News travels lightning fast these days, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the blogosphere was tipped off that we had hired Jim Cibak as our brewer even before it was official. For those who don't know Jim, he is not normally someone you would associate with lightning fast news or internet gossip. He's a warm, genuine and painstakingly accurate kind of guy, and yes he is a South Sider if you couldn't figure that out. I mention all that because he is going to bring the same painstaking commitment to the brew kettles when we fire them up in a few months. He's already helping to finalize recipes for our first brews and select suppliers of hops and barley.
Jim and I used to work together at Goose Fulton in the early days of that brewery. He did all the hot side brewing, and I was a cellarman, minding the yeast and fermentation tanks. He went on to work at Three Floyds and then at the award-winning Firestone Walker on their extensive barrel-aging program. Most recently he helped open Crown Brewing in Indiana.
Sorry for the snowy picture Jim. That's what happens when you use a flash in a dark dusty building, which is what we have at the moment. When not crafting recipes, Jim is helping to sweep up that dust to get our doors open this fall.