Greetings to all. Recently I received a letter from UC Davis Master Brewer Program notifying me that I have been accepted to their program beginning in January 2015. I first applied for this program in early 2013 after discovering homebrewing and becoming a little obsessed. I was aware that the program was difficult to get in to and had an extensive wait list, so I applied, waited and eventually got accepted.

Throughout the time I waited I continued my job as an environmental consultant here in Vancouver.  I’ve enjoyed this line of work and it’s brought me to some pretty interesting places. I’ve jumped out of a hovering helicopter, jet boated over a freezing reservoir at -40 degress C, and encountered curious black bears that almost made me shit myself. But that excitement has paled in comparison to how I’m feeling now, although I must admit I’m almost as scared as I was when I encountered that bear.

So after receiving this letter I have finally convinced myself (and my wife) that I will go for it, put forth my best effort and attend the MBP at UC Davis. Let me begin by saying that this decision has been anything but easy. I am willfully giving up a decent salary, job security and a sense of knowing where I’ll be in the future for a chance to hopefully work in an industry that pays less, requires more manual labour and may take me a significant amount of time before I have anything resembling job security or a decent salary. Furthermore I’m aware that I must be attentive to any potential opportunities that arise no matter where they may be located. This is something that I have discussed with my wife and she has been nothing but supportive. Without her support and understanding this would not even be an option.

First, I must admit I am, or at least was, guilty of getting caught up in the fantasy of being a brewer – someone who spends a few hours making beer then enjoys the rest of the day sipping the spoils of their labour surrounded by a wealth of friendly admirers. I quickly came to realize just how much work professional brewing is going to be after conversations with local brewers and reading a wealth of online articles about becoming a brewer. The scariest and most eye-opening article I read was “So you want to be a brewer, eh” by Chris Shea. At first I admit this article made me question my decision, but I have to say that since I’ve read it (and many others) it has only come to solidify my desire to become a brewer. I am no stranger to physical labour and 12+ hour work days. In fact, I thrive in these environments (one of my most enjoyable jobs was as a concrete former building houses back in Ontario). I enjoy the methodology of process and I strive to incorporate the mind and body in to what I do. For me brewing seems like the ideal choice because of the potential to achieve this balance.

A bit more on why brewing suits me: first is chemistry. As a kid I received my first ‘chemistry set’ when I was about 10 years old, it contained a few experiments like putting baking soda and vinegar together and watching it erupt. In high school I had a great and inspiring chemistry teacher, Mr. Hamilton at Bradford High, who really attracted me to the science. I have an undergrad degree in Chemistry and a masters in Earth Science and am now certified as a Professional Chemist in BC. I have worked in pharmaceutical laboratories, the research and development department of a foam factory, and most recently in environmental chemistry and water quality. When I first started homebrewing I found it very easy to bring the scientific method in to my brewing and I have, since day one, enjoyed keeping records of observations. To me, brewing is a lot like running an experiment in a pharmaceutical laboratory. It’s an experiment that you tweak several times over, each time carefully recording your observations and trying to achieve your desired outcome. You use educated guesses of how certain methods or ingredients will affect your outcome and then perform the experiment to see what actually happens.

The second major reason I think brewing suits me is what I eluded to above and that is the physical nature of the work. There is nothing like working with your hands and body that can make work more satisfying to me. I have never enjoyed a strict desk job and I find it makes both my mind and body numb after extended periods of time. In Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance the author talks about the ‘feel’ of the material. Mechanics have an intuitive sense of the physical properties of materials by experiencing how they feel while manipulating them in a variety of ways. I think that this applies to everything in a brewery. You need to ‘feel’ the equipment and get to know it’s personality in order to know how it will act when you manipulate it in various ways. You cannot have this intuition simply by coming up with ideas on paper, you need the physical experience as well. As a side note I think this concept also extends to the beer itself. Tasting the beer is experiencing it, how does your experience change when you manipulate it in different ways?

The last major reason I think I am ultimately destined for a career in brewing is the passion I have for beer.  I know, cliché, but it’s been burning inside me since I sipped on my first glass of my first batch of homebrew I made in my East Van kitchen back in 2010, and it hasn’t gone away. So why not take a shot at living my dream when opportunity knocks? I’d regret it if I let it slip past me. When reading the blog post mentioned above (So you want to be a brewer, eh) a couple of things jumped out at me. The author eludes to the possibility of becoming jaded by many years of hard work at little pay, one phrase that stands out is “…enjoy pouring flowers in to sugar water for the next 20 years”. I certainly hope that I will never reduce the brewing process to something as simple as this (although I do believe the author is just expressing that this could indeed become the attitude of a brewer who is not adequately prepared or suited for the career). If a brewer starts to believe that all he is doing is pouring flowers in to sugar water he is no longer paying attention, ‘feeling’, what is going on. He is simply going through the day to day motions of his job and may miss something in the process (I once literally blew my eye lashes off when I wasn’t paying close enough attention to an experiment using hydrogen gas). Beer quality could ultimately suffer as a result (worse than having no eye lashes). The second thing that jumps out at me about this article is when the author proclaims that he’s not interested in talking about beer to the ‘guy-who-wants-to-be-a-brewer’ (that’s totally me by the way). I can understand that this part of the job could eventually become repetitive and it might make a long hard day even longer. But I do hope that my passion for brewing helps me overcome that and I continue to be excited about talking about all aspects of beer, brewing science and the brewing industry. I really do value when someone takes the time to educate me and I feel it’s my responsibility to pay it forward. The brewing industry needs passionate and educated individuals in order to maintain a high level of quality. Without quality the entire industry will suffer (read this great blog post from Stone Brewing’s Mitch Steele). I hope I can be an example of this type of individual. I also hope I don’t come off as condescending to the author of So you want to be a brewer, eh. After all who am I to judge someone with years of experience and success? I have not even stepped foot in to the industry yet. And I am more than thankful for his point of view on the industry, he makes very important points that need to be considered by anyone heading in to it. I also believe he is a passionate individual who does not want the industry flooded with people who are not ready for hard work.

So I have decided to keep this blog (I know, yet another brewer’s blog) of my experiences going through this transition in my life. I know it will be a bumpy and sometimes uncomfortable journey but I’m looking forward to challenging myself and putting everything I have in to something I feel extremely passionate about. I am looking forward to meeting people in the industry, learning as much as I can in brewing school and hopefully one day contributing to an industry that values quality, creativity and companionship.