Meet the Brewers 2.0
On Tuesdays during the month of May (5/1, 5/8, 5/15, 5/22), we are celebrating with an exclusive beer release created by each member of our brewing team.
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Chances are you are familiar with our beers … but do you know the team behind the scenes dedicated to crafting these brews? Our brewing team has been working hard on their signature beers , and now you can give them a try each week as well as read their personal interview! Catch up with some familiar faces from last year or get to know the new additions to our team with each individual release!
Week 4: Guy's Black Currant Imperial Gose
Brewer: Guy Bartmess
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Name of your “Meet the Brewers 2.0” series beer: Black Currant Imperial Gose
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Describe your beer: A Leipziger Gose is a slightly sour beer made with salt and coriander. This variation significantly increases the ABV and enhances the drinkability with the addition of black currant.
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Beer ABV? 8.1%
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What was your inspiration for this beer? This base beer, Imperial Gose, was a collaboration brew with our friends. The main proportion of this beer we made in January is aging in Gin Barrels right now, but I wanted to use some of the base beer we reserved for blending to give people a taste of what’s to come. Adding a less common fruit to beer puts a nice spin on what otherwise can be viewed as a fairly simplistic beer style.
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How many years have you been brewing? 24
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What got you interested in craft beer? Learning to homebrew one summer in the late 80’s turned into a job bartending at a microbrewery/restaurant, aka brewpub, after college
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What’s your favorite part about working for Garage Brewing? All of my awesome co-workers
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Favorite artist to listen to in the brewery? Ryan Adams
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What tv show are you binge-watching right now? Billions
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What was the very first craft beer you ever tried? A Nut Brown Ale from a microbrewery in Corvallis, OR. It was too long ago to remember the name…plus they aren’t around anymore.
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You’re stuck on a desert island…what ONE beer do you take with you? One that can keep itself cold.
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What pairs best with craft beer? Another one.
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If you were a beer style, which one would you be and why? American Pale Ale. Well-balance is something to aspire for in life.
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Favorite Garage Brewing beer: Rancho Lager or Inline IPA
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What beer would I find in refrigerator right now? A large variety
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What is a funny/interesting fact about yourself? I had an awesome red afro in middle school.
Week 3: Aaron + Maurine's Strawberry Short Bed
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What’s your favorite part about working for Garage Brewing Co?
Maurine: Our dedication to producing great beer.
Aaron: Working at a place where equipment is provided to do your job safely and more efficiently. I also like coming to work at a place where I work with people I can learn new things from and expand my knowledge
Describe a day in your role at Garage Brewing Co:
Maurine: Haha…do you have an hour? You can find me in many different places throughout the brewery: running the laboratory, helping packaging, nitro-ing marshmallow kegs, and growing yeast.
Aaron: Most days you’ll find me brewing up a Mango Hef or a Milk Stout on our 30BBL brewhouse. Sometimes I get to try out something special on our 1BBL pilot brewhouse.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Maurine: Spending time with my family, horses and dog. I enjoy photography, painting, working in the yard, and decorating my home.
Aaron: Work on projects around the house with my family, play video games, have some beer and play some board games with friends.
What as the very first craft beer you ever tried?
Maurine: A friend is a big homebrewer. His favorite is a Pale Ale, so it was one of his Pale Ale batches. An interesting thing is my dad always knew I’d end up in the beer industry, while I wanted to go to medical school.
Aaron: Probably Sam Adams Boston Lager
What pairs best with craft beer?
Maurine: Anything off the grill
Aaron: Good conversations
If you were a beer style, which one would you be and why?
Maurine: A lager…laid-back and easy-going.
Aaron: Berliner Weisse. You’re not sure at first if you like it, but it slowly grows on you.
Favorite Garage Brewing beer:
Maurine: Classic Lager aka Helles
Aaron: Inline IPA
What beer would I find in your fridge right now?
Maurine: Barrel-aged Breakfast Stout and Raspberry Twist
Aaron: Some Garage Inline IPA and maybe some Firestone Walker Luponic Distortion.
What is a funny/interesting fact about yourself OR embarrassing story?
Maurine: I learned on my first day working with the equipment to be prepared with a change of clothes. In what other industry do you get to take a beer shower as part of your job? 😊
Aaron: My dad got me started in homebrewing many years ago. I made and drank a lot of terrible beer in those early days. I still brew at home and my son has expressed interest…so hopefully the tradition continues.
What’s something you are looking forward to this year?
Maurine: Propagating yeast and expanding our quality control program.
Aaron: The SpaceX crew capsule manned mission
Brewery Team: Maurine + Aaron
Name of your “Meet the Brewers 2.0” series beer: Strawberry Short Bed
Describe your beer: Strawberries and Whipped Cream Dessert. It will be available in a standard version and on Nitro.
Beer ABV? 5.2%
What was your inspiration for this beer?
Maurine: May Strawberry Festivals, our 2018 Cream Ale was about to be released, and I’ve been doing a lot of work with Nitro beers. There’s nothing better than a Cream Ale on nitro with a hint of strawberry!
If you were a part of Meet the Brewers last year, what’s changed in the past year?
Maurine: We’ve grown a lot in the last year, added 11 new tanks, started distributing Marshmallow Milk Stout on nitro, won a ton of awards and started propagating our own yeast!
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What was your inspiration for this beer?
Bret: Being so close to Cinco De Mayo, I was thinking about a Mexican salsa dish…sweet Mango with a bit of kick.
How many years have you been brewing/working in a brewery?
Bret: 14 years
Diamond: 2 ½ years
What got you interested in craft beer?
Bret: Supporting local businesses using locally grown ingredients
Diamond: When I went up to college in the Upper Peninsula, we had a handful of craft breweries and I decided to try them out. It was my first true craft experience. I’ve been in love ever since.
If you were a part of Meet the Brewers last year, what’s changed in the past year?
Bret: I’ve settled in here at the brewpub and really enjoy brewing so close to the public. I get to interact directly with our customers every day.
Favorite song to listen to in the brewery?
Bret: Anything by Grateful Dead
Diamond: “Ghostwriter” by Rjd2
What TV show are you binge-watching right now?
Bret: Parks and Recreation
Diamond: “Atlanta” and “The 100”
What do you like to do in your free time?
Bret: Beach with my family
Diamond: Going to the beach as much as possible. I love kayaking, paddle boarding and rock climbing.
What’s your favorite part about working for Garage Brewing Co?
Bret: Learning something every day from Guy, our brewmaster. Creating and brewing new beers.
Diamond: When the canning and bottling machines aren’t being sassy.
Describe a day in your role at Garage Brewing Co:
Bret: Making sure the pub has beer running smooth every day, creating and brewing new beers.
Diamond: C-boxing tanks, checking carbonation and oxygen levels in beer, setting up and taking down the bottling/canning line, filling kegs processing/packaging orders, writing SOP adjustments and add-ons, checking seams on the canning line and cleaning.
What pairs best with craft beer?
Bret: Pizza, anything grilled, shrimp by the ocean
Diamond: The beach 😊
If you were a beer style, which one would you be and why?
Bret: My wife says I’m a salty, sour beer.
Diamond: I’d have to say a Pale Ale. I need something effortlessly simple. Not too intense with flavor. I think of Pale Ales as being the perfect beer for outdoor excursions.
Favorite Garage Brewing beer:
Bret: Inline IPA
Diamond: Blueberry Cream Ale
What is a funny/interesting fact about yourself OR embarrassing story?
Diamond: I think the second week of me working here… a valve on our kegging apparatus was loose and it fell from the cupler. Beer started spraying all over me. I panicked and our brewer, Kevin, just simply reached over and closed the main valve like it was nothing.
What’s something you are looking forward to this year?
Bret: Getting the opportunity to create more interesting and tasty beers.
Diamond: I’m pretty stoked we just won 6 medals at the LA International Beer Competition. Go team!
Week 2: Bret + Diamond's Mangonero Lager
Brewery Team: Bret + Diamond
Name of your “Meet the Brewers 2.0” series beer: Mango
Habanero Rancho
Describe your beer: A light, Mexican-style lager with sweet mango flavor and a subtle habanero kick
Beer ABV? 4.4%
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Week 1: Kevin's Pentahopper IPA
Brewer: Kevin North
Name of your “Meet the Brewers 2.0” series beer: Pentahopper IPA
Describe your beer: It’s made with our Inline IPA as a base. I changed the dry hop additions for a different hop profile.
Beer ABV? 7.5%
What was your inspiration for this beer? Hops. I really enjoy drinking the different rotating IPA series that have become popular.
How many years have you been brewing? 6 years
What got you interested in craft beer? The variety of styles and flavors beyond light lagers.
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If you were a part of Meet the Brewers last year, what’s changed in the past year? It’s been an exciting and busy year with brewery improvements. We are always trying to improve our process to bring the best beer we can to our customers.
Favorite song to listen to in the brewery? “Shoot to Thrill” by AC/DC
What tv show are you binge-watching right now? The Looming Tower on Hulu
What do you like to do in your free time? Spending time with my family, hiking, doing things outdoors, enjoying our great weather
Describe a day in your role at Garage Brewing Co: A typical day involves running the centrifuge, filtering beer, carbonating beer, tank cleaning
What was the very first craft beer you ever tried? Sam Adams Boston Lager…not a huge selection in the late 80’s.
What pairs best with craft beer? Pizza, grilled tri-tip, grilled salmon
If you were a beer style, which one would you be and why? IPA. I’m somewhat harsh, bitter and straight-forward. I have a dry sense of humor.
Favorite Garage Brewing beer: Inline IPA and Citrus IPA
What beer would I find in refrigerator right now? Garage Inline IPA
What’s something you are looking forward to this year? We are always working on developing new beers, and I can’t wait to see what we come up with this year.