Beer and Coding in Eugene’s Penultimate Beer Survey
Section 1 – Getting to Know You
1. Hello, my name is: Pete Ricks
2. I get my paycheck from: Brewery owners get paychecks? When did that start happening?
3. I have been working there for: 4 years
4. My official title: is CEO, Brewer, Bottling Technician, Forklift Mechanic, etc.
5. Before working there, I: Pounded on a piece of plastic in the IT world for about 20 years.
6. My old stomping grounds are: I was raised in Idaho but lived in Arizona for over 20 years, which is where I learned to brew. It is nice to be back in the great Northwest, land of the greatest beer in the world!
7. When it comes to sports, I would sacrifice a goat to ensure a victory for my team, the: Arizona Cardinals.
8. My stupid human trick is: Pulling a 20 hour double brew day followed by a grueling bottling session the next day on 4 hours sleep.
9. My arch-nemesis is: Crappy light beer. There is more malt and hops in a single bottle of Black Flag Imperial Stout than any 30 pack of crappy light beer. Cheaper too!
10. If a movie about my life were made, my character would be played by: Bigfoot.
Section 2 – All About Beer
11. I got my start if craft brewing by: Homebrewing. I went to the Back Patio Brewing Academy for around 12 years before I started Beer Valley Brewing.
12. The last beer I drank was: Leafer Madness Imperial Pale Ale – 2009 Fresh Hop. I think it is peaking right about now.
13. I drank it while I was: Watching the Arizona Cardinals lay the wood to the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football.
14. When I head down to the river for the day, I fill the ice chest with: Gone Fishin Mild Ale, the best fishin beer on the planet.
15. Around the brewery, it makes me cringe when I hear: Bottles hitting the ground because then its time to play janitor.
16. If by some means; perhaps the result of a bet that went too far; I was forced to live out the remainder of my days drinking only one style of beer, it would be: 4IPA
17. If I could serve God any one beer that I am responsible for, it would be: Black Flag Imperial Stout
18. If I could serve God any one beer that I had no hand in creating, it would be: Dark Lord.
19. The beer I created which is embarrassing enough that if given the chance, I would bury in a New Mexico landfill; alongside all those unsold copies of E.T. for the Atari 2600 is: No embarrassment here! It would definitely be Black Flag Imperial Stout because it was born in New Mexico at Santa Fe Brewing while we were building Beer Valley Brewing in Ontario, Oregon.
20. For people who are interested in working in the craft beer industry, my nugget of wisdom is: Start brewing. Nothing beats learning by doing!
I want to mention that Pete is the first brewer to proactively contact me. He send me an e-mail letting me know that he had checked out beerandcoding.com and asking if I had tried either Beer Valley’s Fresh Hopped Black Flag or Leafer Madness at the Eugene Fresh Hops Tastival.
I let Pete know that I did try both beers, and both were fantastic. I am drinking Black Flag in the picture from my write up of the event.
Thank you Pete for stopping by and taking part in the survey.
Cheers!
Kevin