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Barleybomber: an apologetic for those that derive the heavenly sweetness of malt from barley and a BOMBER of those that speak out against this good in any form.
I LOVE BEER!
Above is one of the finest days I've ever experienced in the beer business, on the same day Ken Grossman and Doug Odell visited us at Golden Eagle Distributors in Tucson, AZ Feb. 23, 2011.
In the picture Ken is viewing our 20 gallon home brewing equipment that the company bought for me (my proposal) to use to train our sales reps on the finer points of what makes a craft beer so different and so damn good. I had talked to Ken last year when I was wondering what would make a good inexpensive secondary fermenter to roll into our walk-in cooler in the hospitality room and he suggested going with plastic which I did and we are looking in that direction at it in the picture. The plastic tank was food grade but I wasn't thinking when I built the dump valve and used non food grade plastic which Ken saw immediately and pointed out to me. While he's talking to me I'm really nervous being there with the ICON of craft beer industry looking at that piece underneath the tank and then he tells me it's not food grade I was like UGH NO, NO, total screw up WTF is wrong with me. So then he says, "you need to measure the inside of the opening and take that measurement to a...no, measure it and e-mail it to me and I'll send you the stainless steel piece you need."
WOW, Ken Grossman, one of the leaders of the craft beer industry will make me a piece for my homebrewery, HOLY SHIT! I was very agreeable to that suggestion and followed through. I then saw him at the CBC in San Francisco a few weeks later and he recognized me and before I could say anything he said he hadn't forgotten about me and I am on his list of things to do. I was like heh, thats fine whenever you do it is fantastic, unbelievable. What a great orator I am.
So then we visit the brewery in April and get the grand tour plus one helluva a great time having lunch on the way there at some place where I downed about 4 pints of Ovila Dubbel and saw the monestery. Followed by the tour and then dinner at the pub, wow what great food plus more Ovila Dubbel and every other one of his beers on tap. I wish I had Untapped on my phone then. The next day we are waiting in the front lobby, there are 6 of us, and Ken comes in and grabs me and takes me to the parts room and we're walking around the room and he's looking for parts to weld together and I'm trying to think of something intelligent to say for a change and I blurt out that this is quite the brewery and he looks at me and says thanks then he finds what I need and gets a welder to customize it for me. Absolutely amazing, I'm alone with Ken Grossman walking around the Sierra Nevada Brewery parts room with him and all I can say is "quite a brewery" what an idiot, I have spoken in front of groups of 500 people, I have spoken to arrogant university students without getting a bit nervous now at this awesome opportunity I can't think of anything to say.
And to follow that, when I was at the GABF 2011 I bumped into him on Thursday night and he recognized me and we chatted for a WHOLE TWENTY SECONDS. Why so long? We were drinking and happy so I said two sentences and he smiled and responded.
Now, back to Feb. 23 and Doug Odell arrives at 11:00 to brew with me and my team.
We have the water coming up to temperature when Doug comes in and we go through all the introductions along with the people from outside the company and company managers and blah, blah, blah. So, then he looks over at the cooler I set up with Odell beers in it and I had some of his best beers there that I had hidden away after a tasting a couple of months earlier.
WOW, Ken Grossman, one of the leaders of the craft beer industry will make me a piece for my homebrewery, HOLY SHIT! I was very agreeable to that suggestion and followed through. I then saw him at the CBC in San Francisco a few weeks later and he recognized me and before I could say anything he said he hadn't forgotten about me and I am on his list of things to do. I was like heh, thats fine whenever you do it is fantastic, unbelievable. What a great orator I am.
So then we visit the brewery in April and get the grand tour plus one helluva a great time having lunch on the way there at some place where I downed about 4 pints of Ovila Dubbel and saw the monestery. Followed by the tour and then dinner at the pub, wow what great food plus more Ovila Dubbel and every other one of his beers on tap. I wish I had Untapped on my phone then. The next day we are waiting in the front lobby, there are 6 of us, and Ken comes in and grabs me and takes me to the parts room and we're walking around the room and he's looking for parts to weld together and I'm trying to think of something intelligent to say for a change and I blurt out that this is quite the brewery and he looks at me and says thanks then he finds what I need and gets a welder to customize it for me. Absolutely amazing, I'm alone with Ken Grossman walking around the Sierra Nevada Brewery parts room with him and all I can say is "quite a brewery" what an idiot, I have spoken in front of groups of 500 people, I have spoken to arrogant university students without getting a bit nervous now at this awesome opportunity I can't think of anything to say.
And to follow that, when I was at the GABF 2011 I bumped into him on Thursday night and he recognized me and we chatted for a WHOLE TWENTY SECONDS. Why so long? We were drinking and happy so I said two sentences and he smiled and responded.
Now, back to Feb. 23 and Doug Odell arrives at 11:00 to brew with me and my team.
We have the water coming up to temperature when Doug comes in and we go through all the introductions along with the people from outside the company and company managers and blah, blah, blah. So, then he looks over at the cooler I set up with Odell beers in it and I had some of his best beers there that I had hidden away after a tasting a couple of months earlier.
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We had 5 Barrel Pale Ale on tap, 90 Shilling, IPA, Cutthroat Porter, Mountain Standard, Woodcut, and DeConstruction Ale in bottles on ice. Doug takes a look at it all and first says did you have Sierra Nevada handle on when Ken was here. We laugh and said no we had a black handle where your beer is, they had been together at an event just a couple of days earlier so that was rather funny. Then he sees the DeConstruction and he says he's out of that at the brewery, are we going to drink that today. I said hell yes! Do you want some now? He chuckles, "no, no, later".
So, we discuss mash water temperature and options for mashing in and once we finish mashing in he asks if he can have a turn stirring. Hell yes, picture time. I have Doug Odell stirring my mask tank, WOW, what a day. Well, the mash is doing fine so naturally it's time for a DeConstruction Ale. That conversation was very awesome, I don't think I should repeat his great comments on how it was put together.
Now, we are looking at all of the hops I bought. My recipe was for what I call an Imperialist American Imperial Pale Ale, meaning a little extra malt and 8% abv just how I like it...a true session beer. We bought more hop varieties then what the recipe called for and we asked Doug which ones he would use. He sat down and started placing them into separate piles according to times of addition and said he would use all of them and do you have anymore. Yikes, another screw up with a iconic craft beer brewer, what a great day for showing my ignorance.
The brewing and drinking continued and we had Odell pint glasses set up and employees and visitors grabbed glasses and asked Doug to autograph them which he consented to and sat down with them to talk to them, amazing! Not one drop of arrogance! What a great guy! What a great day!
I bumped into Doug at the reception at the CBC in San Francisco a month later, he was walking by me while I was talking to someone else and I yelled "Doug" and he looked and "Hi Burt, how's the beer?" I said, "great and I'll send you a couple of bottles" he said, "I'll be looking forward to it, thanks." Another great conversation by me, totally half brained am I. However, being recognized by Ken and Doug a month later at the CBC was a nice feeling for a guy that with a finance background and more concerned about playing baseball in college, started with a bar on A1A in Florida when I was 27, sold it even though very successful at 32, worked as a sales rep for Carroll Distributing in Florida for 10 years and then moved to Tucson and started all over at Golden Eagle Distributors as a draught beer sales rep, then Specialty Brands Manager, followed by Chain Sales Team Leader, and finally for the last 12 years as a trainer for sales, HR stuff, safety, and culture...a great life.
So, we discuss mash water temperature and options for mashing in and once we finish mashing in he asks if he can have a turn stirring. Hell yes, picture time. I have Doug Odell stirring my mask tank, WOW, what a day. Well, the mash is doing fine so naturally it's time for a DeConstruction Ale. That conversation was very awesome, I don't think I should repeat his great comments on how it was put together.
Now, we are looking at all of the hops I bought. My recipe was for what I call an Imperialist American Imperial Pale Ale, meaning a little extra malt and 8% abv just how I like it...a true session beer. We bought more hop varieties then what the recipe called for and we asked Doug which ones he would use. He sat down and started placing them into separate piles according to times of addition and said he would use all of them and do you have anymore. Yikes, another screw up with a iconic craft beer brewer, what a great day for showing my ignorance.
The brewing and drinking continued and we had Odell pint glasses set up and employees and visitors grabbed glasses and asked Doug to autograph them which he consented to and sat down with them to talk to them, amazing! Not one drop of arrogance! What a great guy! What a great day!
I bumped into Doug at the reception at the CBC in San Francisco a month later, he was walking by me while I was talking to someone else and I yelled "Doug" and he looked and "Hi Burt, how's the beer?" I said, "great and I'll send you a couple of bottles" he said, "I'll be looking forward to it, thanks." Another great conversation by me, totally half brained am I. However, being recognized by Ken and Doug a month later at the CBC was a nice feeling for a guy that with a finance background and more concerned about playing baseball in college, started with a bar on A1A in Florida when I was 27, sold it even though very successful at 32, worked as a sales rep for Carroll Distributing in Florida for 10 years and then moved to Tucson and started all over at Golden Eagle Distributors as a draught beer sales rep, then Specialty Brands Manager, followed by Chain Sales Team Leader, and finally for the last 12 years as a trainer for sales, HR stuff, safety, and culture...a great life.
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