Sunday night, I had an opportunity to sit down with a man who literally wrote the book on craft beer when there were only 97 breweries across the country (according to the Brewers Association). Bill Mares, the author of Making Beer, along with his son, Tim Hadsel-Mares, were making their way through Texas and decided to make a stop in Galveston. I was thrilled to be contacted about having a pint or two and talking craft beer with a well-respected craft beer entrepreneur at my local, Galveston Island Brewing.
Photo Credit: Danny Kennedy (Candlelight Brewing Co.)
What I loved about this meeting was that it wasn’t an interview. It wasn’t a promo session. It was just three craft beer lovers talking about what we love most. Bill is originally from Dickinson and was giving Tim (currently a resident of Bangkok) a tour of Texas while he’s in the States for this trip. Now living in Vermont, Bill also was able to see if his blendery project in his home state, House of Fermentology, is as good as he believes it is.
His blendery is focusing on wild ale fermentation in barrels. With sours being the focus, he was able to sample some quality Texas and Belgian sours along the way, including some from Collective Brewing Project and Jester King. To give his blendery credit, the head brewer is Todd Hare, formerly head brewer at Magic Hat. With a tentative opening at the end of May, his brewery will no doubt be unique and change the brewing game in Vermont.
While I’m intrigued about House of Fermentology, the discussion didn’t focus exclusively on his brewing project. Instead, I learned so much about Bill’s history in brewing and how well-connected he is in the Vermont brewing scene. For example, he started homebrewing in 1973 when homebrewing supplies were non-existent and it wasn’t as en vogue as it is today. He wrote the first version of Making Beer in 1984. He said that after the book came out, he was contacted by people throughout the country asking him how they could open a brewery. His response was, “didn’t you read the book? I said DON’T do it.” We got a great laugh about the fact that the man who said not to open a brewery is finally doing it himself. But now, the landscape has changed dramatically and the right situation has come along.
In addition to his writing, he was also an accomplished Vermont state legislator whose work on changing liquor laws in the state was instrumental in the boom of craft beer throughout the state. In fact, the ability to allow brewpubs to sell their product on-premises to the consumer was due in part to the bill spearheaded by Mr. Mares and signed into Vermont law on May 18, 1988.
I’m not going to lie; his accomplishments in the craft beer world and writing world in general are impressive. However, one of the things that I found most interesting is their curiosity in why I do what I do. Why Texas craft beer? What’s the reason? Are you a critic? Fortunately, my focus is simple and always has been. I do this because I love beer and I love being an engine to get others interested in the craft beer the state has to offer. There’s no money being exchanged, no favors being done. There are enough critics on Yelp! and Untappd, so I’ll leave the criticism to the reviewers. Simply put, I do this for the love of the craft.
Days like this Sunday are why I do what I do. This is the reward that I’ve been searching for in my journey through craft beer, and I’m walking away from this experience inspired and enthusiastic for what comes next.