Durham, N.C. – Brooks Hamaker, former Head Brewer and Vice President of Brewery Operations for Abita Brewing Company, has accepted a position as Head of Operations for Durham, North Carolina-based Fullsteam Brewery. Immediately after Christmas, Brooks will relocate from New Orleans to Durham to work for the startup brewery, which will open in the spring of 2010. Brooks is Fullsteam’s third employee, joining president Sean Lilly Wilson and brewer Chris Davis.

Brooks Hamaker has been involved in the craft brewing revolution almost since its inception. He joined Abita Brewing Company in 1988, growing the company from fledgling startup to one of the nation’s largest and most successful craft breweries. As Head Brewer and later as Vice President of Operations, Brooks was charged with the dual task of encouraging and managing rapid growth. He was wildly successful, taking Abita from a few hundred barrels of beer to 35,000 barrels a decade later. Brooks also created and developed a number of Abita recipes — most notably, Abita’s flagship, Turbodog.

Following his tenure at Abita Brewing, Brooks brought his experience and know-how to breweries worldwide, constructing and operating brewing operations in the southern United States, Mexico, Ireland, and Hong Kong, as well as consulting for a number of U.S. breweries and brewpubs.

Brooks is a well-regarded food, beverage and travel writer who has appeared in many regional and national publications, including the New York Times, Chile Pepper, Offbeat, and the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Salon.com recently appointed Brooks to the Salon Kitchen Cabinet, where he serves as the online magazine’s resident beer expert.

“A total boon”
Fullsteam founder and president Sean Lilly Wilson is very excited about this new hire. “Brooks brings incredible experience and brewing know-how.” Wilson said. “But he’s by no means a know-it-all. Brooks thinks we’re on to something in our mission to craft a distinctly Southern beer. Who better to explore this concept than the former head brewer of the South’s largest brewery? Hiring Brooks is a total boon for Fullsteam Brewery.”

Brooks first tasted Fullsteam’s esoteric “Southern agricultural beers” at the 2008 Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium in Oxford, Mississippi. A year later, Fullsteam returned to the SFA to offer up a few more samples, including Sweet Potato pale ale and a Scuppernong sparkling ale. It was at this recent gathering that Brooks learned the brewery was close to breaking ground, but that it needed an experienced operations manager to help grow the venture from vision to reality. “Sean and I talked a week after the event,” Brooks recalls. “The rest, I hope, is the beginning of a great history.”

“A year from now, we’re going to stare at each other and ask, ‘How can we be having this much fun?’”

Brooks’ first task includes helping to move and install Fullsteam’s 15-hectoliter brewhouse to the new brewpad at 726 Rigsbee Avenue. He’ll work with brewer Chris Davis to help fine-tune the brewing system and scale brewery operations in anticipation of a spring launch. And he will attempt to explain why he prefers cake to pie.

About Fullsteam Brewery
Durham, North Carolina-based Fullsteam Brewery seeks to answer the most interesting question that’s never been asked: What is Southern beer? Our experimental “plow-to-pint” beers showcase and support Southern farms by brewing with seasonal ingredients, heirloom grains, and local botanicals. We also craft traditional ales and lagers through our “Workers’ Compensation” series. The Curious and Skeptic alike can follow the brewery’s progress and discover upcoming sneak previews at www.fullsteam.ag, on Facebook (/fullsteambrewery), or on Twitter (@fullsteam)!

Contact
Sean Lilly Wilson, Founder and Managing Member
Fullsteam Brewery LLC
726 Rigsbee Avenue, Durham, NC 27701
(620) HOGWASH

–not what is but what if –

Brooks Hamaker

We poured Fullsteam, Sweet Potato, and Hogwash! for a modest but enthusiastic crowd.

Takeaway #1 was that the smokiness of Hogwash! is pronounced on its own, but subdued when paired with Carolina barbecue.

Takeaway #2 is that our Sweet Potato beer pairs surprisingly well with naner puddin.

Many thanks to Gary Cole, Executive Director of the Theater of the American South, Barry Page of the Arts Council of Wilson, and to Sandra Homes of the Wilson Visitors Bureau, all of whom made our participation possible! And thanks to Amanda and her team at The Pit! You guys rock!

Here are a few more pictures of the evening, and a shoddily-produced video by yours truly.

I was deeply honored to be a part of the four-minute “I am a craft brewer” movie, a skunkworks project of Greg Koch at Stone Brewing Company. The film premiered at Greg’s keynote speech for this year’s Craft Brewers Conference in Boston.

(For the record, I’m the guy with the borderline-obnoxious paisley jacket in front of a bunch of tanks in storage. Prepare for the burn in your eyes at around 0:25.)

Greg and the team at Redtail Media worked tirelessly not only on this video, but all the interactive elements that went into the keynote presentation at the craft brewers conference. It was quite the presentation. Considering all the interactive elements in the speech, it was truly amazing that they all ran so flawlessly.

“I am a Craft Brewer” showcases OUR heroes in the beer world. I believe Fullsteam was the only brewery-in-planning with a role in the video. I’m both honored and sheepish about this fact. We have a lot to learn and a lot to prove in the years to come. But you better believe we’re even more educated, invigorated, and inspired having attended another incredible Craft Brewers Conference. And, of course, having the opportunity to play a small role in the “I Am A Craft Brewer” movie.

One part of the film that I was a bit torn on was the “adjunct” part. You’ll notice one section about not putting rice or corn in beers. While of course you read the script as handed to you, I also mouthed a few tongue-in-cheek words about “not putting rice or corn in our beer…except for that Southern Rice and Corn beer we’re talking about doing someday.” And for that matter, our sweet potato beer is an adjunct, as 25 percent of the fermentables come from the local vegetable and not from imported grain.

I also was hoping for a blooper clip, especially for the scene where I told 32 and my friend Adam that I wasn’t ready to start reciting the script. I proceeded to pinch my nipples and told them, “Okay, I’m ready now!” (To clarify: that was to break the ice and generate laughs on-set and not some kind of fetish of mine.)

In all seriousness, we sincerely hope that whatever you do — and whatever your dream may be — this video helps charge you up just a bit more. Sure, we’re living the dream as we gear up to launch a brewery. But among us are dreamers of a different dream. What’s yours?

Cheers!

I Am A Craft Brewer from I Am A Craft Brewer on Vimeo.