Today was the third day of the course and I’m finally getting around to writing a bit about it. The first thing I noticed when I walked in the room (above the Sudwerk Brewery) for the first time was a diverse group of people, all of whom looked just as stoked as me. As I walked around to find an empty seat people stuck out their hands and introduced themselves and it kind of reminded me of meeting a new person that’s going to be joining your group just before you head out skiing or snowboarding.  By this I mean you shake hands and the looks on both of your faces says nothing but ‘man am I excited for what we’re about to do’. Actually as I write this I can’t get that look off of my face, it’s that familiar tingling feeling that makes all of the hard work in life worth it.

A little after finding a seat the professors came in to the room and introduced themselves. In attendance we had the great pleasure of Dr. Michael Lewis, Dr. Charlie Bamforth (emphasis on B.A.M.F.), Steven Presley and Dr. James Brown.  I think that these guys could feel the buzz of the crowd and I do believe they were genuinely happy to be with us.  After all, this is a group of people that have travelled from far and wide, put their lives on hold and have been waiting for up to four years on a waitlist, all to be here for what promises to be a great learning experience and a great time in our lives. You could tell that everyone in the room wanted to be exactly where they were. And so it began.

Oh yeah, the other thing I noticed once I sat down was the giant pile of textbooks sitting on the table for each of us to bring home, the photo below shows most of them.  This was a bit intimidating but its more just pretty great to get all of these resources. My brewing book collection was immediately tripled on Monday. The morning consisted of the profs sharing a bit of insight in to the class and the profession of brewing. As Dr. Lewis put it “to be a brewer is the best profession on this planet”. This was followed by “You do not become a thinking brewer without bringing every ounce of talent to the table”.  Both of these statements made me super happy.  It’s been my gut feeling for a while now that being a brewer would be the best profession in the world, at least for me. I’ve already touched on why I think that is and it is excellent to be surrounded by people who feel the same way, especially those who have lived it for many decades. I’m also excited to bring my best efforts to the table and become a thinking brewer, not just a guy that makes beer.

It was one other quote from Dr. Lewis that stuck with me the most though; “by choosing a life as a brewer you are choosing a life of sobriety”.  This was a bit unexpected I have to admit but makes more sense the more I think about it.  He noted that a brewer has to be able to drink an enormous amount of beer without getting drunk.  We are the stalwarts of the industry and we must represent it properly.  We will have an unlimited supply of free beer while in this class (we just polished off our first 5 gal keg supplied in the back of the class), yet we will be expected to, and need to, practice enough self control to be able to head home at the end of the day, finish our readings and be prepared for class.  It’s apparent that someone who abuses this privilege could quickly develop a reputation as someone who cannot control themselves sufficiently so why would you ever hire them to take care of a brewery? So here is an aspect of brewing I hadn’t previously thought of much. Perhaps because my brewing and professional life have always been separated enough that I never felt the need to drink much while working. But we will be around beer and be sampling beer (not to mention the necessary social beer) almost every day of our careers.  Luckily I don’t think this will be a problem for me, but it’s something I need to be mindful of.  Since I’ve been homebrewing I think I actually drink less beer volume wise (but more varieties and much better quality overall).  So it’s about knowing your limits and having self control while still being able to consume at a responsible level, not an easy task for everyone.  Anyway, Dr. Lewis apologized about this “downer” but I’m glad he mentioned it.

Anyway, back to the course. We had beers with all of our fellow students and a bunch of the great people working at Sudwerk on Monday afternoon.  Then on Tuesday we were treated to some great photos that Dr. Lewis had taken over his career and travels, along with an overview of the first half of the course. We then got a tour of the Sudwerk brewery Tuesday afternoon. These guys specialize in all kinds of lagers, from a classic German style pilsner that really hits the mark to a Marzen to a 9% ABV DIPL (double India Pale Lager) that is very hop forward and delicious.  They’ve got a 15 barrel brewhouse installed in the restaurant that’s been there since the late 80’s complete with open fermenters, and a larger 60 barrel brewhouse in the main part of the building that is more automated.  Being lager brewers they have a large cold cellar with several conditioning tanks.  It was nice to get the tour and it’s really nice to walk through the brewery every day and get to know the people who work there.

Today we had our first lecture from Charlie “B.A.M.F.” Bamforth.  We reviewed brewing chemistry and he is a delightful man to listen to.  He keeps things interesting and I suggest checking out some of his filmed lectures on you tube to see what I mean.  This weekend I’m signed up, along with four other students, to brew on Sudwerk’s 75 L pilot system. It looks like we’re going to have a bit more control than a typical homebrew setup and we’re all meeting up tomorrow to go over our recipe and do all of our calculations for the brew.  Looks like we’re collaborating on a brown ale recipe. It’s been way too long since I’ve brewed and I’m getting really stoked to get back to it.  Okay, need to do a whole lot of reading now, hopefully I can keep up with writing this semi-regularly.

Well tomorrow is the first day of the course and it’s been quite a journey to get here.  Before leaving Vancouver last week we packed up our place and put everything in storage. I’ve got to say I thought I would be a bit more emotional about that. I always get a bit emotional when I move (and I move a lot because Vancouver housing is a pain in the ass), but this time it really feels right. I think maybe that’s because I’m finally following my gut on something and doing what I know will make me happy. I haven’t always made choices that way in the past; I’ve maybe been a bit too practical and cautious.

On the Friday before departure I joined Evan (of Doans Craft Breing Co…so close to opening!), m y brewing buddy Doug, I met Joel (who works at 33 Acres and makes an incredible pickled pineapple), Alex (works with Evan), and Rod (a brewer at Steamworks) for a beer tasting evening at Evans apartment.  We sampled some big sours, imperial stouts and barley wines that we’ve been saving for a special occasion. We didn’t really have a special occasion so we just got together and made one up. You can probably tell by the photo below that it was a tasty evening.

The next day, my brain a bit foggy and still trying to pack our lives away in to our CRV, my wife threw me a surprise party. I was sincerely and utterly surprised. I was expecting to go to a friends’ place for a quite dinner and walked in to a house full of about 40 of my closest friends from Van. I was touched and humbled by this experience and it meant a hell of a lot to have all of my good friends there to wish me luck on my journey to California.  I think they all feel the same as I do, that me changing careers to become a brewer just fits my personality.  The party was a “beer pot luck” so to speak and everyone showed up with a huge selection of great beers. I think I was quadruple fisting at one point.  I’m going to miss all the lovely Vancouver folks when I’m away, and I hope some come to visit.  My wife also commissioned our good friend Brad to make me a set of tap handles (also to my surprise) and Brad presented these to me at the party (which was also at his house). Brad has his own woodworking business called Re-form and Design and is a super talented artist; I suggest looking him up if ever in need of a creative design or artwork for a brewery or other business.

So with a really foggy brain, a storage locker full and various boxes, plants and furniture strewn about Vancouver we tried to sleep off our hangovers and then hit the road. With amazement, we fit everything we wanted in our car, made it across the border without any major hiccups and began cruising down the I5. We stayed one night in Eugene (no time to hit up any breweries this time unfortunately) and then rolled on in to Davis. We set up our small but cozy apartment over the weekend and we spent today walking around San Francisco before I had to drop my wife off at the airport.  Judith is heading back to Van to finish up some work and will join me again close to the end of February. So I’m on my own for a little while. Hopefully I can get in to a routine, gather the few pieces of brewing equipment I couldn’t bring with me, brew a couple of batches and really sink my teeth in to this course.

Tomorrow we meet the professors and brewmasters that we will be fortunate enough to learn from and get to know.  This includes some really exciting people who have vast amounts of knowledge about brewing and brewing science and includes, but is not limited to Michael Lewis, Charlie Bamforth, Tim Marbach, Steven Presley, Tom Shellhammer, Susan Langstaff, James Brown, Michael Vasquez and Mike Hutson.  I feel really lucky to be in the presence of these people and cannot wait to pour everything I have in to learning from them.  I really need to make the most of this opportunity because it is truly once in a lifetime.

But right now it’s getting late and I still need to review the first couple of chapters from my text yet again. Until next time, when I will hopefully have a bit more insight in to the course.

It’s now mid-January and I am getting close to finishing up my consulting job in Vancouver, we’ve found a place to live in Davis and are packing up our apartment.  My kegs are empty, brewing equipment is packed up (it’s coming with me) and my beer fridge is on loan to a friend.  It’s been difficult to stay focused on work and not look ahead to California.  I really should have tried to leave my job a week earlier but they need me this week and I can’t let them down, they are awesome people and they have been incredibly supportive. I really can’t wait to deliver a keg of beer to them, a commercially available one that I helped brew.  I’m now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel though and the excitement is helping me get through the long to-do list I have in front of me.

Since I returned from our trip to the U.S. I’ve made a point to visit Vancouver breweries when I can, taste their beers and get a gauge on what’s happening in my neighborhood. Strangefellow’s Brewery opened just a few weeks ago and I’m pretty excited about that. They have a large display of barrels in which I am told they will be aging a variety of sour beers.  I have heard that a few of the local breweries are getting together to produce a map of East Van breweries (Yeast Van), similar to what I followed when I was down in Bend.  There are so many breweries in planning I can’t mention them all, but I am extremely excited to see the industry keep developing. I was lucky enough to meet Evan Doan of the soon-to-open Doan’s Craft Brewing Co. through a mutual friend and he was awesome enough to invite me in to his brewery (located in Powell St. Brewing’s former location on Powell St.), share a few of his brews and show me the new equipment that recently arrived. I’m a bit sad that I won’t be around when DCBC opens its doors (mid-February) but that will be one of the first places I head on my return to Vancouver.  Seriously, Evan is this close to opening up and he still took the time to chat with me on a couple different occasions and give me some insight in to what I am jumping in to. I’m wishing the best of luck to him and his brother.

I’ve developed a bit of a loose ‘plan’ for when I get back to BC (assuming that’s what happens, who knows).  I’ll be brewing as much as I can down in California but I won’t be able to get my homebrew across the border.  So my plan is to perfect (as much as that’s possible) four to six beers that project what I value about beer (quality, creativity, relevance, my go-to styles etc.).  After my exams in June I’ll fly back to Vancouver, brew them up over a week or two with the help of some of my regular brewing buddies, then fly back to California to go camping and biking with my wife (we have our place until the end of August so why not, and I have no plans of applying to breweries without samples of my brew). I’ll need to trust transferring my beers to friends, and likely borrow some secondaries along the way. Then I can return to Vancouver, dry-hop if necessary and bottle them up.  Once they are ready and I’m happy with them I plan to apply for work at some of the local breweries in Van and on the island (and lots of other places I can deliver some of my goods).  At least this sounds good at the moment, things are likely to change and other opportunities may arise in the meantime.

Speaking of opportunities, I plan to keep my ears and mind open to all that may cross my plate.  Right now I plan to return to Vancouver but there’s nothing that I need to come back here for. My ties are my friends and the community that got me closer to my passion.  Obviously a new location would also need to work for my wife, who works in public health.  I am extremely thankful for her. She has encouraged me to follow this dream and give it a shot, even if it doesn’t end up as planned.  We are very much on the same wavelength and she is looking forward to exploring new volunteering opportunities while we are down in the US as she maintains ties to her work here in BC.

So next week we load up Bruce (our car) and drive down to Davis.  I kind of can’t believe this is real, but it becomes more real every day and it’s about to begin.  I’m looking forward to starting this course.