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Brewer Resume-1.docI grew up in what I think of as the greatest city in the country, or continent, for that matter. This city has the most history out of all the cities on this continent and it is really intriguing stuff. You cannot deny that beer changed the face of the world all the way from the beginnings of written language and civilization to the spark that started the industrial revolution. Philadelphia's history is steeped in beer culture and is one of the furthest extensions of that history which extends even further out into the continent as our fore fathers expanded the territory. The new world was a place to do new things with beer and new styles developed as brewers adapted and grew in their craft as well as met the demand for a thirsty country.
I grew up here in a magical time of community spirit. I had a family machine shop to grow up in and learn a good work ethic. I got to see my dad and work with him when I was little as he became more and more my inspiration to go after what I was interested in and not settle for anything less. I got to learn my love of nature on camping, fishing and canoeing trips at an early age as well. I worked hard and also learned how to make the most of my free time. Philly was a beautiful place then. She has had some difficult times, especially in this economy. As you know, prohibition killed craft beer here and you know, I think I can make a parallel between that act and the slow decline of Philly's culture and economy. But alas! Philly now is a fortress of craft beer. It is alive! It is like nothing that I have seen! I haven't been to Denver recently. I was there in 1995 for a week and did get a good taste of what was starting there. I was on my way out to Portland, OR via sleeper cabin on the Pioneer Line of Amtrak. I stayed with friends in Denver on my way. Along the trip, I did notice a plethora of bars painted a dull gray railroad color with Coors signs in the window. I bet that I saw at least 50 of them. I'm a watcher. I made sure that I stayed up all day long to take in all the sights on my way out. Finally, I reached Portland. I set up camp there for ten years working as a chemist making environmentally friendly soaps, analyzing food (including fish for the marine mammal stranding center at Scripps?) and environmental samples for everything from nutritional content to pesticides, etc... I even tested beer! But even better, I tasted beer! Not on the job, but at a really awesome pub called the Horsebrass Pub. It was my illumination in life. In Philly in the late 80's early 90's it was virtually impossible for someone like myself to be exposed to craft beer so I basically stopped drinking it. Then I found the Horsebrass which had beer from around the world AND from local breweries like Hair of the Dog, Rogue, and Deschuttes brewery. I was hooked. The next best thing that I had before was homebrewing in college with my roomates and visiting a "microbrewery" at Penn State's main campus. This was great! Real beer! English ales being my favorite and still are.
I had to move on. I wound up filtering water as an occupation at an auto manufacturing plant and the industry took a hit. Bad. That gig was over. It was cool while it lasted! I learned a lot about wastewater treatment on an industrial level and ran the plant all by myself. It was a direct correlation between my love of the environment, my hobbies (tropical fish keeping) and my career!
I moved back to Philly. While living with some extraordinary brewers from Hair of the Dog and Widmer in Portland, I delved into assisting them homebrew. Belgian Wit's being a specialty of theirs, I adapted it recently to a gluten free style. There I picked up again the homebrew bug, but never bought my own equipement. When I moved back to Philly 6 years ago, it was the first thing that I did. A fellow named Al who had been homebrewing all his life decided that it was time to give it up (something that I can't understand) and sell all of his equipement on CL. I scooped it up and found a corner of my wood shop (I know, right? how lucky am I to have a wood shop?) and began brewing extract kits with my friend Ian Conklin. I still have his grandma's 4 gallon kettle. Sorry Ian, I'll get that back to you and Grams. The beer became very popular with my friends. Of course, free beer that tasted good! And the more they drank, the more I brewed. It's a great hobby and doesn't take a huge investment like most other hobbies. Just about 12 hours per batch altogether with cleaning and all. I have started a small homebrew club called Lucky 13 Homebrew Club that meets at the Grey Lodge Pub. It's small and we kind of like it that way! I also have a blog called A Year of Craft Beer in which I have been reviewing a different craft beer every day since Jan 1. It's helped me to learn so much more about beer in just this little bit of time. I love it!
It did come to me a little while back that I wanted this to be more than my hobby. It dawned on me that all of my career choices have been steps in that direction and that all of my studies and interests in science and biology, plants and water were all directly connected to brewing. And then when I learned even more about beer and it's affect on planetary history, it was a no brainer! I also had a love for history and now must seek out brewing beer as a lifetime choice. Creativity, science, chemistry, physics, physiology, history, botany, and culinary delights melted with ingenuity and the mechanical, mathematical, and the spiritual. It's for me and I just got to get there!
Hopefully "there" is in Philly. I love it here and want to be no where else. I will, however, regrettably move for a while to a new location as it is pretty simple for me to do so with the hopes of one day being part of the Philly beer scene again. I may move, at some point, to Davis, CA as I have been accepted to the Master Brewer Programme there for the last two years, but I can't come up with the funding to do so. This year my application will run out, but I will apply again. The opportunity will arise again. I would really enjoy attending that programme!
If you are in Philly and looking for someone with a love of brewing, I'm the guy. If you are out of Philly, I am also very interested and maybe we can move your brewery here! :-)
Check out my resume if you like! I'd be honored! Feel free to give me a shout!
I grew up here in a magical time of community spirit. I had a family machine shop to grow up in and learn a good work ethic. I got to see my dad and work with him when I was little as he became more and more my inspiration to go after what I was interested in and not settle for anything less. I got to learn my love of nature on camping, fishing and canoeing trips at an early age as well. I worked hard and also learned how to make the most of my free time. Philly was a beautiful place then. She has had some difficult times, especially in this economy. As you know, prohibition killed craft beer here and you know, I think I can make a parallel between that act and the slow decline of Philly's culture and economy. But alas! Philly now is a fortress of craft beer. It is alive! It is like nothing that I have seen! I haven't been to Denver recently. I was there in 1995 for a week and did get a good taste of what was starting there. I was on my way out to Portland, OR via sleeper cabin on the Pioneer Line of Amtrak. I stayed with friends in Denver on my way. Along the trip, I did notice a plethora of bars painted a dull gray railroad color with Coors signs in the window. I bet that I saw at least 50 of them. I'm a watcher. I made sure that I stayed up all day long to take in all the sights on my way out. Finally, I reached Portland. I set up camp there for ten years working as a chemist making environmentally friendly soaps, analyzing food (including fish for the marine mammal stranding center at Scripps?) and environmental samples for everything from nutritional content to pesticides, etc... I even tested beer! But even better, I tasted beer! Not on the job, but at a really awesome pub called the Horsebrass Pub. It was my illumination in life. In Philly in the late 80's early 90's it was virtually impossible for someone like myself to be exposed to craft beer so I basically stopped drinking it. Then I found the Horsebrass which had beer from around the world AND from local breweries like Hair of the Dog, Rogue, and Deschuttes brewery. I was hooked. The next best thing that I had before was homebrewing in college with my roomates and visiting a "microbrewery" at Penn State's main campus. This was great! Real beer! English ales being my favorite and still are.
I had to move on. I wound up filtering water as an occupation at an auto manufacturing plant and the industry took a hit. Bad. That gig was over. It was cool while it lasted! I learned a lot about wastewater treatment on an industrial level and ran the plant all by myself. It was a direct correlation between my love of the environment, my hobbies (tropical fish keeping) and my career!
I moved back to Philly. While living with some extraordinary brewers from Hair of the Dog and Widmer in Portland, I delved into assisting them homebrew. Belgian Wit's being a specialty of theirs, I adapted it recently to a gluten free style. There I picked up again the homebrew bug, but never bought my own equipement. When I moved back to Philly 6 years ago, it was the first thing that I did. A fellow named Al who had been homebrewing all his life decided that it was time to give it up (something that I can't understand) and sell all of his equipement on CL. I scooped it up and found a corner of my wood shop (I know, right? how lucky am I to have a wood shop?) and began brewing extract kits with my friend Ian Conklin. I still have his grandma's 4 gallon kettle. Sorry Ian, I'll get that back to you and Grams. The beer became very popular with my friends. Of course, free beer that tasted good! And the more they drank, the more I brewed. It's a great hobby and doesn't take a huge investment like most other hobbies. Just about 12 hours per batch altogether with cleaning and all. I have started a small homebrew club called Lucky 13 Homebrew Club that meets at the Grey Lodge Pub. It's small and we kind of like it that way! I also have a blog called A Year of Craft Beer in which I have been reviewing a different craft beer every day since Jan 1. It's helped me to learn so much more about beer in just this little bit of time. I love it!
It did come to me a little while back that I wanted this to be more than my hobby. It dawned on me that all of my career choices have been steps in that direction and that all of my studies and interests in science and biology, plants and water were all directly connected to brewing. And then when I learned even more about beer and it's affect on planetary history, it was a no brainer! I also had a love for history and now must seek out brewing beer as a lifetime choice. Creativity, science, chemistry, physics, physiology, history, botany, and culinary delights melted with ingenuity and the mechanical, mathematical, and the spiritual. It's for me and I just got to get there!
Hopefully "there" is in Philly. I love it here and want to be no where else. I will, however, regrettably move for a while to a new location as it is pretty simple for me to do so with the hopes of one day being part of the Philly beer scene again. I may move, at some point, to Davis, CA as I have been accepted to the Master Brewer Programme there for the last two years, but I can't come up with the funding to do so. This year my application will run out, but I will apply again. The opportunity will arise again. I would really enjoy attending that programme!
If you are in Philly and looking for someone with a love of brewing, I'm the guy. If you are out of Philly, I am also very interested and maybe we can move your brewery here! :-)
Check out my resume if you like! I'd be honored! Feel free to give me a shout!