About brewvana

brewvana

(broo-va’-na) 1. The ineffable ultimate in which one

has attained disinterested wisdom and compassion;

2. An ideal condition of harmony, beer and joy

What the heck is brewvana? And is it possible to get there? Likely not. But the aim of this blog is to explore the area just at the edge of this lovely little place where we are approaching wisdom. Where compassion is the rule, rather than the exception. Where harmony and joy include handcrafted beers right alongside family time.

Centered on the role of beer in a good life, I’m here to encourage a better understanding of this ancient beverage, so integral to so many cultures, but so often scoffed at in the US. This view is changing, but it’s a slow process to move from beer as Alcohol Delivery System to beer as an artisonal craft.

Back in the old days, I drank a lot of beer. I was underage and irresponsible. I could have been killed so many times. Thankfully, I lived to tell about it, though I don’t run around telling about it all the time. War stories and whatnot. But I also don’t have a single regret. I truly value that time. That’s who I was and where I was. A few years later, I developed an appreciation for good food watching the Frugal Gourmet on PBS and cooking in restaurants during college. That turned to an interest in the possibility that beer was better than Milwaukee’s Best Light. Right around the time that craft breweries were popping up in earnest. A little experimenting and I decided that once I secured my first “real” job after college I would begin homebrewing.

That’s exactly what I did. In 1996, I started teaching English on the Navajo Reservation in Northern Arizona. We unpacked our stuff and headed for Flagstaff to stock up on supplies, which included my first extract kit–a German Altbier. Gene at Homebrewer’s Outpost was a big help in those first two years. Later, we relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina, and, sick of washing bottles, I began kegging as I continued to hone my brewing, my stylistic knowledge, my palette.

Here I am, many years later, starting to know what I’m talking about. I’m Certified BJCP judge, have ventured into barrel aging and sour ales and have won some awards–a mighty satisfying feeling. I quit my job as director of a crisis intervention program to pursue my true interests–beer. Life’s too short not to have a beer job, I decided. So I went to work for The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Farmville, North Carolina’s Dark Beer Specialist. The beers are great. If I had to have a monogomous relationship with one beer, it would surely be the Duck-Rabbit Porter. Luckily, I don’t have to commit to a beer like I do to my girl. One girl, many beers. Belgians, Wee Heavies, Russian Imperial Stouts. Those are my favorites. Now, I own a restaurant in Corning, Iowa called Electric Burrito. We do Mexican food and, yep, craft beer.

And while the primary subject herein is beer, it’s really about life. Love. Family. Building a better culture. A better attitude. Start with your family. Take care of your spouse. Love your kids madly. Don’t get so caught up in your job. Don’t get so caught up in golf. Don’t shop at strip malls or fast food joints. Don’t make your kid do 10,000 activities. Don’t worry if they don’t win. Teach them to lose. Say no to them. You’ll be glad you did. And so will they.

Back in the old days, we drank a lot of cheap beer. But the old days are over. I’ve learned from mine. These days, it’s quality, not quantity. With any luck, I’ll help cultivate a better beer culture, one based on education and responsibility. Role modeling and appreciation. How do you want to live? I’m working at living well, wise and content, somewhere near brewvana. Come along…

J. Wilson

More About Wilson, the guy, not the brewvana site:

If you want to get a little further into my head and the preferences therein, I’ve disposed of the “Favorite Pages,” the ones that listed my favorite books, movies, bands, breweries and beers. I put them up in the early days of the site so readers could get to know my influences, whether Zeppelin, Shakespeare or Rodenbach. I still think those tidbits are worth hanging around, so I’m tucking them in here:

Favorite Breweries:

New Belgium, Unibroue, Duck-Rabbit, Dogfish Head

Favorite Styles:

Wee Heavy, Russian Imperial Stout, Dubbel, Belgian Dark Strong, Porter, Saison, Flanders Red, Old Ale

You know I won’t be able to stick to only a “top ten.” But here are some of my all-time favorites, to date, in no particular order.

La Folie, New Belgium

Traquair House Ale, Traquair House Brewery

The Reverend, Avery Brewing Company

Nostradamus, Caracole

Rabid Duck Russian Imperial Stout, The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery

Midas Touch, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

La Maudite, Unibroue

Rodenbach Grand Cru, Rodenbach

Worldwide Stout, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Duck-Rabbit Porter, The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery

Old Stock Ale, North Coast

Wisconsin Belgian Red, New Glarus

Expedition Stout, Bell’s Brewery

NOTE: There’s no way I’ll get around to updating that stuff–they’re the beers on my mind when brewvana began, but I’ve had some new “wow” beers since. Read the site and see my growth…

Bands and musical influences…

Led Zeppelin, there is none higher

AC/DC

Izzy Stradlin and the Guns N’ Roses

John Lee Hooker

The Doors

Gillian Welch

Old Crow Medicine Show

Rage Against the Machine

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Willie Dixon

Flogging Molly

Everclear

Johnny Cash

A smattering of some of my favorite books, in no particular order:

How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill

A Season on the Appalachian Trail, by Lynn Setzer

We Die Alone,  by David Howarth

Roots, by Alex Haley

Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain

Self-Reliance, by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everett Ruess: a Vagabond for Beauty, by W.L. Rusho

Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown

Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer

The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway

Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose

Faith of My Fathers, John McCain

Affliction, by Russel Banks

Light My Fire, by Ray Manzarek

Hammer of the Gods, by Stephen Davis

The Complete Works of Shakespeare, by William Shakespeare

The Late Mr. Shakespeare, by Robert Nye

The Last American Man, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Desert Solataire, by Edward Abbey

It’s Not about the Bike, by Lance Armstrong

High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby

Lotsa good movies out there. Here are a few of my favorites:

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Smoke Signals

High Fidelity

Shakespeare in Love

Tarnation

Looking for Richard

Strange Brew

Swiss Family Robinson

Napoleon Dynamite

Romeo + Juliet

Desperado

Sling Blade

It’s a Wonderful Life

Forrest Gump

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Cool Hand Luke

Pulp Fiction

Usual Suspects

The Blues Brothers

Grumpy Old Men

School of Rock

Misery