This week on Beer Sessions Radio™, host Jimmy Carbone once again welcomes back fall co-host Stephen Valland, who is right in his wheelhouse as they discuss going from homebrewer to pro-brewer. Bitter & Esters owner John LaPolla discusses his class offerings that range everything from how to make beer to how to brand your brewery.
The homebrew to pro-brew route is distinctly American. The brewing education curve is very different in America as opposed to Europe, where you have a more structured path to becoming a brewer. In America, you start out by cleaning kegs and one day you just get thrown in to a professional situation. American homebrewers tend to learn the ins and outs of making beer on their own before launching a business in the hopes of “making it big.”
New brewery owner Jason Sahler, an award-winning homebrewer, is getting ready to launch his two-barrel enterprise, Strong Rope Brewery, a Brooklyn-based brewery that will create handcrafted local and organic ales featuring seasonal offerings that will use the freshest vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices. While serving many of the ales on draft, the brewery will also feature living ales: cask and bottle-conditioned beers where live yeast remains in the beer, which continues to condition and evolve in its serving vessel, showcasing the subtle natural flavors that this unique conditioned environment creates.
If you’re interested in trying some homebrew, Bitter & Esters is hosting a fundraiser for Ales for ALS on October 29th featuring an experimental hop (tickets here).
You can listen to the full episode here.