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.