1)      How does it feel to come back to Florida to brew?

A) When I landed my first real commercial brew job it was in Tallahassee. This was around 1998-99. When 2000 rolled around I was able to capture a silver Medal at the World Beer Cup for Strong Scotch Ale, a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival for Strong Scotch Ale and a bronze medal for English-style India Pale Ale at the Great American Beer Festival. This was mind blowing for me, being the new guy. I had never even competed in the Great American Beer Festival or the World Beer Cup and here I was taking home medals the first time around. Now, I am coming back with much more experience than I had when I started out in Florida without the restraints of corporate America. I would say that I feel liberated and much wiser than I was back in 1999 and I am looking forward to bringing my creative talent back to Florida in the form of great beer.

2)      Are you familiar with the Tampa Bay area?

A) I have been to Tampa for the Best Florida Beer Championships back in 2002. It was my first time in Tampa for this particular event. I took home a gold medal for my Strong Scotch Ale and a silver for my ESB. One place that I make sure to stop at is Tampa Bay Brewing. I love the food and the beer. It is nice to be able to get a cask ale(especially back in 2002) at any brewpub or establishment period for that matter. Tampa seems to be rich in culture without the mad rat race feel of Atlanta. The majority of my time spent in Tampa was mainly in Ybor so I would say that it will take me some time to find my way around the city.

3)      What do you think about the current state of craft beer in Florida?

A) I think that craft beer in general is on the up and up. The public is getting tired of Hamburger Helper for dinner every night and it shows on the shelves of the grocery store. We are seeing more specialized products everyday in our supermarkets. Whether it be chipotle lime instant rice to sushi being prepared on site for you to conveniently take away. The consumer is telling craft brewers that they are bored to death with what has been considered the bland status quo for so long and they are embracing the culture of craft beer as a result. We are moving into a craft brewing market that is growing faster than it ever has in American history. As a brewer, the only thing that we face in opposition to this consumer movement is increased cost and/or shortage of raw materials to produce great craft beer. 

4)      Where do you see craft beer in Florida heading in relation to say Georgia or North Carolina?

A) Since I have spent the last 15 months in North Carolina I will start with it first. North Carolina is unique since it doesn’t have the three tiered law(law which states that the manufacturer can’t be the distributor). Self distribution allows North Carolina breweries to have more control over their product. This alone allows the smaller breweries to be more profitable and gives them an opportunity to make a better impression on the public by pulling their own out of date stock, cleaning their own lines and pushing their own beers. Another nice thing about NC is growlers. As far as legislation is concerned, it would be nice to see the public lobby to try and change some of the laws in Florida so that the smaller breweries can self distribute and the public can purchase growlers from a pub or micro. As far as microbreweries are concerned in the state of Florida…I think that Cigar City Brewing will be a welcome addition to the state.   

5)      What kind of things can we expect to see from Cigar City Brewing with you at the helm?

A) I plan to produce aggressive/complex examples of high gravity beer as well as experimental/specialty Belgian-styles and traditional examples of classic styles with my own little twist on them. If the year renders me hops then I would also like to make several hop bombs before the end of the year.

6)      Are there any specifics styles you are interested in producing and if so which styles and why do they interest you?

A) I am really interested in Belgian-style specialty ales for their allure, complexity and all the wonderful byproducts that Belgian-style yeast produces. I also enjoy sessionable IPAs that still retain malt character under the barrage of multiple waves of layered hop components. My interest in IPA stems from my love of hops and blending different varietals to create not just palate destroying bitterness but depth and complexity. I can drink a super aggressive IPA and be just fine but the ones that I truly enjoy always have some sort of malt backbone. Finally I would say that it would be nice to put lagers in the hands of the Floridians. I love German-style lagers for their maltiness and balance. Very few countries produce lagers of German quality and for that matter there aren’t enough full flavored lagers being made in the state of Florida. Hopefully Cigar City can change that.

7)      There are very few brewers in Florida that bottle high gravity beers? Do you think there is enough appreciation for these styles in Florida?

A) Most definitely there is a market for high gravity beers in Florida. I don’t plan on releasing an Imperial Stout in the middle of a Florida summer but I wouldn’t have any objections to holding product back until next year. I have seen very few breweries put together a vertical set of a single brand. Can you imagine being able to buy a 3-5 year vertical of Bigfoot or any other single annual production high gravity. It would be remarkable. I think that the main thing about beer in general is that you have to suit the season with your limited release high gravities. A helles bock might suit Summer better, a strong Scotch ale for Fall, an imperial stout for Winter and a Belgian-style Trippel for Spring. It just makes sense to follow the season.

8)      You worked for Foothill's brewing, a relative newcomer to the scene, but already a highly respected, medal-winning brewery. What did you learn at Foothill's, or in your past brewing jobs, that you can incorporate at Cigar City Brewing?

A) I think that the main thing that I have learned is that you shouldn’t compromise. Don’t water down your product or produce one just to suit the masses. Produce a product that you would enjoy. If you wouldn’t enjoy it then why would someone else. Usually my standards are higher(at least beer wise) than most of my friends so it is hard for me to pacify my own taste. So much so that it sets the bar to a level that might take me years to reach through slow recipe development. The beers are never bad they just don’t quite have this one little thing that I am looking for. I guess you can compare it to Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy but with beer instead of women.

9)      Describe what it feels like to get an opportunity to be the head brewer at a start-up brewery. What do you intend to do with that creative freedom?

A) Challenging and an exciting new beginning. An opportunity to have the brewery be positioned/designed exactly the way that I would want it versus coming into an awful situation and blaming it on someone else. I have an opportunity to make it right the first time around and then all I have to do after that is make good beer and follow through. I am looking forward to getting my feet wet from the ground up, from designing the recipes all the way to the bottle label. It will be nice to watch the business grow from inception to wherever it takes us to with our fans.

10)   What things do you see in the current craft beer scene that you like? What do you dislike?

A) I guess if I must complain about something it would be the scarcity and rising cost of raw materials. And I really enjoy seeing the diversity of beers being made today. All the different barrel aged beers, wild beers, experimental beers to just strange beers. I skateboarded for years when I was younger and as time has passed it just amazes me at how much the sport has progressed. To the extent that I could no longer hold a candle to any of these guys. The name of the game is adaptation. If you don’t adapt in time then you become extinct…the Darwinian aspect of life in general.

11)  What beer style is underrated or underexposed? Which ones, if any, are overrated/overhyped or overexposed?

A) I guess that I am fairly tired of the whole double IPA fascination. If I am having 7-10 ounces of one that is fine on occasion but for the most part I like more session oriented beers. Then again, it is all about what season it is and who I am entertaining. Again I will go back to lagers. There are so few flavorful lagers being produced in this country let alone Florida. I would love to see that change. Here are a few more for you to think about…Southern English-style Brown Ale, English-style Dark Mild and Belgian-style Single(if it doesn’t exist then create it…sounds like a great Summer beer to me).

12)   You were responsible for preparing cask ales at Foothills. Will we see cask ale from Cigar City Brewing?

A) I would love to release casks out of Cigar City!! The main thing would be finding people to support our cask effort. Casks come in a couple of sizes. There are pins which are 5.2 gallons and then there are firkins which are 10.4 gallons. If we could acquire a small amount to start off with we could test the waters. I would love to supply casks to pubs with beer engines but if it came down to it then I would love to have cask events at the tasting room at Cigar City(provided we are licensed correctly).

13)   Foothill's recently created a lot of buzz when they offered a limited release of 500 bottles of their Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout. Would you like to offer similar limited release beers at Cigar City Brewing?

A) I would love to do this. It takes time and public interest to put together releases like this. I think that if we had a good response to a limited release then we would consider handling it differently in years to come. I have to admit that I was a little disgusted at seeing people selling limited release bottles of Sexual Chocolate on eBay for $125 each. I understand where Tomme Arthur is coming from yet I still have to admit there is something that intrigues me about the human animal.