If you told me back in 2015 if I would end up working in beer then I wouldn’t have believed you. This was the year of my first Indy Man and I was promised a trip to see the Coronation Street set in exchange for visiting the festival with my partner, Josh. After dragging Josh around the Corrie set and getting a photo of myself pulling a pint behind the bar at the infamous Rovers Return, we headed off to the The Victoria Baths. I wasn’t sure what to expect and my experiences of beer prior to Indy Man were uninspired macro lagers and flat bitters.
As soon as we entered The Victoria Baths I knew I was entering another world. An excitable hum of chatter bounced off the green tiled walls and ringed through the corridors of fish mosaics, opening out to the magnificent pool rooms filled with bars from breweries from all over the country. It felt overwhelming, and as I scanned the blackboards I was amazed by the different styles that were on offer. Fruited IPAs, Sours, Barrel Aged beers, it was like the sweet shop of the beer world. Then there was something that caught my eye, a Tzatziki Sour from Mad Hatter Brewing Co. I loved Tzatziki but it was a greek dip – not a beer! Josh encouraged me to try it so dubiously I took a sip and it was like a bolt had struck me, a light bulb switching on, an epiphany had happened. How did I not know that beer could be fun like this? I knew from this point I was falling down the rabbit hole into Wonderland and that I wanted to know more about beer …
Fast forward to today and I am now working with Lost and Grounded Brewers, in a role that is a exciting new challenge in my life. The 2015 me was just beginning to explore the possibilities of beer, eager to try as many different styles as I could. I wasn’t even sure how people got jobs working with beer! I decided to start my blog in 2016 as I wanted to be able to communicate more about beer as well as champion local breweries.
In the same year an opportunity to learn more opened up as a local micro pub hosted workshops from The Beer Academy (now The Beer and Cider Academy) to qualify in the preliminary Beer Sommelier exams. Having completed the courses I looked at preparing for the final exam but as time went on, and I worked my day job at an opticians, I’d lost my confidence but continued to enjoy beer as a hobby.
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It’s funny how life can steer you back onto a path and you certainly never expect it to happen during a world wide pandemic. Being furloughed gave me time to learn new skills, I started sewing, began a sourdough starter as well as enrolled in the first cohort of Natalya Watson’s Virtual Beer School™. Originally I’d signed up as a way to help me pick up where I left off with my Beer Sommelier preparation as well as meet weekly with like minded people at a time where everyone were fearful of each other. I didn’t intend on taking the Level 1 Certified Beer Server exam let alone study for Level 2, nor did I expect to come away with such an amazing group of friends from our VBS study group.
After completing my Certified Cicerone qualification I always hoped I could use it as a stepping stone into the world of beer but I didn’t know what my role would look like. Would I have my own bar or pub or brewery? Earlier this year the opportunity revealed itself and after being their unofficial fan girl for a few years, I joined the team at Lost and Grounded Brewers. Thoroughly thrown in at the deep end during a busy festival season meant I didn’t have time to let my feet touch the ground but I’ve loved every minute!
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It is here the story comes full circle as I stand at the bar at Indy Man Beer Con 2022 but this time on the other side, pouring beers and representing a brewery I’ve admired for so long. Indy Man has been a huge influence in my beer journey and will continue to do so in the future, but I will always remember Mark Johnson’s comment that I should “blame fucking Ken Barlow” for first getting me into beer!
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