My interest in beer started around about 20 years ago in a small town in New South Wales, Australia. My dad drank a variety of beers in my younger years and he finally settled on a brew from Victoria in southern Australia called Victorian bitter or VB for short. According to my dad and many in his age group this was 'the' beer, consumed in great quantities around woodfired BBQ's in the early days then later came the mass market produced gas 'barbie' as we like to call them, that gradually took its place. VB at that time and still to this day today holds a commanding market share in the industrially produced beer market, my dad liked it so who was I to argue as a teenager as to whether this was right or wrong, I simply didn't know enough about this subject.
My first introduction to something different came several years later, a friend introduced me to a beer called Hahn premium, at that time it was considered a 'premium lager' packaged in a green bottle that was smaller, 330ml, and certainly more expensive than the VB I was used too. I tasted it, and wasn't sure about it. It was certainly more bitter than I was used too. I didn't like it at first but it grew on me and I started to wonder what else was out there, drinking another brand of beer at home was akin to treason...heresy and excommunication so I had to sneak off to try the forbidden fruit.
My beer epiphany occurred several years later dining at Doyles seafood restaurant in Watsons bay, Sydney. There for the first time I drank a bottle of James squire Amber ale. A rich full bodied amber ale. I'd tasted nothing like it before, rich creamy malts with this...bitterness that I didn't understand, I savoured every sip of that beer, the meal was sadly forgettable but the beer wasn't.
Fast forward several years and I was introduced to Belgian beer. I had no idea at all that beer could possibly look, smell and taste like that, the hidden strength of the alcohol and the interplay of flavours astounded me. At this moment I started to consider home brewing, dad did it back in the 80's with mixed results but gave up ultimately due to a lack of time, I decided to try it and I knew at the outset that I didn't want to bottle my beers so I invested in a keg setup and and old refrigerator and went from there. I started with kit and kilo, that is a can of malt extract and kilo of dextrose, I soon progressed to fresh wort 15 litre kits and live yeast cultures and partial mashes. Several trips to Europe also educated my palate in particular visits to Southern Germany, Franconia, the rhineland, Düsseldorf and Köln and to Bohemia and Austria.
In about 2009 I started to dream of becoming a professional brewer, at the time I worked in an industrial starch, gluten, glucose and Ethanol factory, working 12 hour shifts day and night. Could it be possible?
Can I do this? I'm in my early 30's when most people have already learned their trade.
In 2010 I attended the VLB brewing school in Berlin, Germany to attend the 7 day pub brewers course, I was now hooked and decided to put a plan into place so I could come back at complete the 6 month Certified brewmaster course, alas a catch, I needed to have a minimum 3 months practical work experience.
After a consultation with a friend I applied to work as a trainee brewer at Weyermann® maltings in Bamberg Germany. I was accepted for a 2 month program in 2012 and liked it so much that I reapplied for further training in 2013. The management were very understanding with my situation and must have been impressed by my work ethic because they offered me another 5 months additional training. So after 13 years at my previous job the planets aligned for me and I made my transition to Germany, this time for a minimum of 12 months work and study so as one door closes another one opens..
