Episode 61 - w/ Greg Mendez of Brewery X

In this episode I talk with Greg Mendez, a talented brewer at Brewery X in Anaheim. Explore Greg's exciting journey in the craft beer industry, starting from volunteering at festivals to a professional career in breweries, advancing to his current role at Brewery X. Listen to discussions about the state of the industry, their mutual love for trivia nights and craft beers, and detailed beer and food pairings reviews.

Experience Greg's transformation journey from an ex-construction worker to a revered brewer in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Note: Participate in trivia through our partnership with Geeks Who Drink. Go to Geekswhodrink.com/taproom Enter promo code 'taproom' to get your first quiz night free. Enjoy responsibly!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey everyone, it's Mike. Before we start the episode, I have a cool question
to ask. Do you own a brewery? Do your customers love trivia as much as I do?
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are the cornerstone of event programming for over 650 breweries and bars nationwide.
Geeks Who Drink Trivia is a consistently fun and low-effort way to build a community

(00:20):
of regulars, because we all need our norms, cliffs, and all that.
But we want to bring more people in as well.
So you can even turn that slow weeknight night into the busiest night of the week.
So get started with this exclusive offer from my taproom listeners and get your first quiz night free.
Go to geekswhodrink.com slash taproom and enter promo code taproom.
That's geekswhodrink.com slash taproom promo code taproom. And now onto the episode.

(00:45):
Music.

(01:11):
All right, and we're back. This is episode 61 of the Taproom Podcast, and I am your host, Mike.
Got to find one today. This one, I think this was towards the tail end of me
getting better, or actually, I think I might have just started getting sick.
I don't know. I think I was starting to get better.
But this is my buddy, Greg Mendez. He's a brewer over at BreweryX,

(01:34):
so we got to talk to him and just get to hear his journey, like how he got started.
And this one, there may be some background noise, but I'm playing with everything in post.
So we'll kind of see how it all works out. But I think it's going to be good. It should be fine.
But we had a really fun conversation and, you know, got to have a couple of beers.
We got to record in the penalty box, which is like a room that you can reserve

(01:55):
over at Brewery X over in the Brewery X in Anaheim. If you haven't been,
definitely check it out.
They have some cool beers. It's a really cool space.
Also, they have really good pizza. and that's like my
favorite thing there that they have but they also have like stuff like spam musubi they
have buffalo wings they have burgers they have
a bunch of different stuff so definitely worth you

(02:16):
know worth checking out and I was thinking about what beer I was going
to have to review today but I've kind
of had so many the only and I so I was trying to like rack
my brain I mean I've had so many from brewery x that I
was trying to rack my brain and think about which one I
could have and then I remembered I was
like oh man well hockey starts you know the the playoffs so it's like
next week so I was like well I'm not

(02:38):
a Ducks fan but the brewery X does have their
duck beer it's the official Anaheim Ducks fan
beer you can get it in the you can actually get
it in the Honda Center and this one's a blonde ale it's only five percent so
I mean it's only about one o'clock 1 30 on a Saturday so I'm excited to give
this one a whirl I haven't had this in years so looking forward to try it out

(03:01):
like probably not years but maybe like a year or or two. So it's cracker opening.
Oh yeah, it's good stuff. Let's get a nice little pour here. Alright.
Nice. Nice and frothy. Let's, here we go. Let's jump on in. Water's fine.
That's got a nice head to it. Oh yeah.

(03:21):
Man, that is easy going down. If I was at a hockey game, and I was going to
be buying beer, and I wanted something crafty, but I didn't want anything too
heavy, and with it being only 5%, I'd probably crush at least four or five of these during the game.
And speaking of, so I'd probably, let's see what I rate this.
It's a Blondale. It's obviously not my particular style, but I still really enjoy it.

(03:44):
So, I mean, I'd give this a solid, you know, seven, five.
It's, it's pretty solid. So, I mean, I actually kind of want to,
I mean, for hockey season, I kind of want to might have to grab some more of these.
So definitely if you're in the SoCal area or say, if you're traveling,
you're coming out to Disneyland or something like that.
There's so many breweries in the Anaheim area, but you know,

(04:04):
Brewery X, Noble, Unsung, Villains, Stereo, and Placentia.
And I know I'm missing a thousand of them. So, I mean, I'm sorry,
but there's so many out there and they're all really great. So definitely check it out.
All right. Some NHL news, since we're on the subject, the Coyotes have,

(04:25):
I think they said they have everything in place to move to Salt Lake City.
So Arizona losing losing the
Coyotes I mean that might be I mean that
sucks for the you know for Phoenix and stuff
like that but I mean it's not the biggest hockey town I mean
when I've been out there and I've seen it like I'm going out there for a night
when the Avalanche play them you a lot of times it gets more Avs fans at least

(04:48):
it seems that way there's more Avs fans than there is actually Coyotes fans
and honestly Salt Lake's a you know pretty good sports town I mean you got You
got the Utah Utes, and you got the Jazz.
And it's kind of, you know, it kind of fits the bill when it comes to that kind
of hockey town. So, I mean, it could all work out.
But I am kind of excited to see what the uniforms are going to look like,

(05:10):
what the sweaters are going to look like. That'd be pretty awesome.
So, what else we got? Yeah, the playoffs start next week.
As of right now, I think the Avs are a couple of points. I think they're playing Winnipeg today.
So, hopefully, the Avs can win that and then win tomorrow. But their last three
games are against playoff teams.

(05:30):
So we got the standings with the conference here. Yeah, the Avs are playing
Winnipeg tonight, tied with 104 points.
It looks like Dallas, I want to say it's like Dallas and, oh,
it looks like, yeah, the Rangers more than likely are probably going to end
up winning the President's Trophy.
We all kind of know what's happened to the last few years of people winning

(05:50):
the President's Trophy. It's not been good or it hasn't been good.
So, I mean, we'll see what happens, though. I mean, I'm excited for this Avs
team. I think they can go a long way.
I know there's a lot of people talking about the maybe some controversy in the net between.
Eustace Ananen and Alexander Georgiev so we'll see I will see how it plays out

(06:13):
I mean sometimes you got to ride the hot hand but I know Georgie's kind of like
the guy right now well at least for in Jared Bennar's eyes I feel like Dallas
is going to be a team that could be you know is they have force to be reckoned with.
The Hurricanes, I don't know.
I don't know if they have, I mean, they definitely have like on paper,
one of the top teams in the NHL easily.

(06:34):
Like I think they're the second best team in the NHL right now, record wise.
But Dallas has got some stuff. I think Boston, I mean, you know,
after losing last year, you know, with Boston winning the president's trophy
and like doing what they did in the regular season last year,
I feel like Like they have something that they can,
you know, something that they want to prove after that exit last year.

(06:55):
So they can definitely do something. Florida's good. The Canucks are good.
I mean, this is, honestly, it's been a really good year for hockey. It's been super fun.
I'm excited to see it. So, I mean, say if the Avs ended up with the second seed,
they'd end up playing, as of right now, it would probably be the Kings, I think.
Which I wouldn't mind. Now, some of my family's Kings fans, so it might be a little fun.

(07:15):
But yeah, what else we got this week? Maybe Ogotani was the victim of fraud.
Still don't know. I mean, I don't know. It's it's I mean, it's it's all allegations.
But I mean, no, at least now, like Ipe is getting he's busted now, I guess.
It just seems kind of crazy how the stories kept changing. But,
I mean, it is what it is. $16 million is a lot of money to not notice.

(07:39):
But, yeah, I mean, innocent till proven guilty. So he's clearly innocent.
We'll say innocent. Finger quotes.
What else we got this week? Strider. Spencer Strider, one of the Braves' best
young pitchers, got hurt.
Had to have UCL surgery on his elbow. So he is out for the year.
So fantastic. Fantastic.

(08:00):
Gotta fucking hate injuries, man.
But you know, that's a part of the game. It happens every year.
So all you can do is keep soldiering forward and keep trying to win and we'll
see if Alex Anthopoulos makes any moves.
But yeah, I mean, it's been, it's been a fun start to baseball.
Been wanting to make my picks on the show lately, but it's just been,
I don't know, I've been so busy.
I've been cutting intros a little shorter, but for sure, I think next week I will be doing that.

(08:24):
What else we got? The Masters. The Masters this weekend. I was watching a little earlier,
earlier but I posted a little reel if you guys want to go give that some love I
know I think Scotty Scheffler was in the lead at that point it was he
was seven under Max Homa was in there at six under good for
Max DeChambeau's I think in fourth like five under and Morikawa was I think
in type for second at six under so it's gonna be tomorrow's gonna be fun I love

(08:47):
watching the Masters on Sunday that should be you know the whole green jacket
thing the music the um the Like the whole package.
It's just awesome. So it'll be really fun.
Really fun to see that. What do I got coming up? Tomorrow morning,
I will be recording at Campsite.
The other day, Wednesday, I just recorded with Geeks Who Drink.
The partnership we have going was really fun. So that was a fun one getting

(09:09):
to talk to Brian Carr from Geeks Who Drink.
So I'm excited for that. But yeah, I'm really got a lot of stuff going coming up.
Also, let's see. I'm supposed to record with Monique from Momentum Cider.
Never had anyone with cider on, that does cider on before.
So I'm excited to hear how that, you know, that whole process,
I think that's going to be a really fun episode.

(09:29):
And then on the 24th, that episode,
when I record that one on the 24th is going to be strictly for me.
I mean, it's going to be a little bit about craft beer, but it is going to be
an episode for me because I'm talking.
And the reason why I'm saying it's for me is because I'm going to be talking
to one of the person I want to from YouTube that has one of my favorite channels

(09:51):
that I watch all the time.
He does Eat Local. He does the number six with cheese and he does the Hey Sean Ely.
So, I mean, I'm going to talk to Sean Ely that on the 24th. I'm super stoked
about it. He's a big craft beer guy. He also knows Kate Bernat.
They used to work together in Chicago. And if you don't remember the Kate episode,
I was back. I believe it was episode 33.

(10:14):
But yeah, I'm super stoked about that. And when I get, you know,
just kind of shoot the shit, talk about, you know, the Chicago,
the craft beer scene out there.
And one of the reasons why I love his channel so much, I mean, it is about food.
I mean, who doesn't love, you know, watching food channels, but when he,
when he does it, he always like pairs like a craft beer with it.
Like the other day he had one from Wisconsin.
So we may have to do a beer trade. We'll, we'll talk about it that day,

(10:35):
but I'm excited about that one.
And then on the 28th, there'll be a recording with Tommy over at Asylum.
So we've got some, some good stuff coming up. I believe next week's episode
is, let's see here. I don't know.
I'll get that at the end. I'll tell you at the end of the episode.
But all right. I think I've taken enough time. It is time to jump into the interview with Greg Mendez.

(10:58):
I really hope you guys enjoyed it. He's Hoppy Chulo on Instagram.
He's just a really good dude and, you know, become a really great friend of
mine. I met him through my brother Jizzy or Jake.
So, all right. I hope you guys enjoy the interview. Talk soon.
Oh, why did I say talk soon for? What an idiot. Stay tuned for the outro.
All right, guys. We're back in the tap room. Actually, I'm over here at Brewery
X, and I have a very special guest on today, my buddy Greg Mendez.

(11:21):
We've known each other for how long?
Say probably a couple years. Yeah. Somewhere around there.
You know, getting shitty in the tap room at Brewery. I've only been here like
two and a half, so Jake come on right after. Yeah. So, yeah.
All right, brother. Yeah. So, I mean, what I was, the first thing I always love to ask anybody

(11:42):
I have on the show was like like how did you get started like
what was your like you know your your journey in craft beer i think
this year makes nine years i actually
had kind of got my start in south mississippi that's
where i'm from just outside of new orleans so i guess wait let me start the
podcast and give you like a classic new orleans greeting there you go let's

(12:03):
do it what's happening with you nice yeah so started south mississippi i was
a shipbuilder before i got into beer i probably.
Unofficially industry, probably like 12 years ago where I would help out with,
you know, festivals and go work things and kind of just show up and volunteer.
But yeah, I made the jump professionally in 2015.

(12:26):
Wow. That's awesome, man. Yeah.
So you started in 2015 and that was that, what were you working at then?
So it was a little place that's closed now. It's called Crooked Letter,
a building company in Osher Springs, Mississippi.
I worked there for, I don't know, not very long, but yeah.
And kind of made the jump from there to another place that's pretty prevalent

(12:47):
now. It's Chandelier Island Brewing Company.
I started in their cellar, became their head cellarman, and got linked up with
a guy who I've worked with a couple other times. And we're really good friends.
Dave Reese just made Master Cicerone.
Oh, awesome. Yeah. He's a great friend, great mentor.
Shout out. Yeah, so I worked there for close to a year. I worked in the tap

(13:11):
room and then got pulled into the cellar and then just kind of worked my way
up and was about to get onto the deck.
And, um, it was another brewery that had kind of sniped me from there.
Okay. Yeah. They'd come and visited and saw the cellar, saw how clean it was.
And they were like, would you want a job?
And you got to understand like the, the, the industry in Mississippi itself is so small.

(13:36):
I think even right now there might be less than 15 breweries.
Like production facilities i'm sure there's with with brew pubs
and contracts it's probably more but yeah i
mean i remember when it was like two oh yeah you know i remember
when it was one it was only one at the the bobervaj casino
they had a little brew pub inside and then
it was lazy magnolia for a long time they were

(13:58):
the only ones but yeah so it's it's
really small and so to find the talent pool or to try to like hire somebody
that's going to be kind of interested and kind of you'd have to start from the
ground up so somebody that's already established it's just kind of the name
of the game there if you're really wanting to like keep a career in that so
they they hired me on to to train on the deck,

(14:21):
and yeah within a few months I was brewing my own beers or brewing solo beers and,
yeah I stayed there for four years.
Left to help a friend open up a brewery. I didn't really help him open up, but I helped him.
I worked on the brewery. Okay. So like we like re-pitched the floors.
So I moved out all the equipment, re-ran glycol, rewired everything back in.

(14:44):
We did a bunch of construction. That's my background is in construction.
Oh, okay. And so, yeah, I helped him work on that place and to open it up.
And they're killing it now.
Fly Llama Brewing Company. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. In Biloxi, Mississippi.
Nice. Um, yeah. So once I kind of owned that, I applied out to a couple of places
and the brewery in Placentia actually hit, hit me back. Okay.

(15:07):
And yeah, it was one night it was, uh, I left a hurricane party.
So in South Mississippi or anywhere in the Gulf when they have like hurricanes, power goes out.
So what you do is you kind of grab up your, your freezer goods and your liquor.
If you're like going to be without power for a day or two.
And you basically just go and drink and cook the rest of your food
so it's not going to go to waste well i'm i'm

(15:30):
at my friend cory's house and we're drinking and i'm tired
so i'm just going back to the house i like walk the block i started
applying online to a bunch of different places and one
of them was the brewery and i don't have
any formal training and so a lot of
places that would like like the brewery would require it yeah and
if i saw that it said preferred but not required wired

(15:51):
and i was like there it is
so i sent that resume in and then they they called me oh that's
yeah i ended up doing a video chat with them
and got the job they gave me like a month and a
half to get my shit in order and uh i
moved out here december of 2020 yeah and
yeah i worked there for a year and then saw that they

(16:12):
were hiring here for an overnight brewer okay and
i applied yeah and got the job and that was two and
a half years ago yeah well what made you like want to move out
west the challenge i mean it wasn't
necessarily there wasn't a goal for the west but yeah definitely
wanted to be somewhere where the industry was way more established okay i wanted

(16:32):
to challenge myself to see how i could stack up yeah um if i could cut it you
know i guess that's like everybody's like primordial question where do you fit
in or can you stack up against others whatever yeah so yeah it was it's probably gonna be.
Asheville, North Carolina, Denver or Fort Collins, Colorado, and then like San Diego.

(16:59):
And I had applied a few places and the brewery hit me back. So I was like, yeah.
And it just so happened like probably a month before I had applied,
I had kind of lost all my belongings in a fire. Oh, shit.
Although it sucked, it was kind of like perfect storm. I was like, well.
You didn't have to pack anything. I didn't really have to pack shit.
I threw some clothes and my cat in my Santa Fe.

(17:23):
There you go. And drove across the country.
Dang, man. That's so cool because sometimes some people are afraid of taking
that leap of faith or even just challenging themselves.
And I feel like that's half the battle.
Some people are just so scared of what life's going to throw at them or they're
so afraid of failing that they're just like, you know.

(17:44):
I look at you like you had literally nothing but what's your car and your cat
and you drove i mean obviously like clothes and stuff but yeah drove across
the country yeah i've kind of like uh.
I've kind of i don't know changed directions a few times in life yeah former life i was a firefighter,
i used to do a rodeo thing for a few years construction
i built boats for the navy yeah so it was kind of like i've

(18:07):
always had this like season of kind of
moving along and doing something yeah and never really kind of found
something that was like my niche i was really good at it i was
you know first rate marine carpenter residential carpenter i was building houses
during the summer and making six figures working for the navy wow excuse me
building boats for the navy and uh i just i hated it yeah i hated it and you

(18:32):
know i have three kids and a grandbaby now.
Um and i just kind of thought what lesson am i teaching my kids if i'm like
telling them to like Chase your dreams, work hard, do what makes you happy. If I wasn't doing that.
So yeah, when that job offer or the job application kind of came across,

(18:53):
I had noticed it, but I really didn't think about it.
And one day at the shipyard, somebody had passed away.
And they didn't shut down at all. It was like, where are they at? Okay, yep, yep.
Okay, we'll call. And then it was just like never checked up.
Just another cog in the wheel. I said, I'm not going to die out here.
They don't really care, so I was like, I think I'm going to try this.

(19:17):
Because that was all I was doing anyway on my off time was helping brew,
homebrewing, festivals. My family was real involved.
We would go and do all this kind of stuff, so I was like, I think I want to
do this. That's awesome. Yeah.
Do you remember your first homebrew recipe?

(19:37):
Yeah, I think I did a honey Kolsch. Okay.
I think I did a honey Kolsch, and I served it at a homebrew festival just to
have a free ticket to get in.
Yeah. Yeah, and I think I named it Honey, I Shrunk the Kolsch.
Oh, that's awesome. And served it at a festival, and I thought I was hot shit.

(19:58):
Yeah. And I wish I could, like, go back now and, like, taste that beer and be like, this is trash.
Sir, you need to don't quit your job. don't leave this six-figure job.
But isn't it crazy, though? Like, some people, like, when you want to talk to
them, they're like, man, like, they're like, I was making, I had this,
like, really great job, like, you know, doing all this one thing.

(20:19):
But then, you know, it's like their passion was craft beer.
And, like, you know, they decided to take that shot.
Yeah. I mean, I think about the people that, what's that Thoreau quote?
Most men live lives of quiet desperation.
Yeah. And it's like, how many guys have ever lived and, like,
wanted to do something different or not just guys but girls too yeah and you're just like,

(20:42):
if you think the price of success is high wait till
you get the bill for regret oh yeah and i never wanted to look
back and be like fuck i should have done that yeah so it's a great line it's
i i could have failed but i've failed before yeah and you know it is what it
is but luckily i burned the boats when i came out here so i didn't have a choice
it was all good yeah one thing i I always like to say on my other show is like the mantra,

(21:07):
the whole mantra of that show is just because you've been doing something your
whole life doesn't mean you have to do it the rest of your life.
Man, that's so true. Yeah. So true. Yeah.
And like, you know, just you have to...
No one wants to attack life with like zeal and like vigor and like,
you know, sometimes you like, you have to, like, if you're not like trying to
make yourself better than what are you doing?
Yeah. Where did we lose that? I always felt like when I, when I was growing

(21:28):
up, if I ever saw someone like that, that did have that zeal.
Yeah. Like they stuck out so much and it was like, they've got something. Yeah.
I don't know what it is, but there is something there.
And I just always gravitated towards that. Yeah. I mean, and that's what I mean.
Like, I wish more people did because, you know, we'd probably be a lot better
off and And more people would be more happy because I always say it's easy to be an asshole,

(21:50):
but it's, you know, why can't you just, you know, just do a little good in the
world or, you know, or do something that makes you happy and you'll be happy
in life instead of being angry and miserable. Cause zero money to be kind. Yeah.
Yeah. I wish sometimes like people that are like just hate filled.
I'm like, have you ever experienced a hug?
Yeah. Did anybody ever love you?

(22:11):
Yeah. So I try to do that with the beer. I try to like make something where
like, you know, I don't understand people have shitty days. Like this is the hug for me. Oh, for sure.
It's like, one thing I was like to ask everybody too, is like,
what's the, do you remember like the first, like the first craft beer you ever
had where it was just like, wait, this is what beer can be.
Yeah. I know exactly where I went. I know the date and everything.
November 7th, 2007, or excuse me, November, November 12th, 2007.

(22:36):
That's awesome. I was at a rugby tournament in Mobile, Alabama.
Oh shit. hit and yeah broke a
tooth but went out afterwards bar hopping
and okay there's a there's
a couple streets in in mobile one of them
dolphin street and we just kind of went bar hopping yeah
and we'd go in and what's the house beer what's the house beer what like a

(22:57):
dollar pbr whatever two
dollar pbrs high lives and i went in this
one place and the girl said yinglings our
house beer beer okay and i'd never heard of it and i
was just like okay cool i'll take it she brings
it to me yeah and i just was blown away oh yeah
and i go i remember thinking like yingling what

(23:19):
the fuck is yingling i was like dude i was like man the chinese really know
how to brew a beer yeah and she starts laughing and she's like no it's like
the oldest american brewery still family-owned one of like four or five breweries
that were open during prohibition yeah and i was just shocked and And I was like, wait a minute.
And it just kind of took the blinders off of like from Miller and Budweiser.

(23:41):
And not to like shit on that, but.
Was the only thing that was kind of available especially mississippi where
there wasn't a lot of beers so i just was like
okay now i want to try all the beers so i go around
wherever i'm at like what's local what's new what do
you have that's different and just started
this like journey down like figuring out what's what

(24:02):
do i even like i don't even know what's good oh yeah like what
is your palate because i mean like the first time i always say it
on the show the first one i ever had was a double bastard and
my palate wasn't ready for that yeah so that
was the first time i took the blinders off but i do remember probably
a year earlier went to
visit my my folks in kansas city yeah no excuse

(24:25):
me right after this i remember so i remember that was the yingling was
my first i remember my first ipa okay it's probably
in the next year after that i apologize we went to
visit my folks in kansas city and i it was like for christmas and i
they were like going to the store and i would just bring back something
i've never had and they brought back a ranger
ipa i just remember ranger and i didn't know
what it was and i was like interesting it's got

(24:47):
a weird smell okay cool and i remember like drinking it and
i thought immediately like this is like a bag of
grass clippings yeah it was i just couldn't
choke it down and thought man ipas are the worst and like kind of like for a.
Few months and then i had a friend that was like hey man you got to really really
try these beers they're so different they're all kind of ale ales uh excuse

(25:10):
me uh ipas double ipas hazy was just maybe kind of like breaking out a little bit um.
So yeah it's kind of like open my i was like oh wait this is so different and
then i've even like reverted back and gone back and had ranger and it's it's
a fucking fantastic beer obviously i know it's changed over the years but yeah
it's fantastic yeah my well my favorite one like the beer that made me think

(25:32):
like oh man this is what craft beer could be was minus touch by,
dogfish head dogfish yeah and i was just
i remember it was at escondido at the stone world
bistro and i was like what the i called jizz
i mean i called jake right after shout out jizzy yeah shout out to jizzy and
i called him right after i was like i just had the greatest beer i've ever had
in my life and after that it was just like you know i kind of veered off the

(25:56):
craft beer thing for like i was on it for a couple years and veered off and
then i've come back yeah so it's okay to come back Oh, yeah.
Because there's so much great stuff out there. Back then, it was 2007,
2008, when I was turning 21,
and it wasn't easily accessible to go to a liquor store and find craft beer

(26:16):
or to even just drive to a brewery.
You'd have to drive down to Escondido or San Diego to go to Carl Strauss.
Yeah, now you can go to any liquor store and find plenty of out-of-date beer. Yeah, out of code.
No it's pretty cool because it's like it's like really different out here as
opposed to back home there's very few places that you can get you know good craft beer,

(26:40):
And they work on the three tier system. So there's only like two majors,
but house and Miller house that control the whole state.
And so it's kind of like some weird shady tactics on how, like who's getting put in whatever.
Well, even in like in the stadiums and stuff like, you know,
for a long time that was illegal, but yeah, now they're starting to kind of,
kind of push stuff and, and rightfully so.
I mean, I think it's a market that, I mean, I get why they probably were apprehensive. Yeah.

(27:07):
But if, as long as you have security, as long as you kind of like, whatever
you go to any like professional place and they have beer yeah so and
now that they're getting paid so why not yeah so yeah
so it's been it was kind of hit and miss on trying to find places to get
good beer yeah and so i always remember like oh somebody
would bring like a or somebody to bring like something a
heady topper or something treehouse and

(27:30):
when you're in the in like the new this
is all new to me yeah you'll you'll drink a shitty beer
and be like this is the best thing i've ever had because you don't know any better so it's
like as time goes on your palate kind
of becomes more refined but also you like
learn about old hops or like yeah new
like the noble and all that yeah yeah yeah old world

(27:52):
new world but also like old hops as far
as like when you can it if like hey man we can this like this is
a year old ipa yeah this thing tastes like barley wine like no don't yeah so
it's it's it's really hit and miss to get like good good fresh craft beer that's
not local yeah um in mississippi i know for a long time people call it they

(28:14):
may still call it but it for a long time it was known as like the craft beer.
Cemetery yeah there's really great breweries there there's
really great brewers there like fly llama so pro
fertile ground and jackson shout out
to aaron oh yeah there's just there is good
beer there it's just not the culture is not really kind

(28:34):
of set up for it you have to kind of have have more of a more of
a city and there's not there but most of the state is
fucking rural so um if anything it's hard
to justify to the to the layman yeah hey this is gonna be a ten dollar six-pack
yeah what the fuck yeah give me a ten dollar six-pack when i get a 30 rack for

(28:54):
like 12 bucks or 15 bucks like i got a 10 i got a 10 round clip that'll fucking
back yeah no get the Get the fuck out of here, damn Yankee. Yeah.
Yeah, man. It's crazy how far craft beers come.
And speaking of which, we're drinking a couple beers here. You're drinking the
– I'm drinking the Creeping Death.

(29:15):
Yes. It's our black IPA. Yeah. And I'm drinking the Neon Lagoon.
It's one of my favorites. It's the West Coast. It was a collab.
That was our collab with Virgin. Yeah, with Virgin.
Been down there a couple times. I like going down there. But yeah, this is the collab.
Good yeah it's great really great beer i'd say this

(29:35):
was what seven is it seven even i'm dyslexic
i don't want yeah there's no way it's all good it's
not a one and done beer for sure that's uh oh no
it's definitely again it's like really it's not like
overly like heavy being a west
coast like i love like those are my favorite styles west coast pilsner's lagers
when you like for this one it's really easy drinking

(29:57):
but there are like some like complex like kind
of notes in there too yeah that's what i love about like
brewing because you know there's so many things you know somebody
might drink that beer and it's like yeah it tastes better
yeah it's like that's like one-sided but like if
you had like a panel of different beers oh
yeah same style you might kind of see the complexity that's going on so you

(30:18):
know the malt backbone or the hot profile even like subtleties just like the
carbonation level oh yeah because it's not overly carb or anything like that
you You can get a lot more bite the more CO2 you use as opposed to not.
It's not like a softer feel. There's a little bit bitterness,
so you kind of do want a little bit of that.
Yeah. It's got a good mouthfeel, though. Yeah. It's really good.

(30:39):
That's a great beer. That's a bangerang for sure.
Yeah. Damn right. Speaking of the beers here, what are some of your favorites?
I mean, now it's been, what, two and a half years? What are some of the favorite
ones that you brewed here since you've been?
So I've done a couple beers. I've done a Hibiscus Wit.
Ooh, okay. Um, we, I might do that one again, but yeah, we've done,

(31:00):
I did one other one. I cannot remember.
Sorry. It's been a rough day. Oh, it's all good. So I've done the one I really,
like obviously our slap and tickle. That's a, that's a fun beer to brew.
Oh yeah. Something I didn't brew until I got here was seltzers.
Used to kind of say you know they don't have a soul maybe not they're probably like the ai of

(31:20):
of the beer world but i mean they're
fun they're quick they're easy and they definitely put you
know asses in the seats oh for sure so i get it but if
i'm if i'm like what do i like to brew yeah kind of wild styles i'm not necessarily
wild in the sense of like sour but like just kind of off off off hand um you

(31:42):
know kind of like some hype shit oh yeah um we do uh we've done.
Can't remember the name of the beer it's all
right it's one of like the biggest things like people always ask me when they talk about
uh oh so uh what is in this or how
much is it like bro like i i can be
blindfolded on the deck and brew it but it's like if you like

(32:03):
want me to to recite i just that's not i can't
there's no way i my brain can like yeah i
get it write all that down i don't have that photographic memory
what are a couple other beers that we do quite often
that i really like so we'll do the once a year
we'll do the polar espresso i like that beer oh it's a
phenomenal beer yeah jolly mon we've done

(32:23):
that a few times or island boy really love that beer yeah
we've done a couple hazies over the
years is that beer phil's phil's philly
shout out to philly boy um what was
the panda panda or something like that it was trash panda man that beer was
fucking phenomenal and uh having come from a place that's kind of like uh out

(32:45):
in mississippi kind of a haze boy special yeah it was it was very reminiscent
of a lot of those like opaque Pake hazies that I love.
So it was great. What kind of hops do you like to work with the most?
If you were going to brew any style of beer you wanted, what hop would be the signature hop?

(33:05):
Just pick the style. It just depends on what the style is. I'm not going to go one hop.
Can't intercede on all styles.
But if I'm going hazy.
Everybody wants to go. It used to be in the beginning, it was like the cookie cutter, mosaic, citra.
Yeah. But man, these new world hops are killing it.
I'm also like reading a lot about dip hopping. Okay.

(33:28):
And it's kind of like a process where you're adding hops in almost like a tea
from the hot liquor. Oh, like the hop keef and all that stuff?
Kind of, but no, you're just adding pellets. So you'd be, or whole hop or whole cone if you wanted to.
But no, it's pellets and like HLT water into the fermenter. Yeah.
And then you're like brewing like an imperial version and then knocking out

(33:49):
to it and you're diluting into the tank.
Yeah. So it's almost like a cooler whirlpool.
So instead of like, so a lot of the hazies, they'll do like a hop cooler,
a cool down or a hop stand.
Almost like when you're doing a homebrew, when you have that,
like the chiller or something like that. Yeah. So they'll cool it down before they add the hops.
They want to make sure it gets something under 180 degrees so these oils aren't

(34:11):
cooked off or whatever and start to get that vegetal flavor.
Anything so it's more like juicy fruity yeah so
and then this is kind of like even more where it's
once you're knocking it out it's cold yeah into
the fermenter and so it's like immediately and uh
what that's also done like open the door for
other hops that were thought to be like very

(34:33):
bitter and like for for certain styles now they're
starting to do like noble hops hops yeah for these hazy
ipas and uh it's just kind of
like rewriting the story on on some of these hops
so it's it's kind of cool to see what what some breweries
are kind of coming up with yeah and it's cool that like even like
just seeing like the black ipa and your guys menu because you're

(34:53):
seeing it more often now yeah this is like a
kind of re-emergence it was really hot probably like four
years ago yeah and then it just kind of like well hit the haze craze
happened and everywhere you had to have like 10 hazies on your menu yeah
you know and stuff like that don't get me wrong i love a good
hazy but like i just feel like it was there was
so much out there everybody felt like they had to have a ton but like

(35:14):
the black ipas the the reds they're coming
back yeah i feel like these black ipas are kind of like where you
can like you know fill in two blanks with the same yeah same you know whatever
it's like peanut butter and jelly french toast yeah it's like man you want that
hoppy you want that little bit malty but you also like want like that like dark
no doubt it's perfect oh yeah no it's great should we grab another couple beers.

(35:36):
Sure Before we jump into the next thing Alright and we will be back.
Alright so we got our beer I'm drinking the Creeping Death this time We switched
it up 6.66% There we go what are you drinking brother I'm drinking the Spill
Me and Die It's our collaboration with the homies up at June Lake Shout out
to those guys Those guys are fucking party animals Shout out to Jizzy,

(35:56):
Jizzy did the can artwork for that one.
I can't do it right now. My throat's all fucked up. One thing I always love
to ask somebody too is like, what do you love most about the industry?
Hmm. Yeah, that's a tough question because I feel like some days you're just like, man, why?
But then you visit other tap rooms.

(36:18):
You like see, it's kind of like, it's a double-edged sword because there is
inclusivity, but there's not.
Yeah. So like when you go to certain places, 90% of the people you meet are
really going to be really good and really like, hey, like your family, like take care of you.
But then you also have some people, but you have it everywhere though.
So I'm not like singling us out, but yeah, just go into like events,

(36:43):
go in and see if I take a lap in the, you know, whatever in the tap room.
You know, I've had rough days before.
It's like, yeah, fuck this day. I'm ready to get off work
and like go home and just take a breath and then
I'll make a loop through the tap room and I just see people
that are just having a good time oh yeah and drinking the
beers that that we made and and for me that's the payment that's like I my thing

(37:05):
about beer that I love is that but kind of what I said earlier it's like we're
we're not creating the story but we're we're kind of like seasoning the story
oh for sure and we're not making memories but we're We're definitely, we're the background.
We're like the music in the background or we're like the beer that's like,
you know, it's part of the story. So I like that.
I like that part. I like that people enjoy the beers. I like that.

(37:29):
Somebody that's never had our beer before, never had a craft beer before. Oh, yeah.
You know, that's what I said. It's like them finding their gateway drug into craft beer. Yeah.
Gotcha, bitch. Yeah. I was talking to, when I talked to John,
not John, sorry, Josh from Hamilton the other
day we were talking about how like the first
day he opened he was like the night before he like couldn't sleep

(37:52):
he's like but what if because he had he never thought his
mind was always like it's gonna work out it's gonna be like it is a positive
dude but he was telling me like yeah the night before his wife told him he's
like what if nobody shows up and then you know the four brewers show like they
know john from the four brewers showed up all these other people and after like
an hour they're like what.

(38:13):
Went to go pour one of their brown ales i think it was called brethren but.
And it was like foam he's like what's going on and they tapped it after
the first hour oh that's awesome yeah i mean and
you get to like like how exciting is that like even like
nick from humble sea like telling me like the
what he enjoyed the most and like when it really became
real for him was seeing somebody like

(38:35):
take a drink of his beer and be like and
like look at it like holy shit like realizing like
holy crap like this is like that was you know payment
enough you know yeah i think it's like a more amplified version
of you know a lot of brewers you know home
brewers especially you know it's like you get into it
and you're like all gung-ho and you really want to

(38:56):
kind of make a beer and then you finally make it and it's like
the best beer you've ever had yeah it's probably
shitty don't really know don't
really care and it's it's it
it just becomes like a kind of a thing so it's like
in the beginning yeah you've had this beer and it's
oh it's the best thing ever and that feeling that you have is probably the same
way like getting into the industry and kind of like for the first time

(39:19):
it's like your first time on the deck and that first beard it's
like oh it's awesome or you know then you've opened up
a place and you've oh it's awesome yeah it reminds me of that charlie papazian
thing where it's like relax don't worry have a homebrew like all the instances
that i've ever ever thought about like oh shit i fucked something up yeah yeah
sure there probably was something wrong but never where it was like you fucking blew it.

(39:44):
You son of a bitch look what you did you broke it you
little jerk yeah you know it's just like yeah
because it it's and really it reverberates for
people that are like that it means something yeah and uh
you you want that in an employee first of all but of course
two it's when it happens multiple
times where it becomes an issue but yeah i could i could imagine i haven't haven't

(40:06):
open my own place yet um but i can imagine the just the weight and the pressure
that's like all on top and you're like oh shit you might do a good job of like
keeping it out of like your your your.
Your line of sight but like at some point before those doors open on the first
day it's gonna be like fuck yeah what's gonna happen tomorrow and then it and

(40:28):
then it it opens up and you either Either, I mean, it's shit or get off the pot. Yeah.
And it's, you can't really like, oh, I hope it does well. It's like,
well, no, like most of that is you doing well.
Oh, for sure. If you do the work and you're out there, you should.
Obviously, I understand there's circumstances where like, obviously with COVID

(40:49):
and shit that's happened in the past that you might have a bad location, whatever it is.
But more often than not, the cream rises to the top.
To quote the macho man. Yeah. Yeah.
Isn't it crazy? Cause there's like so much that does go into it too.
I mean, cause it is the beer, but I, one thing I will say like,
yeah, you have to have marketing. You have to have the right can artwork.

(41:10):
Cause I mean, can artwork, you have to be able to like, you know,
distinct, you'll find something, you know.
Distinctly unique about your can because you walk into a craft beer liquor store
and there's, you know, you have 300 fricking cans of juice. It's all about real estate, man.
It's all about real estate. What pops out, what, what, what sticks out. So it's like,
if you don't have, if you got good liquid, oh yeah

(41:32):
and you're not you don't have good marketing yeah man if you
don't make it it is what it is like you gotta like you gotta you
gotta get with the times yeah you gotta
try to see what's out there gotta try to like not copy
i don't like that but do something different
yeah do something that's gonna set your stand up as
you walk by those 300 cans like what's popping

(41:53):
oh yeah they're not like cracking those open on the shelf and
being like oh yeah i'll take this it's like no they're taking a
chance so you have to take a chance and put your can art find somebody that's
doing really well yeah um if you need a guy his name is jizzy at jizzy jake
or at wild rally studio so yeah you just but but that's that's the name of it
you know if you could have really good marketing and terrible liquid and you're

(42:16):
going to be successful for a little while,
you're gonna have great liquid and terrible marketing and you're gonna do the
same too but it's just not you gotta like you gotta grow with the market you
gotta grow with with the times.
Yeah, you definitely have to because, like I said, there's so many options out
there. It's not like it used to be.
Yeah. Or even like Stone where their thing was like fuzzy yellow beers for wussies.

(42:37):
They had to do that back then to kind of do their thing.
But, I mean, that's one of the things I love about Pilsners and lagers.
You can't hide behind anything.
And you have to. And if you do it right, it's fucking great.
Yeah, I remember one of my really good friends, Mike Andrews, he's a pilsner.
Marine biologist for southern mississippi

(42:59):
a professor there shout out to mike his he told me
when i was homebrewing because i when i first got in
the industry i'm sure this is probably like you know similar for
a lot of folks it was like man the more the better
so i was like barley wines and fucking double
ipas and like all it's much alcohol and i'm
like i want to just brew the biggest baddest beer and he

(43:21):
just said one time we were at this like a like a homebrew day or
whatever he didn't try to take over the conversation he just kind
of sat back in his chair and he's like man sign of a good brewer is somebody
that can brew a session beer and repeat it pretty
well oh yeah like you have less to hide behind if you
fuck up you fucked up yeah because you can't just throw fruit in it fruit in
it and to make it you know better it was the cornerstone moment in my at least

(43:45):
thought process career where i was like oh okay i want to be the the best I
can be sure I can throw a bunch of more sugar and I can throw whatever to it.
And it's always going to be, but if I can do it well and do it,
this kind of level, this is what I want to do.
And it was immediately like, Oh, nope, this is what we're doing.

(44:05):
Yeah. And sidestep. So I will forever like thank him for that. But,
I just remember like beer festivals, like, Oh, I'm looking for all the barley
ones. I'm looking for all. Yeah. Everything.
And ever since then. Yeah. Like trash beers. It is.
That's what I love about the brewer's mentality though. Like that. It's never good enough.

(44:27):
No. Yeah. No. I love that. I mean, anybody that like cares about it, it can't be.
If you ever feel like you've made it, but that's when it's anything,
any kind of like any art that you've ever done.
I'm not saying like an artist but it's you know any you are
martial art or whatever like if you feel like
i've i've made it i've done enough and i
have talked to brewers like that before they're like oh man i won a

(44:48):
couple awards in the 90s and they get complacent i'm like that's readers digest
award whatever does not count as like you're not going out there constantly
like testing yourself against yeah other people or other like man i want to
go up against the best in the world yeah And then I want to know,
that's what I know. I'm like, oh man, you eat shit.
Yeah. Okay, cool. You're going to strive to keep going until you win that competition.

(45:13):
Yeah, I'm not going to fucking, I don't know, fucking Nairobi to enter into
some homebrew competition and get a first place medal.
It's like, I want to go somewhere where everyone's going.
Yeah, you want to go to the best of the best. And if I'm not doing well, then I can do better.
What I always like to say is, get busy living or get busy dying. Shawshank.
Oh, yeah. yeah i'm with it same thing my grandfather

(45:36):
should have got off the pot yeah i just don't
like i yeah how am i gonna grow if i'm you know
how how am i gonna get better if i'm
only going against for nothing like i'm not you can't be you can't be the hero
in your own story like you got to be like yeah who's better than me there's
got to be somebody always better than you yeah you just strive to like continue

(45:59):
because it's it's like the only way you keep yourself in check yeah if If you
start getting complacent.
Yeah. My grandmother used to say the way you do one thing is the way you do everything.
And so if you start like, Oh, so kudos to your fucking grandma.
That's a fucking great line. That's bars.
But it's the same where it's like, if you start getting complacent,
then you start to like lack in other areas of your life and everything will follow suit.

(46:23):
I, I, I want to wake up in the morning and be like, fuck, I'm not the best brewer out there.
I'm, I'm probably the worst. And like, Like, how can I make it better today?
Yeah. You know, what's the, what's that guy? Fuck, I can't remember his name.
With that 10% better anyway. Yeah.

(46:43):
So you just want to be 10%, but how can I do better today? Yeah.
And even if it's a small thing, it's like, oh man, I made it on work on time. Sure.
But could I got there a couple of minutes early? Could I have set up for something else? Yeah.
Any situation can I do better?
It's not just like the finished product. Yeah. It's so many microcosms of things
that got to the finished product that like, man, if I like work on all those other areas,

(47:06):
at some point there's something that might not have been focused on that'll
like it'll it'll come along anyway just because of all the
other things that i'm working on exactly dude i i feel the same way
about the show like i will like pour like
i will take all the time i have to doesn't matter i will work around
people's schedules but when it comes to the editing or when it comes
to like posting stuff for reels and stuff like that
like it takes time it's time consuming and i have a full-time job

(47:29):
yeah so but i i i care about this so much and i want it i want every episode
to be better than than that yeah when you love it and it's a passion yeah it's
it sounds so fucking cheesy and i hate like using cheesy lines but it's like
when you love it it's not really work yeah and they're like.
I'll see guys i'll see oh you're good i'll see

(47:50):
i'll see guys here that are like and i get it like i've had bad days too but
i especially i have less bad days because i'll see guys are like struggling
they're like oh fucking today sucks and i'm like man you have no idea yeah Like
imagine having like a spade shovel and you got to try,
you got to fucking dig a three foot hole, 160 feet long.

(48:11):
And you got till like 7am or from 7am to like 8pm.
That's hard work. Yeah. Roofing, cement work.
I've done all that. Just like, this is, it's a cakewalk. But I also say that
to like keep myself in check.
Yeah. You know, I'm walking around with a broke rib right now.
Yeah. You gotta stay humble.
You're so weird. This shit's rough. I'm like, oh man, I'm not fucking 20 anymore. Yeah.

(48:36):
It's like, it is what it is. I'm just like trying to say it to like church myself
up a little bit. I'm like, all right now.
Oh no, for sure, man. I'm like, but like kudos to you for like,
even like, yeah, like you're still here.
You're still doing your job. You're doing your thing. And like,
you know, but that, that's your work ethic though.
Keep the fight going. Now, if I stop, if I get stagnant, then it's just like, I got moss.

(48:58):
I don't know what the fuck to do. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm always listening. I'm always reading.
I'm always like watching something. and so i'd like dyslexia where
i'm like i gotta like keep yeah i
get it um one thing i was
up to ask too is uh what's your worst brew day uh so

(49:19):
i wouldn't say worst because it was it what
i felt like was the worst yeah and that
ended up being really a great a great moment and i've
i've said this before to other people so i
just got this job at southern prohibition pattiesburg mississippi.
And i'd been in the industry like real
deal for probably a year and some change

(49:41):
and maybe like almost two years at this.
Point brewing kind of solo where my boss was
like at the end of the day he would leave and like
hey you've got just this left to
do and then you're you're pretty much good yeah and uh
we were brewing a uh the classic beers
that they brew and uh i i didn't add the hops

(50:02):
in the whirlpool oh shit i just i i
didn't i didn't i don't know if i saw it it just was the
way my brain was i was trying like super hyper focused on everything
else yeah that i didn't fucking add the hops into
the whirlpool and uh so like i get done knocking
it out into the fermenter get everything kind of piped back in
to where i'm not going to start my cip on my on my ko line and i'm

(50:24):
like okay cool i got start grabbing stuff picking up and i
look and i see a bucket full of hops oh
shit i'm like fuck and i'd
only i don't know like i could have been no more than
six months there like i didn't even that i made it might
have been within the first few months and yeah i
fucking i called i called my boss and who i

(50:47):
love shout out to ben mishibu i i
i called him and we were just kind of like this
is like also in like the intermediate phase of
our friendship working co-workership and
he goes i said hey i'm sorry and he
goes are you still knocking out like and i think now
yeah i could have like re-whirlpooled a little bit whatever

(51:10):
but it was done he goes okay we'll.
Talk about it tomorrow and then let me go and or might have of hung up i don't.
Know but i was just like fuck no and uh it was almost like the way that when
you're when your father tells you like i'm not mad at you i'm just disappointed
i was like god damn it yeah so i'm waiting i cleaned up everything i put those

(51:31):
same hops back i didn't like i gotta.
Somebody asked me later like why didn't you just throw them away i'm like there's no
fucking way but so they came around
they talked about it but you held yourself account i just don't
know another way i'm i don't i especially if
i like if i try to lie about something i will fucking forget i'm
a shitty liar too i'm so bad so it's like i'm just gonna take my lumps and get

(51:55):
it over with yeah and so they came uh the brewmaster and the and the and the
owner came through and they like I kind of made the rounds that morning and
kind of walked around and we're talking for several hours and they never came up on the deck.
So I'm like, Oh shit. All right. Yeah. I'm end of the day. I'm done.
And then I turned into another day and then a week, nothing was said.

(52:15):
And then the following week we had our monthly business meeting and I ended
up getting employee of the month.
And the owner said, yeah, the owner said, man, I can't pay for that kind of character.
Yeah. and i just was like like your
job i was so bad because i mean like i'm like
i'm still like a year or two in from like leaving so

(52:38):
i wasn't leaving the shipyard so i was like is this
still like even probably today no i'm
not i got these hand tattoos now but at some point
i was like am i still like i still have people
especially in my my family they're like when are you gonna gonna get a real job
yeah but i was
still kind of like we had just moved to this town for like

(52:59):
the third time in like a year and so i was like
i don't know what to do and then he was like yeah here you go this
first employee of the month yeah and was just
like he could have easily like just taken
the easy route out and and chose not to and i
wasn't looking for anything like that but it was just like it was
kind of a validation moment where it was like hey as

(53:20):
long as you do do the right thing even though it
might suck in the in the immediate yeah it will pay off and maybe it's not keeping
that job so anybody listen to this if they do tell the truth you get fired i'm
sure it's going to sound like it's like your world's ending but i promise you
if you stick with it if you if you kind of hold true to what you are what you

(53:40):
do and stay in the industry.
It will come back to you i can think of two or three people right now
that are like thought their stuff was over and they just
kind of kept with it they moved they did something else they were
passionate about their career yeah and and
it's worked out for them so like yeah if anything like don't
don't don't lie yeah it's a

(54:03):
testament to you though but just yeah i just for
me it's always been the beer's always been premiere yeah if
as long as i'm keeping the beer first i never want
to short change anything like if oh i need you to stay a
couple hours and pick up them boxes it's like i mean i'll
do it yeah but if everybody's going out of town i might i might do that tomorrow

(54:24):
i'm sorry but as long as it's like any process of the beer or anything like
that as long as i've always put the beer first i've never i've never failed
yeah so that's That's just like my one rule. It's like, don't shortchase the beer.
Work your ass off. Everybody else will fucking fall in line. Yeah.
Whatever. Yeah. Honestly, what more can you ask for an employee?

(54:47):
Like you said, sometimes it'll bite you in the ass, but at least, hey.
You got a clear conscience. Yeah. Man, how often? I don't have to.
I've never fucked anybody over.
I've only quit one job in my life. We've kind of reconciled since then. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I don't want to like, I could just never, I would have like told
on myself how shitty of that is, but I would have told on myself.

(55:09):
I would have just been like, they're like sitting in the tap room and they're
drinking that. It's like, it tastes a little different.
It's like, I'm sorry. I fucked up. I didn't know what the fuck.
And like, cause I feel like anybody, they're good. They know.
They fucking know. They know. And I'm just like telling that in my brain the
whole time. So I'm just like, yeah, fuck all this. I'm just going to drink right now.
I fucked up. My bad. Oh, it happens. Right? I mean, shit, life happens. It does happen.

(55:31):
We wanted to talk about the MJF, the scholarship. Could you tell us about that?
Absolutely. Yeah, MJF, the Michael Jackson Foundation.
Trying to bring awareness, but also help for inclusivity in the brewing industry
for blacks, indigenous and people of color, other people of color. Yeah.
And I think this is a fourth year, maybe the fifth year.

(55:54):
And yeah, I just, I just got the recent round, the most recent round of scholarships.
And yeah, incredibly humbled, honored, and can't wait, like excited.
Excited somebody that like come from the south didn't have
any formal training high school drop out you
know a lot of the places that i kind of like dreamed about working yeah

(56:16):
always required some kind of some kind
of of a degree and and i
still have like goals and aspirations i want to work abroad one
day yeah i have like a hankering to to brew
in vietnam or cambodia or somewhere like that where
it's like a slower pace of life how awesome would that be yeah dude
yeah brew some some shitty lagers all day

(56:37):
and some great fucking food and ride a water buffalo
to work that'd be the fucking kids so yeah so something
like that and i i i'm it i'm sure
i could find a way to do it with like where i'm at now but i mean finding a
water buffalo out here might be a little tough no i'm saying i'm saying like
still making a way out there but yeah sure i mean i know a couple people i think

(57:00):
yeah no i just think it would be it would just kind of make everything easier but But also like,
yeah, it's only going to make me better as a brewer, if I, you know,
have some kind of form of training, which I would have never been able to afford.
And, and, and solely because of the MJF, I'm yeah, I'm getting a chance to go to school now.

(57:21):
And I'm incredibly thankful, humbled that they've even considered me, but also like, yeah, I.
I was a problem before wait till you
fucking put me in the class i'm like what yeah how cool
is that though it's so cool it's so cool like my i was
talking to my daughter the other day and she was like she was

(57:43):
getting getting teary she was like because i
told her when i got it i was like hey like i
was kind of emotional and was like hey like i i don't want
you to think that like your sacrifice like your
brother and your sister's sacrifice is not lost on
me like the things that we've kind of gone through had to move multiple times
oh for sure she's like super proud i'm super proud of you and i'm like yeah

(58:05):
but like you guys sacrificed too in order for me to like kind of make this happen
and and that's not lost on me and she's like i wouldn't want it any other way
she's like if you were still doing that whatever before like i this is what you were meant to do,
and and she's still out in mississippi right no she's actually she's living
in new orleans oh she's yeah my baby girl's living in new orleans she's living

(58:27):
with my sister i remember like Because I think a couple of times where we've
driven somewhere together and you talk to her and you get a sense that, you know,
that love and respect that you guys have. Yeah.
And like, I just, that's, that's cool, man. Like, you know, and you can,
you can tell that she's happy for you and, you know, and you're happy for her.
Yeah. Like you're so many, you know, a couple thousand miles away,

(58:50):
but that love, like love reaches, man.
Yeah. Love knows no bounds. Yeah. Yeah, her, her and her sister.
And now my, my grandbaby, those are my hearts. My son will always be my best
friend, but man, it's something about your girls, man.
Yeah. I love my son, but.
Is the dopest thing I ever did in life. Yeah. That's awesome,

(59:13):
man. Yeah, being a dad, the best thing. Girls are dope.
Girls are super dope. And then closing down Brewery X with me. Hell yeah.
Hell yeah. Yeah, I'm not against a good time. Oh, yeah.
I'm not against a good time just because I'm a dad or a grandpa.
You don't think I can throw down?
Oh, I know you can. I'm about to blow y'all's minds. It's 2024.

(59:34):
Yeah. Do you have any fun stories from like Mississippi? Not Mississippi?
Fun stories brewing out in mississippi um or
just any because i also know that we've talked about brad a little
bit oh yeah so that was best pre.
That's pre brewing that was that was probably my
rodeo days yeah the three doors guys from three doors

(59:55):
down yeah we just kind of run in similar circles yeah i
didn't i didn't know them directly but i
knew people that knew them and so like we would show up
at same places sometimes and and yeah they
were good times i had more fun with their bassist their former
bassist who i will not name who's in prison yeah
but yeah it was yeah i think again

(01:00:18):
cheesy line famous people
are just like us and they don't want to be treated famous but
yeah being from south mississippi you kind of run in the same circle especially when
you're kind of like doing wild shit you know
people gravitate towards each other yep and in in
the rodeo circuit you know gets a little wild yeah.
You walk into a into a place you know big

(01:00:39):
swinging dick and everybody's like oh who's that guy yes so
yeah no you kind of gravitate the same people and uh
we ran in similar circles yeah those
are those are good dudes oh yeah see they're like touring again
with oh yeah i'm so excited i'm so fucking
excited that they're turning green man i keep trying to
like squeeze it in on the playlist in the back and they're like what the fuck

(01:01:01):
are you doing i'm like yeah i think it's the
end of august i'm going to a show it's and
it's actually not that like the tickets weren't that bad but yeah it's a creed
is having a show at glenn helen i was like i'm there bro i'm not from here so
what is glenn helen it's like right like going towards like victorville like
like if you were all the way to vegas from here you would have to pass glenn

(01:01:21):
helen to get there but it's about from here it's maybe if there's no traffic but,
california there's always traffic so did you get tickets yeah oh me and my buddy
already bought How many seats is that place?
So they have like the big field, but then they also have like the seats. I'm getting seats.
Because I was like, I'm going to lose my shit, you know. I want to be singing,

(01:01:41):
you know, can you take me higher all day. Can we get a little bit lower?
I don't even think my voice is... Can we get like a chorus and a...
No, I'm just kidding. I might get a cease and desist.
Like, what the fuck are you doing? Oh, can you take me lower? Yeah.

(01:02:02):
Sorry i was really i'll edit that out let me put that i'm gonna hit i don't know 54 minutes okay.
One more thing oh fuck
it was there and it was gone shout out to brewery
x shout out to brewery x get me there this is
my husband gregory i can't even do that from
my talladega nights oh wow but i

(01:02:24):
couldn't i had one more question but i can't remember what it was we'll take
a break give up no i remember it now so last question of the night if you were
going to have a beer would you rather have it with a pizza tacos a burger or wings i mean so that,
this is i don't know it's a loaded question sure it's like how would you rather

(01:02:47):
a million dollars would you rather hundred dollar bills 50s 20s yeah tens fives
i prefer small i don't give a fuck give me fucking cash dog give me cash i'll
fucking take pennies if you don't fucking whatever,
i i yeah i'm not really picky i think
i think there's a beer for everyone even the
people that don't drink beer but i think also a pairing that

(01:03:09):
goes with everything oh for sure and i'm
sure that goes the same for wine and whiskey and whatever yeah and and shout
out to those people in their their right minds but yeah um yeah i like if i'm
like my preferred three years in the california if i'm if i'm getting a beer
like i want tacos dog oh yeah um.

(01:03:32):
Wings too i like a burger um smash burgers are fucking a fire bangarang out
here yeah yeah there's not really a wrong way to go i just there's definitely
like specific instances where like oh something's going on here they might use
a different cheese or this doesn't really work well they might use a different
spite whatever but like for the most part especially like ipas,
anything with spice goes really well with

(01:03:54):
ipas oh yeah wings the hotter the better oh
yeah good good cold beer and yeah burger
all the above i don't know i feel like i'm like
it's a tough question it's not really tough it's just
like because they're all great i would it's i'm not i'm not
really picky yeah you know i'm not i'm not that guy
that's like i will only drink that

(01:04:15):
beer in a glass it's like yeah come on well
they asked us earlier like you want to set a glass like i'm not
sure if you like if it's that kind of event if we're pouring those
kind of beers like singular like oh man it's a 20 year
variant i'm like sure i want it in this whatever yeah
but that's not like if what's it gonna be yeah let's throw this away i could

(01:04:37):
put it in a recycling bin and save more trees and somebody taking an hour to
clean a bunch of glass i just thought of one more question and i promise this
is the last one what like where do you see the industry going or or maybe like, well,
what a better quick, what do you think the next trend is? Ooh.
Yeah, I think about that a lot, probably a lot more than others,

(01:04:58):
but also I don't know, probably everybody thinks about it the same way, but I don't know.
I do know that like trends, industries, like sway back and forth.
Oh, of course, there's an ebb and flow. Yeah, so when there's like a peak,
I mean, it's just wait, it's coming back. Yeah.

(01:05:19):
I i don't really know i know that like a couple years ago you know seltzers
were kind of like making the hit on the scene yeah and it was like man they're
saying within a few years they're gonna be like 50 of the market it's like well
i think they're like almost double that yeah,
i i don't know i think how many times have we like seen something where it's

(01:05:39):
like a new thing that we didn't even know about before and then like dude there'll
be something that like 10 10 years from now, we'll be like, we wouldn't have ever saw it.
They're doing farmhouse seltzers now. Jeez. They're like aging them in barrels.
I've even seen some of like where they're doing like, oh, they're calling them
craft cocktails where they're like, I know a native son, what they're doing

(01:06:02):
is like they're taking like their,
plain Jane seltzer with no flavor to it, sending it to places and then they're
crafting cocktails with that base seltzer and doing that.
I feel like that could be maybe one
of the things that happened because then you can almost make slushies out of
that sure you could do like a you know
like a craft cocktail or anything yeah i i think um

(01:06:24):
i mean i don't i don't want to forget like the non-alcoholics any beers have
gotten a lot bigger too yeah this year i still do a dry month this year was
14 i did it for february yeah this is my first time doing in february i was
kind of excited because back home you can't do it Yeah, that's Mardi Gras season.
I'm never gonna fucking not drink from Mardi Gras. Yeah, so I got to do it for

(01:06:46):
February But it was like yeah, eventually this is gonna be I become like a super big thing.
Everybody's doing these, you know, I was athletic in San Diego Braavis in Anaheim
a lot of places are either doing hop teas or non-alcoholic versions of things.
Going to be inevitable where people are kind of wanting to do something where

(01:07:08):
they still want to come out and hang out and have a good time but also either
not drink or yeah only
have a couple beers and still be able to kind of maintain for
sure and that like physical like oh it's something you know
whatever like how many times have you had like three or four beers
and then like hey man do you remember that last beer of the night it tastes
like dog shit and you're like i ain't fucking it sound like

(01:07:30):
jizz right now yeah right so it's like you don't really know so
it's like it doesn't even matter like i'm not saying like these beers
are trash but you definitely can tell that you're
missing that part um and some of them do it
better than others um like when i do my dry month
i always say like before especially in
mississippi there wasn't many options so like

(01:07:51):
the best i could do was like a heineken 0.0 and on
like day 17 of nothing yeah that heineken
0.0 is the best fucking beer you've had in your life yeah then
i move out here and then i go places like bevmo or
wherever the fuck and and and you can have all.
These different options yeah oh man sam adams
has you know haze beers fuck what

(01:08:12):
else have i had athletic all athletic beers
are fucking really great but it's almost like being drunk at
the end of the night you're like this is the best taco i've ever had yeah so it's
like yeah so you can it's like a you can you can kind of like two
for it so it's like you can either show up and not drink and have
something to drink and you're not out of place but also like hey like there's
some moderation yeah where you're like all right i'm gonna go out with the fellas

(01:08:35):
but i'm only gonna have 11 teen beers and then the rest of the night i'm gonna
fucking just do these and then that's it yeah so i think there's yeah it's increasingly.
Becoming a thing where yeah everybody wants to go out and hang out with the
boys but not everybody could go out the next go to work the next morning exactly
this is like kind of like alleviating some of that yeah okay i can throw back

(01:08:56):
five or six of these yeah yeah it's fine sorry i know i said the last question
was the last question just keep talking homie what about one more,
be like you know obviously being from mississippi but being a goal is going
to mardi gras and all that stuff if there was something that were like if somebody
had to go to this specific place whether it's in mississippi or in new orleans

(01:09:17):
or mardi gras or just to go for mardi gras that That doesn't have to be from Mardi Gras,
but just anything you can think of in either of those two states.
If you're going to a place that's maybe not as well-known, but you're flying
out there in a couple of weeks, and you're like, oh, this is where you're going to go.
Yeah, so if you're going to New Orleans, you got to go.

(01:09:38):
Everybody goes to Bourbon, and I'm never going to stop somebody from going to
Bourbon, but don't go there. Go to Frenchman Street.
Go to Cochon, the butcher.
Go to the,
is it the turkey something in the turkey fuck I'm forgetting the name of it I'm sorry guys I love you,

(01:10:02):
go to urban south go to courtyard brewing for sure shout out scott scott's a
actually a san diego guy nice he would be on the show even yeah dude yeah he's he's the tits um uh brew,
there's so many great beers in new orleans um if you're in mississippi if you're

(01:10:23):
anywhere like taking a time i don't know some people are blues enthusiasts driving through,
must-hits are Fertile Ground in Jackson, Mississippi Southern Prohibition in
Hattiesburg, Mississippi Fly Llama Brewing Company in Biloxi,
Mississippi Okay Yeah, I'll maybe go by Scott's Place,

(01:10:45):
There's a place He has a place in Ocean Springs, I can't remember the name If
you think about it later, I could throw it in the intro with this episode Maybe Maybe.
Hops and Grows, Jesus I'm sorry Scott, I fucked that
up I love you so much he didn't mean it scott hops and growlers
in uh in ocean springs mississippi is probably one
of the best brewers in the state and he's just killing beers

(01:11:06):
it's a old guy that loves people
that love beer and i love him too well
man i i appreciate you like you know doing that and i appreciate you being on
the show i mean no problem you're my bud i love you dog i love i love you dog
i love you dog but yeah thanks again and if you if you've never if you're in
the socal area Or even if you're not in the SoCal area and you're going to Disneyland

(01:11:28):
and you're coming around,
was it Glassell and La Palma?
Yeah, Glassell and La Palma, East La Palma. Yeah, 3191 East La Palma.
They have amazing pizza. Amazing pizza. We have burgers. Burgers are fucking
stellar. Really great food, awesome beers.
And there's a lot of fucking room. Yeah. You even have a penalty box rent out

(01:11:48):
for all your private parties.
Yeah. And if you happen to see Greg in the tap room, give him a big old grizzly bear hug.
Thanks again, brother. I appreciate it. Yeah. All right. Cheers, Stefan. See you guys.
All right, guys. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that episode with Greg.
Like I said, I had a blast talking to him.
And like I said, him being my buddy just made it even, you know, made it even better.

(01:12:12):
So, and I remember the, so next week's episode is the Frogtown episode with Josh and Jonathan.
That one should be a good one. Like I said, then the week after is Geeks.
Then we should be having the campsite. Oh, yeah, the Geekston campsite and then
Momentum and then the Sean Ely episode.
And then we have, there's something else, something else. I just made, oh yeah, Asylum.

(01:12:36):
So it should be good. So we're going to, like, I'm going to be loaded up for
episodes for a while. But I'm really excited for campsite tomorrow too.
That should be a really fun one.
Just want you guys all to know and really appreciate you guys downloading the episodes each week.
And, you know, like even for the, you know, for people that listen to their
own breweries or people that are homebrewers or people that not even maybe not even beer people,

(01:12:57):
people that just, you know, love hearing inspiring stories and that,
you know, people not willing to give up on their dream.
So like I said, I hope you guys really, you know, enjoy this.
I mean, I always want to put out something quality for you. I appreciate it.
And also for any brewers out there, just one more time, if you're looking to
start a trivia you a night at your brewery.

(01:13:20):
Maybe for one of the slow days during the week, go to geekswhodrink.com slash
taproom, enter promo code taproom.
That's geekswhodrink.com slash
taproom, promo code taproom, and you'll get your first quiz night free.
And honestly, like, it was really fun because I got to, when I talked to Brian
the other day, he quizzed me. I did, I think I did okay.
There was a few that I did miss, but it was really fun. But all right, tap out.

(01:13:43):
I got a bunch of shit I I got to do and a bunch of beers I got to drink.
What else am I going to do on a Saturday?
All right. Cheers, Stefan. Take care.
Oh yeah. And I want to say, and if you're betting this weekend,
if you're in a state where it's doing finger quotes, where it's legal to gamble.
Music.