What I really like about this course so far is the little tidbits of inspiration that are sprinkled upon us. Among the discussion on biochemistry, fluid flow and heat transfer we get a taste of what makes life long brewing professionals passionate about what they preach.  These guys are no bull-shitters and that adds a massive degree of value to the lectures.  They are not afraid to tell us what beer reminds them of “an angel weeping on your tongue”, or what beer they think is a waste of time “some Double Imperial IPA piece of shit”.  You know they mean it therefore when they come out with a statement like “without beer our society would not have been able to advance to where it is today”.

The meaning of that statement was explained to us as follows.  Beer has had the ability to break down social barriers and open lines of communication.  Highly people can talk to lowly people, lowly people can talk to the giants.  A level playing field upon which judgments are temporarily suspended can be created and people can develop an understanding of each other.  This promotes compassion for fellow human beings through a shared sense of euphoria.  This might sound a bit over the top but if you look at the history of brewing it’s not far off.  People have devoted their lives to brewing for millennia and the person who can make a beer that is recognized as having ‘good quality’ has always been a popular guy or gal.

But how is it that we are still churning out new beer styles and recipes all of the time?  What is viewed as ‘good quality’ is constantly changing, or being brought back to life. This brings us to the aspect of creativity in brewing.  But how can people keep creating different versions of something that has essentially four ingredients?  Everyone has heard that brewing is a combination of science and art.  There are many variables of brewing (and malting) that need to be understood.  The ranges of conditions in which a wide variety of enzymes can perform or be destroyed, the variety of base and specialty malts that add proteins, starches (and thus sugars and alcohol), flavour and colour, the endless variety of hops that can be combined and utilized under different conditions to provide bitterness, flavour and aroma.  Different yeast strains and what they need to in order to thrive.  Byproducts from fermentation, contamination or environmental exposure that can be viewed as negative or positive.  All of these aspects must be understood from a scientific point of view.  But once they are understood by the brewer they form a basis upon which there are virtually limitless possibilities for creation.  Or as Michael Lewis puts it, it forms the piano upon which we play our delicate tune (what’s more inspiring than that?).  I have worked as a scientist for almost a decade, but this added dimension of creativity is what I’ve been craving, and brewing has been an outlet for that.  The greatest thing is the more I learn, the more I fine tune my instrument. And the more I practice, the better I become at playing it.

Charlie Bamforth has a book called “Beer is Proof God Loves Us”.  The more I learn from these guys the more I’m starting to believe that statement.