Of Trains and Training

When I got hired as MudHen Brewing Co's assistant brewer, I knew I'd be a proverbial bridge between the brewery and the pub, but also between the brewery and the public. It's why I've stayed behind the bar and why I'll be out and about at festivals - when we start doing the festivals thing again.

A while ago, Tony handed me a thick booklet of how to put together a training program for brewpubs. The goal, of course, being to implement an actual standardized training for our FOH staff. It's been long in the making, and the final manual is still being compiled by yours truly.

I've never had to come up with a training manual on my own. But with a background of having been a floor trainer at a big sports bar in Midtown, Atlanta, and an assistant manager a small pizza pub, I figure I can do this. Easy! It's just a matter of trying to find the appropriate materials and passing along the right information.

Some of the tips I've found include taking staff on field trips to visit hops farms and bakeries. Intriguing ideas, but our staff is so rotational due to the seasonal nature of the location that something a little more basic is probably better.

We'll begin holding a weekly mini beer school to ensure the basic information about beer gets passed to all staff. I'm excited to be leading this endeavor as some of my new assistant brewer duties!

I Really Miss Beer Fests

It's surreal to think that my last beer fest was over a year ago. I'm sure I don't speak for myself when I say we were all optimistic that by this past August, we'd have things under control enough to at least hold smaller fests, if not ones the size of GABF. And yet, more than an entire year after 2020's Philly Craft Beer Fest, things are slowly starting to manifest in the way of events and festivals.

It'll be wild to be among throngs of people again, trying new beers and having old favorites; introducing people to MudHen beer and connecting with others who have a passion for beer.

Already on the docket for 2021 is the local Wildwood Farmer's Market every Saturday from Memorial Day Weekend to Labor Day Weekend. We're also signed up for AC Beerfest (this will be my first one), the Beer BBQ Bacon Showdown in Morris Plains, and the Battleship New Jersey.

Keeping my fingers crossed we'll be at GABF again so I can say hello to some of my other favorite breweries across the nation.

In the mean time, hope to see some of you at beer fests in New Jersey!

Boats Out

In case you haven't caught on to the naming conventions of the beer we make at MudHen Brewing Co., a lot of it has to do with the ocean and general features of the island. Ryesing Tides, Holly Beach Wheat, etc.

Today, we canned - for the first time ever, our White IPA Sea Tiger. It's single-hopped with Citra and fermented with Belgian Ardeness yeast. It's almost like a hybrid between a wit-style beer and a hazy/juicy IPA. A warm-weather favorite, we plan on keeping this on tap and on shelves for a little while longer than some of our other brands.

Stop into the brewpub this weekend to grab a 4-pack for you (and possibly your friends if you're planning to have a safe post-vaccine hangout). It may not be summer with this winter weather in the forecast, but Sea Tiger will help usher in the warmth.

Besides, how gorgeous are these cans?

Makes me wanna hop on a boat and ride the waves, despite the chilly air! More likely, it'll get drank in front of the backyard firepit this weekend.

Cheers!

Full Taps

Well, it's only March and here we are with full taps ready for the throngs of weekend shore-goers as South Jersey slowly warms up and we transition into Spring.

Freshest on our line-up is the Ryesing Tides IPA (formerly known as Y Not Rye). A personal favorite - and one I've missed over the past year - you can catch me enjoying it on tap and in cans (for sale in the brewpub and around South Jersey).

And if you've been craving something wildly different from the usual IPA line-up, why not try the Wee Heavy Wilson? A Scotch Ale with a significantly peaty and earthy aroma imparts a shockingly smooth malt sweetness on your palette. I will go ahead and say I hate Scotch whisky. Like, it's up there with Jaegermeister for me - undrinkable. But this Scotch Ale is perfectly drinkable.

We also have the bourbon barrel aged version of it on tap for a very limited time and for in-house consumption only. The bourbon infusion masks a good bit of the earthy aroma, and it developed that malty sweetness into a borderline whiskey flavor. It barely tastes like drinking a beer, so if bourbon whiskey is more your style but you really want a beer, ask for the Barrel Aged Wilson. It's around 10%, so if you plan on having more than one, pair it with a smoky barbecue platter or a Peanut Butter Explosion dessert (or both, really). You won't be sorry!

Lastly, for all of you looking for something sweeter that isn't as strong as a Belgian Tripel, don't worry. We'll have the Fruitie Patootie back on tap in time to enjoy some Springtime sunshine before the real summer crowds flock down here.

One Year Anniversary

Today, March 1st, marks my official one year of being Assistant Brewer at MudHen Brewing Co.

Sure, I only got about four days in the brewery last year before most of the country shut down, but it's still the date I officially got to clock in as Assistant Brewer. Now that the vaccine is getting distributed, I'm optimistic that we can keep the ball rolling because there's still so much I have to learn.

I'm feeling a little nostalgic, so let's recap the past year, shall we?

March 1st, 2020 - my life pretty much changed instantly. I'd been in talks with Tony about helping out in the brewery for a couple of months but it hadn't really sunk in. My spouse was excitedly introducing me as the "new assistant brewer" pretty much every where we went, which made me kinda... shrink into my seat. It's not that I wasn't ready, I was! I just wasn't sure if I'd be any good at it.

Looking back, that seems ridiculous. I have an amazingly great teacher and I'm building more confidence with every task as the weeks go by.

March 15th, 2020 - my life changed again. I got texts from both bosses about shutting down "until further notice" and nobody really knew what that meant. Cape May County didn't see its first positive cases until April. GABF and AC Beerfest had already been canceled/postponed, and the beer Tony and I spent an entire day bottling for WBC went to make hand sanitizer. The entire world flipped upside down and I'd barely begun my new job! I had no clue what to expect.

May/June 2020 - I was called back in to work to help out with Take-Out and Delivery. Shifts behind the bar, I poured beer and made cocktails for take-out only. I spent my days in the brewery with Tony mostly cleaning growlers. When he decided to stop recycling used growlers, I followed him around with a notebook and pencil, taking detailed notes of every tiny thing he did for larger tasks, like racking. Cleaning lines and kegs were some of the first things I could do without supervision (with a permanent marker reminder on my forearm to turn on the glycol for the lines the first few times I did it). Racking wasn't too far behind.

The whole summer was insanely busy for us back there and before I knew it, we were celebrating Oktoberfest weekend here at MudHen - and had a brand new canning line!

The fall is a blur, honestly. I know I was alone in the brewery once or twice doing things, which signaled that Tony really trusted me to do what needed to get done while he went up the road to get yeast or whatever else he needed to do. Being alone back there doesn't happen often, yet. I'm glad he feels comfortable enough to leave me alone to complete certain tasks.

Wintertime sped by with the pub remaining busier than ever before, and here we are already back in March! One year into a pandemic and it's still just the two of us back there, chugging away; canning and brewing and racking. Rinse. Repeat.

I can't wait to see what the next year brings, especially with my newer duties as Assistant Brewer and more time spent on that side of things.

Cheers!