Sometimes it's hard to believe we just started brewing in 2008. Our first employee those six years ago was Tyler King, who signed on to do just about anything that was needed.
He was still in school and tasked with marketing and advertising our summer seasonal as part of an internship with The Bruery, but he was also going to be brewing with Patrick. Tyler is now our Senior Director of Brewing Operations, overseeing all the beer happenings here.
It wasn't only the timing that was perfect when hiring Tyler -- he also had proved himself with his homebrewing prowess, which was apparent with the success & praise of his Flemish Red recipe, which has over time become the beer you may know as Oude Tart.
When did you start homebrewing?
In 2002, I was a senior in high school and my art teacher had students make root beer (in the classroom) and then design labels for the bottles. At the time our teacher was using Mr. Beer kits without any of their labels on the plastic fermentors. Most kids didn't know what they were actually meant for but luckily I saw a few of their ads in some magazines. After seeing these kits in the classroom for a few weeks I had my mom order one after a string of boring days, and a couple weeks later I brewed my first batch.
What's in your carboys right now?
Five different lambic style ales, three Flemish Reds (the original home brew recipe for Oude Tart), one Flemish Red with cacao and tart cherries, seven year old organic Barleywine, seven year old Imperial Chocolate Coffee Stout.
What was your biggest disaster?
I accidentally froze an American Light Lager before it started fermenting. I warmed it up and it ended up winning best of show, 1st and 2nd place at the Doug King Memorial Homebrew Competition. I had to use my brother's and father's names to enter the beer because I was underage.
Do you have a, ,"Whoa it was super cool this one time this thing happened!" moment you can share?
The first sour beer I ever brewed ended up becoming Oude Tart. I brewed it when I was 18 or so. Oude Tart was the second Gold Medal we (The Bruery) ever won!
What advice do you have for a new homebrewer?
Worry less about your recipe and going crazy with ingredients, worry more about your process and the fermentation. REMEMBER, we make wort, yeast makes beer! People spend crazy amounts of money on their brewing equipment but will ferment their wort in plastic buckets in their hot-ass garage. It doesn't make sense!
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