Interview with Weyerbacher’s Dave Lorenzo
It’s been far too long since DTEIY’s last interview (which was with Hugh Sisson from Clipper City). Today’s ten questions are with Dave Lorenzo from Weyerbacher Brewing Company. A mutual friend introduced us at the last Beer Advocate Beer Fest, and I recently caught up with him via email. You can find this brief bio about him at Weyerbacher’s page:
Dave Lorenzo was born and raised in Red Bank, NJ. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing. Dave has been a homebrewer for the last 8 years. Beginning in 2003, He was employed at a brewpub in Denver, CO for a year and a half. It was there that Dave decided to pursue a career in the Brewing Industry. Now employed in an entry level position in Weyerbacher, Dave is looking forward to learning all aspects of the trade. Right now he is currently the Co-holder of the Weyerbacher bottling record (91.1 cases per hour).
Dave’s favorite Weyerbacher beers include (but are not limited to) The Eleven, Double Simcoe IPA (gotta love those delicious Simcoe hops), Hops Infusion, Blithering Idiot Barleywine and the Quad. When not at Weyerbacher, Dave can be found watching sports, drinking great Weyerbacher beer, attending beer festivals, and traveling wherever he can on weekends. If you see Dave at a beer festival representing Weyerbacher, feel free to stop by and say hello!
However, that really doesn’t say much about the real Dave, so here’s the penetrating interview. If you have any follow-up questions for a man who’s truly in the beer trenches, then leave a comment and I’ll forward the question to him. Bostonians should be able to meet Dave (and others from Weyerbacher) at the 4th Annual Extreme Beer Fest on February 9 and 10.
1. So what exactly do you do at Weyerbacher? Can you describe a typical day?
At Weyerbacher, I’m responsible for many tasks on the production side of the Brewery. There is a whole variety of tasks that I do in a given day whether it is bottling, kegging, or other various tasks. My main responsibility is bottling the beer.
I’m not too sure if there is a such thing as a typical day. On the ideal day, I would come into work at 7 AM. I would get the kegs cleaned and ready to be filled. From there we would fill however many kegs that are needed. After that, we would bottle whats left in the tank for a certain beer. This usually would take most of the morning. The afternoon could be spent getting ourselves ready for whatever bottling run we have to do the next day, or we could even stretch another run in the afternoon. Once that is all done we would clean up, and do my favorite part of the job “Quality Control/Marketing Research”. The quality control part includes tasting our beer and voicing our opinion on it. If we have to do marketing research, we would taste beer from another brewery and discuss what we like and dont like.
2. What drew you to Weyerbacher? And how did you get your job there?
I moved to Easton, PA in September 2005 to be closer to my family and friends. At that time, I was interested in pursuing a career in brewing, so I thought I’d send a local Email to the local microbrewery. They eventually interviewed and hired me. I always believed in the concept of “Support your local Brewery” so I was drawn to a lot of the beers that Weyerbacher made, and I wanted to be a part of what they were doing.
3. How did you get started in homebrewing?
Actually, I started when I was 19 in college. I realized that at that age that I was able to get the ingredients for beer and make it. It seemed like a better option than getting an ID. The first beer I brewed was absolutely horrible, I thought that adding more yeast would give it more alcohol (I later found out I was dead wrong on that one). I also fermented it in a 90 degree apartment I lived in at the time. A few years later, I moved to Denver and learned what I was doing wrong and tried my hand at brewing again. Luckily, I was able to correct my previous mistakes and make some beers that I’m pretty proud of.
4. What did you do at that unnamed brewpub in Denver, CO?
I worked at Rock Bottom in Denver (The original one). It was there that I was able to become friends with the brewers and pick their brains on how to make some good beers. I was a server there which was great. It was one of the busiest restaurants in Denver, and I really enjoyed bringing great fresh beer to our customers. Some of whom didnt quite understand what a microbrew was, and I took great pride in being able to open their eyes to this unknown thing.
5. How has Weyerbacher been affected by the recent turmoil in Pennsylvania breweries, e.g., the buyout of Rolling Rock and Pittsburgh Brewing Company’s bankruptcy?
You know that’s a great question, I’m not too sure that it has affected us all that well. Those breweries are huge breweries that we really don’t have much interaction with. I used to live in the town next to Latrobe (former home of Rolling Rock), and I really feel for the town of Latrobe. I know that they were really proud to be the home of Rolling Rock, not too mention all of the jobs that were lost. I just hope that someone can put that great brewery to use.
6. What’s living and brewing in Easton, PA like?
Easton, PA is a really great small city. It has a small town feel where everyone knows each other, yet you still have many things accessible to you that you’d find in a city. If anyone reading this is ever there, I’d highly recommend checking out Which Brew. It is a great bar that does an amazing job with their beer selection. Working in a brewery here is great. Eastern Pennsylvania is starting to really assert themselves as a region that has some great beers (Weyerbacher, Troegs, Victory, Yards, etc.). I am very happy to be a part of it.
7. What’s your favorite Weyerbacher beer and why?
That’s such a tough question! It’s almost like trying to pick favorites on your children. All of our beers have distinct qualities that I enjoy on any given day. Our Hops Infusion IPA, is a beer that we have worked really hard to perfect and I really like how we have been able to get a well balanced beer, with an aggressive hop profile, but isnt too harsh on the palate. Our Blithering Idiot Barley-wine is what opened my eyes to our beer. The Brewmaster at Rock Bottom Denver, said that a good barley wine is like drinking liquid candy, and I think we’ve been able to achieve that! Our Insanity (Blithering Idiot Barley wine aged in Oak Barrels) is one of the most complex enjoyable beers that I’ve ever had! The Double Simcoe IPA really does a great job in showcasing the next big thing in Hops, The Simcoe Hop. The Simcoe Hop is a high Alpha Acid hop (gives great Bitterness) but is low in Cohomulone (makes it less harsh). Using nothing but Simcoe hops, you are really able to taste the piney resiny characteristics that exists. Don’t forget that it is 9% and has great residual sweetness to balance those hops.
8. What do you drink if you’re not drinking beer?
I like a lot of different things. Growing up in an Italian family, I learned the importance of a great red wine with dinner. I also really like single malt scotches. Sometimes I’ll even drink Makers Mark.
9. What advice do you have for other entry level folk looking for a brewing industry job?
IT’S NOT EASY!!! Prepare to suck up your pride and do all kinds of tedious jobs all through out the brewery. I believe that it truly is a labor of love. I’ve heard of stories of people with Masters Brewers Certifications that join breweries doing the worst of jobs. If you are a home brewer, don’t go in thinking that you know everything there is to know. I learned real quick that what I learned as a homebrewer was nothing compared to what there is to know. If you go in with a willingness to work hard and an open mind to learning new things, then it can be a very rewarding experience.
10. How in the world did you singlehandedly bottle 91.1 cases in one hour?
Can’t say that it was something I did single-handedly since It takes 2 people to run the machine. One thing I learned from bottling beer is that there are so many factors that go into it. If one of them is slightly off, then you can find yourself in a lot of trouble. The day the record was broken, Jean (my co-worker) and I were able to get everything dialed in just right. The Head Pressure (pushes the beer from the tanks to the bottles) was set just right, the Labels were sticking (they are not easy to get right) and the temperature of the beer was low enough so that the CO2 in the Beer was staying in solution! It was a great day in Weyerbacher bottling history.
December 14th, 2006 at 12:01 am
For the record, Dave also makes a mean margarita!
And he is certainly a friend of Belgians. A friend of Belgians is a friend of mine. :o)