So today was a very long day. Longer for Wayne than for I, but then Wayne is a 'Bama boy and made of sturdier stuff. There was lots of little stuff popping up today. Parts to order, purchases to mull, labels to process. Just lots of stuff that needed to get done. Plus I had to run a batch of taphandles out to JJ Taylor because they had run out. A good thing. But lots of running around. Then my buddy Dan The Cheese Man stopped by late int he day along with Jay the Welder and we had a regular gathering of the The's. Then Jeremy, Wayne's good buddy from Alabama who recently brewed at Auburn Ale House, but is in the process of opening his own brewery in Alabama stopped by. Lots of geeky beer/equipment talk ensued along with a tad bit of beer drinking. But, I had to leave to drop off yet more taphandles...though I went to the wrong place, but that is another story........

So I just got home at 8:05 PM and checked my email and I have 50 unread emails in the hour since I last checked! The first was a forward of a newsletter from International Bier Garten, a new multi-tap beer-focused bar in Lutz. In many ways the folks at International Bier Garten are kindred spirits, because they too had to jump through a lot of hoops to get open. But they did finally get it done.

So I get a newsletter from them and what is the feature of the newsletter, a review of Maduro Brown! I believe it was taken from Beeradvocate and I'll spare you the details, because the real point was.....holy crap this brewery is actually open and we are actually making beer. And people are drinking it! You'd think after nearly 2 years of planning I'd be used to the idea, but it is still somewhat surreal. Yet, the knowledge that Wayne and my efforts are all about making and selling beer.....well it is just cool and makes even the hectic days seem a blessing.

It all just reminds me that life is all about perspective and lately my perspective is very much colored byt he fact that I get to work alongside a very talented, creative brewer toward the goal of making beer. It really does make the longer days seems exciting rather than draining.