Well damn, I guess I haven’t updated this thing in a while, eh?
It’s been a whirlwind since last fall, to be honest: Lagunitas terminated my employment under circumstances I would describe as unfair, and I had to go back on the job hunt again. It was devastating to have the company that once supported my transition so strongly, gradually become a place where I felt unwelcome and unappreciated. That happened around the same time as several other difficulties in my life, which made my winter extremely stressful.
However, my experience and the support of the brewing community ultimately landed me in a far better place: Empirical Brewery, a small but growing company just outside of Andersonville. Instead of being swallowed up by a vast staff, I now work with a small team where I know almost everybody personally. Rather than just being a shift worker, I work alongside one other brewer to create all the beer produced by Empirical, where we’re responsible for every step from ingredient acquisition to packaging. Working for a small company gives me enormously more creative freedom, so I can stretch my brewing legs in a professional context again. Not to mention, my commute has been reduced from a 90-minute train ride to a 15-minute bike ride.
From the moment of the first interview, where fellow brewer Jacob Huston and I were already shooting ideas back and forth, I felt accepted and valued by everybody at Empirical, and every day there only reinforces that. Jacob and I work famously together, and even under the most stressful workloads get things done fast and correctly. I love working on a smaller-scale system again and feeling a more personal connection with every beer I make, especially the way Empirical is set up: We have a 30BBL brewhouse with two 60BBL fermenters and one 90BBL bright tank, but we also have a 1BBL pilot system with five 1BBL pilot fermenters. What that means is that we can brew our flagships and seasonals on the big system, and tinker with new ideas and perfect the old ones on our pilot system! So my creative drive is back in play again, and my problem-solving skills are as critical as ever. Jacob and I are even getting our barrel program started again, putting Cold Fusion Cream Ale and Gamma Ray Ginger Wheat into FEW Spirits gin barrels!
Moreover, Empirical has given me the opportunity to be a bigger part of Chicago’s craft brewing community again, after Lagunitas more or less shut me and most of the other brewers out of participating in it. I’ve gotten to pour at beer festivals, represent the company with the sales folks, and work on collaboration beers with other breweries. The one I’m most proud of is Applebite, which was brewed at DryHop Brewers in collaboration with Empirical and Eris Brewery and Cider House: A 7% saison brewed with cider apple juice and Grungeist hops. Best of all, this was released to celebrate the unveiling of painter Tara Zanzig’s final portrait in her “Maybe It’s The Beer Talkin’” series, portraying women in Chicago’s brewing industry. And that painting just happened to be of me! It’s wonderful to see a transgender woman like me portrayed along with so many other strong women in my industry.
So the radio silence doesn’t mean I’m gone - just that I’m still doing what I love best!