How a Hobby Became a Job for One Long Beach Home Brewer
Homebrewer Brian Cockle is one of those lucky people whose hobby led to a paying job. A member of Long Beach Homebrewers and a brewer since 1996, Brian works at Stein Fillers in Long Beach, California. “I initially responded to a general e-mail from the previous manager about a part-time position at the store and started working Saturdays to gain a greater exposure to brewing. The discount was nice too. He ended up taking a position with another company last fall just as I was looking to move into a less stressful job and we basically swapped spots.”
The job proved to be a rewarding one for Brian. “I like it when customers come in looking to brew particular beer and we come up with a recipe for it and a few weeks later they come back and say the results were fantastic.” Recently, Brian stepped down as full-time manager but he still handles purchasing for the store.
Brian’s own foray into brewing began with an inauspicious attempt to make beer while he was still a student: “When I was in college my roommate picked up a cheap ‘brew-in-a-bag’ Porter kit from the local discount store. We were living in the dorms at the time, and it looked simple (i.e., just add water). We fermented it under the bed and it turned out to be the most vile thing ever.” Nevertheless, Brian continued to pursue brewing: “Even with the failure, I was intrigued and I started researching homebrewing more and found a store not too far from us. About that time we moved into an apartment, so I drove up there one afternoon and found a “real” equipment kit. That batch turned out much better.”
Major improvements to Brian’s technique came when he made the leap to all-grain brewing and gained mastery of temperature control. “It is important to be able to dial-in the temp you want your beer to ferment at to minimize any unwanted characteristics you could get from fermenting the beer at too high of a temperature.”
A third improvement was increased attention to sanitation. Brian says that problems with sanitation are among the most common issues customers to Stein Fillers face. “Focus on your sanitizing routine and make sure that ANYTHING that is going to touch the beer after the boiling process is done has been properly cleaned and sanitized. No-rinse sanitizers such as iodophore and Star San are preferred.”
Other advice Brian would give to beginning brewers includes: “When working with extracts, try not to sweat the details too much. As long as you end up with 5 gallons in the fermenter (a standard homebrew size), your alcohol levels and such are pretty static.” He also says to make sure to let the “beer age long enough before tapping it. It seems the beer is the best right when the last glass is poured from the keg.”
Anyone interested in learning more about Brian’s brewing can visit his website at http://thecockles.com/
