What Is He Thinking?

Welcome to Davis California. Tomorrow will be 61°F warmer than Rochester, NY. I know what you are thinking right now..."Why does he think his life is interesting enough to put on the internet. And I'm hungry." But before you decide to bail on me think about two things:

1. Right now, my life is pretty awesome on account of the whole learning-to-be-a-brewer thing.
2. I'll probably get too lazy or too busy to maintain this effort so you'll be off the hook.

Great. So now that I've convinced you I'm worth your time, let's start things off the right way with a picture of a cute puppy:

OK. Now that that is out of the way, lets talk specifics. As most of you know, for the past 3 years, I have been seriously considering a career change. I tried the engineering thing and the longer I did it, the less I liked it. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there is an engineering job out there that could make me happy but as I figure that its a much safer bet to go with something I know that I love. That is where brewing fits in.  Mom and Dad bought me a homebrewing kit for my 16th birthday and since then my passion for brewing beer (and drinking it) has grown. It has been a sustainable hobby for me. It hasn't broken the bank, I haven't burned out on it, it has taught me a lot, and of course, I end up with lots of beer to share with friends and family.

In Fall of 2011, I was chatting with my brother Sam about grown-up stuff and told him for the first time that I was seriously considering the idea of becoming a brewer. He asked me how somebody becomes a brewer and I realized I had no idea. My romantic side imagined burly bearded men slaving over hot copper for hours teaching the young apprentice the art of their craft. To an extent, much of that system is still in place and I firmly believe in learning from experience. That said, it is somewhat difficult to become that apprentice. You've got to convince those guys with the beards that they should invest their time in teaching you how to brew excellent beer while dozens of other people are competing with you. And since I'm incapable of growing anything more than a laughable goatee, Sam and I decided it would be a good idea to seek out a formal education.

I did some research and quickly came to realize that the UC Davis Master Brewing Program was something that I wanted to be a part of. It is world renowned and within the US, it is by far the most respected and thorough formal brewing education one can receive. I applied 4 days later and thanks my homebrewing experience a couple of Mechanical Engineering degrees, I was accepted. The only problem was that the program is so popular that a 2-3 year wait list is typical. So here I am, 2.5 years later. And I must say, it is quite refreshing to sit in a room of people and be able to talk about beer without seeing peoples eyes glaze over.

I'll try to keep my brew-nerdery and sarcasm under control but I can't make any promises.

Cheers,

Pat