Beginning of a quest....

I love beer.....who doesn't, right? But my love differs from most people. My love is centered around wanting beer to guide my life and support me. You might think I'm crazy.....and at times I might agree with you (as would my wife).....but today I'm not. You see, as MLK once said, "I have a dream". Well, so do I!! My dream is clearly not as important as his was, but my dream is important to me.

Many years ago, I worked in a restaurant as a cook. It was one of the most fast paced/stressful job's I've ever had. It was the only job I've ever had where things get thrown at you, and that's totally acceptable. But I loved it! This is where my dream started. I dream of starting and owning my own restaurant. It was a big dream at the time and after I told the owner of the restaurant of my dream he said, "You're nuts....don't do it". So I continued on.

My senior year in College, I had to write a thesis. I was a Business major, so I decided to write a business plan to start a Tex-Mex restaurant. My advisor liked it and thought it was feasible....so he gave me an A. So this seemed like a perfect place to take a shot at my goal.......but I didn't. I did the "normal" thing and got a job at a large corporation and became another rat in the rat race. (more about this at another time) My dream was on hold.

Fast forward 6 years.......I am now 30 lbs. heavier and no where closer to reaching my goal. But I start to have another growing interest (here's where the beer comes in). BEER!!!!! My brother sent me a link to this great new website (at the time). www.beeradvocate.com OH MY!!! What a site!!! I read it daily....checked out beer reviews from the Alstrom brothers and opened a whole new world. I never knew how many beers there were. I was transforming from a college drunkard to a true beer lover. From light beers, kegs and funnels to dunkelweizen's, imperial porters, and Belgian triples.

So here is where "The Dream" takes a twist. After going to countless brew pubs it hit me. I SHOULD OPEN A BREW PUB!!! It's a restaurant that brews and sells GREAT beer...DUH!!!!!!!!!!! So I start researching. I emailed with a bunch of brew pub owners and came to the realization that it is WICKED EXPENSIVE!! Basically to start a brew pub.........I would need about $1.2 to $2 million. Oh yeah....really easy for a 29 yr old peon like me to raise that kind of moolah!! CRAP!!!! So I do what any good American with a dream does when he realizes he can't reach it.......I gave up!!

Which leads me to today! Luckily I only gave up for a short period of time and I have once again picked up and started running with it again. Of course....it has varied a little, but the end goal is still there. I am officially now.....a home brewer. I brew beer! Hey....that's step one in a brew pub right....you need to brew beer?!?!?! So I'm starting with that. I have to say, so far I'm impressed with myself. I've brewed 3 beers, all of which are pretty damn good. Not yet good enough to sell at a pub yet.....but just you wait.....they will be soon!

So if you've read this far, which I'm sure most have not, you're probably wondering what the hell this is all about. Well, it's about beer! Plain and simple. I'm going to talk about beer....how it's made, my recipes and reviews, and the occasional advertisement for a good beer or brew pub. Hopefully, I'll reach a point where I can sell my beer and you can buy it. I know....I'm excited about that part too!!!

I'm heading to London next week for work, so I intended to do as little amount of work as possible, and tour the pubs of London the rest of the time....which are some of the best in the world! I hope you enjoy and continue on with me on my "Dream" journey!

Bottoms up!