Yesterday, I was ready to give up

Sorry to be dramatic. It's fun and mostly true.

I woke up in Fort Bragg, CA feeling that the routine of coffee shop, the road, and brew pubs similar to Free state was wearing me down. You can scoff and say, "Oh, how tough, poor Tyler, enjoying the coast and drinking beer, boo hoo." And I agree. This trip has been a beautiful, fun, refreshing experience, but I am traveling with high expectations.
Part of these high expectations involve actually talking with brewers and owners and learning from them. I am interested in what makes a professional brewer tick.
"Why did you get into this business?"
"What is the goal of your brewery?"
"How can you measure if you have met this goal?"
"Why did you chose to make this or that beer?"
"How is your brewery involved in the community?"

These are the type of questions that I could answer, when I was a teacher, about any of my teaching choices. I feel like these are still the important questions for me if I pursue brewing. I cannot be about 'the bottom line' - it is not my personality. I can try to make a profit, but only if I am doing so for the right reasons. With teaching, it is easy to say I am doing the right thing. In beer, it is a harder decision. Many people are addicted to alcohol and could ruin their lives because of a product that I manufacture. This is a danger of the industry, but is something that I think can be redeemed instead of 'throwing the baby out with the bathwater.'
Back to yesterday.
I woke up worrying that I wasn't ever going to have an intentional conversation with a brewer. I spent my previous evening enjoying great beer at North Coast Brewery where I couldn't get a tour because they were remodeling. I was looking forward to a trip to a brewery that I heard about from a nice man at the North Coast Bar. He said, "As long as you are going north, you should stop by Eel River Brewery." I was impressed by their claim to be the first certified organic brewery in the US, but I couldn't find any thing on their website about a tour. I called to ask their address and ask about a tour. The secretary told me to hold on and went and asked someone in the back if he had time to give a tour. I was told to come by, and someone would be there to give me a tour.
Mike Smith, the head brewer, met me at the door of their warehouse/brewery.
Mike, I came to find out, came to the industry as a home brewer (eh, like me!) and found a home at Eel River because they had similar goals. He took me on the best, most in depth tour I have ever been on. Most tour guides assume brewing ignorance. Mike asked me about myself and skipped large sections of the tour because I knew about the malting process, etc. At the same time, he took me deeper into an industrial brewery than I have been. I saw their mash and boil kettles up close and inside. Mike even pushed some buttons on their equipment and I got to see how some things worked. I had an idea from my home brewing and such, but seeing the parts move around really inspired me. I know that a large scale brewer is a part of the machine, but it is still beautiful to see it work. We talked about how they get their organic hops from New Zealand because they don't have spider mites, so they don't have to use pesticides. We discussed how they ferment, bottle and keg and the reasons for each of the choices they made.
In the end, Mike asked me if I wanted to try some. I was impressed with their beers and we talked more about his history and the brewery. I felt comfortable and threw out ideas about a brewery without a pub (Speakeasy?) and Mike told me that he thought that it wouldn't work because of some slow yearly times in the brewing industry that could hinder a small brewer. We talked for over an hour and he sent me off with a six pack of their best stuff.
I was renewed. I felt more encouraged about my choice to take this trip. I was excited about continuing up the coast with high expectations for meeting great people and discussing beer.

Later last night, I was at the Eel river pub watching the Mizzou game (damn them, they pulled it out) and I met another local named Mike. He struck up a conversation with me when the bar tender asked me for my ID and he saw that it was from Kansas. He told me that he grew up in Kansas - just outside of Ottawa! We talked for a while and I asked him if he knew a cheap place to camp in the area. He was gracious enough to offer me the use of his new mobile home. I couldn't turn him down because of his amazing hospitality. When the game was over, we talked into the night about his church, Earthquakes, the beauty of the coast, and life. I am planning on going back south to go to church with him tomorrow. He was a real blessing.

Today, after I finish watching the KU game on ESPN gamecast, I am going to head to McKinleyville to Six Rivers Brewery. I am told that the brewer, Carlos, is very open to discussion. I have high hopes to catch him this afternoon. Even if I don't, I feel confident that there will be other brewers down the road who are willing to chat. I expect to learn a lot and catch a vision.