“Your smile is your best asset,” says Gregory Last night I encountered another wise being. He bestowed on us two full hours of just sheer joy, wisdom, humor and what he referred to as the “no bullshit choke chain” moments in life. If you’ve attended any First Person Magazine or Living Arts Fund events, chances are you’ve tasted our mead. Wildly fermented from Sandor Ellix Katz’s book “Wild Fermentation” it’s a concoction of naturally left out honey and fruit that transforms. Jon recently bought a beer brewing kit, so he invited me to the workshop. And Gregory explained the process of brewing to a life long process like any other that deserves our attention and commitment, hard work and love. He compared it to writing poetry, throwing a pot, or playing a saxophone. “Don’t be too anal. I can always tell an anal beer when I taste one. If you hold your sphincter all the way up to your jaw while you make your beer, you’re gonna taste that.” He instructed everyone to flex for a minute. Just follow the instructions and he guaranteed a wonderful brew that may be counter intuitive, but science would prevail. He lectured over radio broadcast music where Bob Dylan was the DJ. He sipped occassionally from a plastic cup and had his dog Louie tied by his side as he gushed on about going to Amsterdam and meeting Trappist Monks who took him in to their monastery where he spent the next 39 days, some of the best of his life and learned their brewing techniques, simplicity of life, scholarship skills, and discipline. Gregory was a no nonsense, warmhearted man who shared his knowledge and some technique about brewing after he had done it for 47 years. I felt honored to bear witness to his testimony. Sometimes when English is a second language, we learn to distill language to the simplest form in order to communicate. I find that when we get older, we do the same as Gregory spoke with tenacity, largess and a candidness that was refreshing and entertaining. He also said to call him anytime at the shop if we had questions but to not expect him to have time to converse about politics. You can only meet Gregory if you are interested in brewing beer. If you are indeed genuinely enthusiastic to give this hobby a shot by all means I encourage you to visit and buy a kit from Brew Craft on Clement St. and 20th. Thanks Jon and I look forward to the smell of hops in our kitchen soon! Here, I am in my brewing outfit with Gregory in his shop. Jon asked me if I had looked that up. Nah, I just had a feeling I should put on my overalls. I’m like Alden Van Buskirk, the poet who sweetly put it as “thinking other than with the mind.” I think Gregory was pleasantly surprised we were matching. Oh, and beware the “barking spider” in their restroom if you do visit!

“Your smile is your best asset,” says Gregory

Last night I encountered another wise being. He bestowed on us two full hours of just sheer joy, wisdom, humor and what he referred to as the “no bullshit choke chain” moments in life. If you’ve attended any First Person Magazine or Living Arts Fund events, chances are you’ve tasted our mead. Wildly fermented from Sandor Ellix Katz’s book “Wild Fermentation” it’s a concoction of naturally left out honey and fruit that transforms. Jon recently bought a beer brewing kit, so he invited me to the workshop. And Gregory explained the process of brewing to a life long process like any other that deserves our attention and commitment, hard work and love. He compared it to writing poetry, throwing a pot, or playing a saxophone.

“Don’t be too anal. I can always tell an anal beer when I taste one. If you hold your sphincter all the way up to your jaw while you make your beer, you’re gonna taste that.” He instructed everyone to flex for a minute. Just follow the instructions and he guaranteed a wonderful brew that may be counter intuitive, but science would prevail. He lectured over radio broadcast music where Bob Dylan was the DJ. He sipped occassionally from a plastic cup and had his dog Louie tied by his side as he gushed on about going to Amsterdam and meeting Trappist Monks who took him in to their monastery where he spent the next 39 days, some of the best of his life and learned their brewing techniques, simplicity of life, scholarship skills, and discipline. Gregory was a no nonsense, warmhearted man who shared his knowledge and some technique about brewing after he had done it for 47 years. I felt honored to bear witness to his testimony. Sometimes when English is a second language, we learn to distill language to the simplest form in order to communicate. I find that when we get older, we do the same as Gregory spoke with tenacity, largess and a candidness that was refreshing and entertaining. He also said to call him anytime at the shop if we had questions but to not expect him to have time to converse about politics.

You can only meet Gregory if you are interested in brewing beer. If you are indeed genuinely enthusiastic to give this hobby a shot by all means I encourage you to visit and buy a kit from Brew Craft on Clement St. and 20th. Thanks Jon and I look forward to the smell of hops in our kitchen soon! Here, I am in my brewing outfit with Gregory in his shop. Jon asked me if I had looked that up. Nah, I just had a feeling I should put on my overalls. I’m like Alden Van Buskirk, the poet who sweetly put it as “thinking other than with the mind.” I think Gregory was pleasantly surprised we were matching. Oh, and beware the “barking spider” in their restroom if you do visit!

Notes

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