On Empathy (6/11/19)
In Justin Moyer’s essay on creative writing and being empathetic or as he puts it “kind” to the reader you learn about the fact that when writing you must keep your audience in mind. Do they know what you know? Do you know what they know? The answer to both of those things is almost always no. So you must describe what you’re writing about in understandable terms. You must break it down “barney style”. That’s not to say you should treat your reader like their stupid, but you conversely shouldn’t make them feel stupid for not knowing what you know.
My Profile Essay (6/11/19)
For my profile essay I plan to profile the owner and head brewer of Black Warrior Brewery. I love beer so I think it will be an interesting topic and one that’s personal to Tuscaloosa with it being a locally owned and operated brewery that’s been massively successful so far. I’ll research the intricacies and history of brewing and the science behind making beer. I need to learn more about starting a small business and advertising/marketing.
My Profile Improvements (6/14/19)
I still need to come up with an engaging title, write about another 900 words, write a strong conclusion, and insert six sources… In short I have quite a bit left to do. I’ll work on adding those six sources first and see how many words that gets me.
Andrew’s Life (6/14/19)
“I wish I would have known I was going to grow six inches my senior year of high school.” Andrew says, had he known he would have attempted to play division one college basketball. Sports was a way of life for Andrew, winning the Texas State Football Championship his Senior year of high school, an incredible achievement in the state of Texas where god, family, and football dominate the way of life. Andrew’s role model is his father Craig who taught him everything he knows about how to be a man. To be dependable and to be a man who does what he says, when he says it. His father was the person who taught him his love of sports, tossing the ball from his youngest ages and taking him on weekend hunting trips in the south Texas desert hunting mule deer. Andrew is a happy guy, a sarcastic remark always on the tip of his tongue to bring the mood of the room up. Andrew currently studies business, not exactly sure what he wants to do but he knows he wants to own some land in south Texas where he can enjoy the outdoors and spend time with his own family one day, teaching his own son to hunt. These days you can find Andrew outside playing a pickup game of basketball no matter the heat, cracking wise remarks and being a generally happy guy.
A Realized Dream (6/17/2019)
Jacob R. Myers
Mrs. Wyatt
English 102
13 June 2019
A Realized Dream
“It started as a joke with some buddies while on a camping trip: We should open our own brewery.” This was how the idea to open Tuscaloosa’s own Black Warrior Brewery was born with co-owner and head brewer Jason Spikes and his two friends, Joe Fuller and Eric Hull. Black Warrior and other local breweries have trailblazed the path for Alabama brewing following the efforts of organizations like “Free the Hops” which has led to a change in how Alabamans drink, what they drink, and where they drink.
If you were to visit Black Warrior Brewery tonight you’d be met by the sweet aroma of the brewing process; the yeasts reacting to the sugars, the scent of the hops and grain heaps, you’d likely be met by the sound of a local artist singing some tunes, playing a guitar, or even playing some impromptu melody on overturned five-gallon drums. You’d see the ornate wood-work of the bar and taps, of which Jason “does not miss sanding down for hours upon hours.” You’d be welcomed by the friendly bar-staff and the regulars who are always up for a conversation of any range. The walls are dotted with tasteful Alabama memorabilia, both historic and current. You might try something sweet like the tangy “Apricot Blonde Ale,” which goes down with a nice carbonated finish, or you might go with the “Broad Street Brown,” a darker beer for those who prefer a slightly more bitter beer. Regardless of your preferences or tastes Black Warrior has a beer, or wine, for you.
Fig. 1. Spikes, Jason. “Beer Taps.” Black Warrior, Web. 7 Aug. 2017.
“It wasn’t easy at all at first… There were a lot of tough conversations we had, could we do this? Were we crazy? Were we going to ruin ourselves financially tossing money into a hole?” Jason recounts the rocky beginnings of Black Warrior. There were long, long stressful nights where Jason and his partners had to figure out everything from the actual brewing process, to the legality of doing so, and distributing that said beer. There were lots of moments when Jason was ready to tap out and cut his losses, the endeavor too difficult or a fool’s errand. Jason credits his mother for him not giving up, telling stories of how she was always supporting him in any endeavor he pursued, how she would give him the little nudge he needed no matter the problem that allowed him to get back on his feet and persist. He lost her to cancer in 2010 but thinks she’d be proud of what he’s built. That she’d be “just tickled pink” to see her son running his own business. Thankfully for all Tuscaloosa locals Jason did persist and has created one of the more successful breweries in the southeast and helping to give Tuscaloosa some of the credit in the Alabama craft beer revolution.
Jason, Joe, and Eric were all working rather mundane financial sector jobs that paid well but were not satisfying. They were connected by their shared love of home-brewing on the weekends which at first “mostly led to watered-down frothy amber colored liquids that only resembled beer.” But they loved the process nonetheless, eagerly sharing what every attempt they had been brewing for the last couple of months with each other, giving each other tips, and perfecting their art. First they’d malt the barley, soaking it in water which starts the germination process, they’d then take that malted barley and put it in hotter water to activate the enzymes that break down the starches into sugars, then they’d boil it, in this stage adding all the flavors of beer, the hops, the spices, the fruits, and following that it’s fermented, where yeasts are added to eat the sugars which created the alcohol and fizz in the beer (American institute of physics). Favorites such as the “Apricot Blonde” were originally contrived in Jason’s garage during this infancy stage of his brewing career. The idea to actually pursue opening a brewery of their own came about during a yearly camping trip the brewing trio took in the Spring of 2011, they were sitting around a campfire enjoying the craft beers that they had homebrewed and came up with the crazy idea to get paid for the hobby they loved and a short 2 and a half years later their dreams were realized with the opening of the brewery we see and love today just off of University Boulevard with its iconic “Black Warrior” sign with the black always moving forward arrow underneath.
Black Warrior and Jason make it a point not only to brew and sell the finest craft beers, they also do their part in giving back to the local community. Once a month the brewery puts on what is known as “Pints with a Purpose” an event extremely important to Jason. “It breaks my heart to think that kids might go hungry at any time. I hope we help in some way to make sure kids have something to eat, that they might have some hope.” Pints with a Purpose is done in partnership with Ales to Fight Hunger which is an organization whose only goal is to provide healthy, delicious, and easily stored foods for Alabama children over the weekend when they aren’t in school where a large percentage provide free or reduced food. Black Warrior encourages customers to give $5 or more at the door with the express and clear intention that these donations will go directly to Ales to Fight Hunger and the Secret Meals for Hungry Children organizations. Secret Meals delivers more than 2,000 of these food packs to kids local to Tuscaloosa and they are continuing to grow. School counselors and teachers identify the tell-tale signs of hunger in the children and puts the meals into the children’s backpacks while they are away at lunch or recess, sparing the children of any shame or bullying that comes with receiving “free” food (Tuscaloosa News).
Along with Black Warrior, Tuscaloosa is home to Druid City Brewing, named in honor of the giant oaks throughout the city of Tuscaloosa which shade the sidewalks giving people a reprieve from the constant blazing summer sun, and the ancient Celtic tribe who worshiped those same oaks all those years ago (953TheBear). Jason and Druid City head brewer, Bo Hicks, who has an amazing name for a brewer, trade tips and tricks to perfect their craft beers. They also trade the occasional friendly barb about who’s beer is better, who’s brewery is trendier; Black Warrior with its woodwork and tasteful décor and Druid City with it’s always popular and changing chalk mural, currently an homage to the Alabama Crimson Tide women’s softball team; however, the two primarily work together to help bring the Tuscaloosa craft beer scene to Alabama prominence.
None of this would be possible were it not for the efforts of grassroots organization “Free the Hops” whose campaigning, lobbying, and protesting led to the passage of the Gourmet Beer Bill which successfully “legalized” craft beer in the state of Alabama in 2009 by allowing craft beer to contain an alcohol by volume (ABV) of up to 13.9%. Before the passage of this bill craft beer could not have an ABV percentage greater than 6%. Perhaps more importantly Free the Hops led the drive and advocacy to pass the Brewery Modernization Act. Before the passage of this act in 2011 there were zero brewpubs operating in the state of Alabama due to overburdensome laws such as the “80 seat rule” which required a perspective brewpub owner to have the ability to feed 80 patrons which was economically not feasible to focus on both doing what they loved, brewing beer, and running a kitchen of that size. Additional laws required brewpubs to be located in a “historic building or area” as well as in an area “which historically had a brewery prior to prohibition,” severely limiting the opening of new locations. Lastly the Brewery Modernization Act allowed Brewers to sell beer to-go to customers if they liked something they tried, as well as buy craft beer at stores if properly packaged, before beer lovers were required to enjoy their craft brews exclusively at the place of production. In 2016 and 2017 Free the Hops opposed and publicized information that Alabama legislators were attempting to require breweries to collect information on customers such as name, address, phone number, and amount of purchase, a clear overstep of people’s privacy. These efforts were overwhelmingly quashed both times following massive public outcry (Free the Hops).
Work from craft beer advocacy groups like Free the Hops and tenacious local brewers and entrepreneurs like Jason, has led to a “beer spring” across the state of Alabama with more than 60 breweries opened throughout the state from Huntsville to Birmingham to Montgomery, and even Tuscaloosa. These Alabama breweries distribute their beer across the southeast supporting local economies and providing Alabamans with a place to gather with friends, share stories and laughs, and enjoy a nice cold beer or two.
Works Cited
Spikes, J. (2019, 15 June). Personal interview.
Fig. 1. Spikes, Jason. “Beer Taps.” Black Warrior, http://www.blackwarriorbrewing.com/story. 7 Aug. 2017.
Madison, Kimberly. “Strange Alabama: Why Is Tuscaloosa Known As ‘The Druid City’?” 95.3 THE BEAR, 22 Nov. 2015, 953thebear.com/strange-alabama-why-is-tuscaloosa-known-as-the-druid-city/.
Staff Report. “Black Warrior Brewing Co. to Host Ales to Fight Hunger Fundraiser.” Tuscaloosa News, 8 Mar. 2014, http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20140308/black-warrior-brewing-co-to-host-ales-to-fight-hunger-fundraiser.
Madison, Kimberly. “Strange Alabama: Why Is Tuscaloosa Known As ‘The Druid City’?” 95.3 THE BEAR, 22 Nov. 2015, 953thebear.com/strange-alabama-why-is-tuscaloosa-known-as-the-druid-city/.
Free The Hops. “Advocacy.” Free the Hops, 13 Feb. 2019, freethehops.org/mission/advocacy/.
Profile Reflection (6/18/19)
Writing the profile essay so far was definitely the most difficult so far from the technical perspective. I struggled tying in sources relevantly. I was good with describing and using detail. I also struggled with meeting the word count until I started trying particularly hard on sourcing.
