Two more down, plus some news

June 3, 2008

So, the short story is that I didn’t get the Best Brews Intern position.  The long story is that I got screwed out of…something.  Here’s what I wrote, cross-posted from my main blog:

I’ve been writing about how I was one of the finalists for the Best Brews Summer Intern position and how I was going to fly to New York to interview with the Chief Beer Officer as well as the Sheraton executives, and I’ve been waiting patiently for my phone to ring with details.  I even called them five days after receiving the phone call and asked for some details since, well, it had been five days and I still hadn’t heard anything, and the PR person I’d been incontact with said she’d have to call me back.  That was May 7th.  It’s been two and a half weeks, and I hadn’t heard anything.  I got a UPS envelope delivered last week with a copy of my background check, so I figured things were just moving slowly.

Imagine my surprise, then, when Hanne discovered that the Best Brews Intern website (which I will not link to from this blog) was updated with the four finalists.  Four people, none of whom are me.  Wait, what?  Wasn’t I explicitly told I was one of the finalists?  Wasn’t I outright asked “What are your plans next week?” when first called to tell me I was one of the finalists?

I have been taught to be as professional as possible when dealing with others, and something like this smacks of amateur hour.  Or just corporate bullshit.  Not even a fucking phone call to say “Well, we decided to go with another candidate, but thank you for your video submission” or “I’m truly sorry, but there’s been a horrible mixup.”  Not a peep.  I found out second-hand.  I would have found out for myself when I checked the website the next day, but the fact that I didn’t get a phone call, email, or letter telling me as such (and I know they have all three of those since they’ve used two of them twice apiece) reeks of the worst kind of shenanagins.

I sent them an email very politely bitching them out and trying not to make it sound like sour grapes that I hadn’t gotten chosen, but rather that I was upset that they’d told me I was going, and then neglected to correct themselves when the opposite proved true.

So, that’s that.

My first two batches of 2008 bottle conditioned as well as could be expected, and both were quite delicious.  I’ve been lazy about posting my recipes, so once I have my notebook in front of me I’ll get around to that.  The chocolate chili porter turned out to just be very porter-y, and the other ultra-hoppy beer turned out to be a whopping 8.5% ABV and was quite good.  I brewed two batches after them, a wheat ale and a hoppy pale, and I’m looking forward to trying both.  The wheat wasn’t quite the color I’d hoped for, and it also wasn’t as cloudy as I expected along the lines of a hefeweizen, but I’m sure it’ll be good.  The pale ale was delicious right out of the fermenter, and I think it’ll be a great light, crisp summer ale.

I sold a few miscellaneous items I don’t need, and the funds from the sales will go towards purchasing the first of the equipment I need for all-grain brewing, which I intend to get up and running by the end of the year.  First up is a wort chiller, which I could actually use now with my extract brewing.  Next will be a mash tun, I believe, but I have my heart set on a 10-gallon Rubermaid cooler as a mash tun, but I don’t have the know-how to mod it into a mash tun with a false bottom, spigot, etc.  Why the cooler?  Temperature control.  A cooler will require fewer temperature adjustments during the mash to keep the grains at the proper temperature.  There’s a place I could buy one from online, but it’s $30 just to ship it to me.  Who knows?  It might be worth it.  That leaves just a hot liquor tank, sparge arm, mash paddle, and some high-temp tubing, and I should be set.  Plus, I’ll need at least a 32 quart stainless steel kettle and a propane burner capable of boiling that amount of wort.  After the wort chiller, I’ll still have a few hundred bucks worth of equipment to buy, but it’s largely a one-time investment.  I hope.

I’m off tonight to the Green Dragon for the Meet the Brewer night with Bridgeport Brewing.  I aim to get myself a mug full of Stumptown Tart, personally.

Posted in Beers, Brewing, Pubs