Unemployment is a creative driver. So far, it’s been almost exactly a month and I’m cooking and DIYing about as much as I humanly can. My T-shirt rug is a work in progress that sheds everywhere and makes it looks like I’m covered in tiny, brightly-colored fleas. I’ve cooked four roast dinners since arriving in Colorado. I am getting up progressively later and later in the day.
And I’ve been spending a fair amount of time taking in the wonders of Colorado craft beer.
I worked in a busy Brewdog Bar in London for much of the last year, starting work as a bartender right in the midst of my final exams for the master’s degree. I easily learned more in that time than I ever did on the MA. Service. Pouring. Off-Flavors. Brewing. Cellar-monkeying. How to carry two baskets in one hand and not drop the burgers. Social media engineering (read: wandering around the bar looking for things we hadn’t taken pictures of yet).
A big reason I learned so much is the company I worked for. Brewdog has made a commitment to training their staff on all aspects of serving, storing, tasting, and producing craft beer through an international certification program called Cicerone. In September I got the first qualification, Certified Beer Server. It’s exciting to have a qualification that makes it so I could continue working in craft beer.
But I’m not right this second.
To keep up my skills and knowledge, I’m going to be writing a new series about the different breweries that Russell and I visit around Colorado and around the world. I’ll be reviewing the beers, the spaces, and the service at a bunch of breweries and showing you what some of the best and most cutting-edge craft brews have to offer. I hope to add a home brewing section at some point as well, seeing as our Wedding mead and quick mead experiments went so well over the last year. It’s so important to go to the source and see the place that great beer is produced.
Welcome to Beer In Situ, where beer and travel intersect.
This week: A new Denver Brewplace, Avery’s Grand Opening, and a Colorado Beer School.
Reverse Retrograde 