beer, but many do. Some of my early memories of childhood include slurping the head off my dad’s way too frosty and way too cold mug of Heineken and the smells of homebrew that he and my uncles were producing when I was a tweenager. There’s the memory as a barely-twenty year old craft beer novice having my first Stone Levitation, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and New Belgium Fat Tire. Or drinking pitchers of Pilsner, in a way smoky bar in Budapest, surrounded by new friends, while an old feller belted out House of the Rising Sun on acoustic guitar. And most recently drinking an Augustiner Helles at the summit of a mountain in Bavaria with my wife and friend and drinking a Brouwerij Omer Vander Ghinste Oud Bruin at ‘t Brugs Beertje in Brugge. Damn that last bit was a mouthful (pun intended).

These are all the reasons I would love to dedicate my life to making the best beer that I can. To share with friends, family, and perfect strangers; to create a space where others create their own nostalgia inducing memories that my beer plays even a minor role; and exciting people’s creative and curious brains to see that beer is dynamic and exciting with a rich and abundant history.

2018 felt a transitional year for me and my family. My wife and I unexpectedly said goodbye to our dear cat Jack, purchased a house after being booted on short notice from our rental, and most importantly welcomed our son Graham in December. At 34 I think I’m finally feeling a proper adult. The 20s are well in the rear-view and 40 does not seem too far off, which frequently causes a momentary existential crisis while attempting to fall asleep at night. Perhaps those feelings are our brains’ way of telling us to get on with it and make the most of the time we have. 2019 feels like a year for growth, physically for my little boy, and figuratively for me, to see if I can take this passionate hobby to a new level. I’m excited to see what comes of this blog, of my homebrewing endeavors, and of life generally. So crack open a beer and come along the journey.