Drunk On Obsession

Eugene Micro Brewer turns his hobby into a career.
By: Cassadie Jerdin, Nick Bynum and Lizzie Stapleton

When asked what being obsessed means to him, Scott Sieber, the head brewer of Falling Sky Brewery in Eugene, Oregon, replies that he knows he’s obsessed when he is constantly thinking about something and when it is always on his mind. In this case the thing Scott constantly thinks about is his career of brewing excellent beer.

According to Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace Report1, only 30% of people feel inspired and engaged at work and actually enjoy what they do showing that most people in the United States feel little to no attachment to their career. Fortunately, Scott falls into that 30% as he managed to turn a fun and rewarding hobby into a successful career at Falling Sky Brewery. Scott admits that being obsessed with the craft and final project may lead to the success and even says that every beer brewer has to be at least a little obsessed with the work that they do. One coworker of Sieber, JJ Nelson, explains that even without a personal obsession, “you have to be a little meticulous too because of the quality control aspect of it. You’re dealing with bacteria that you don’t want in your beers so you have to clean everything really well between batches.” According to Nelson, aside from the physical process the love of the taste of beer and curiosity of the difference between flavors is what leads to obsession because of all of the questions and research that is necessary. Whether it is the milling, filtering, fermentation, or taste, Sieber lets us in on his opinion that the secret to great beer is letting it take over your life and even seep into your dreams at night.

As a botanist with a degree in horticulture, Scott first became attracted to brewing his own beer while over at a friend’s house in college. Scott remembers wondering what was bubbling in the bucket in the corner of the room and when his friend replied that he home brews his own beer, Scott decided home brewing would be his newest hobby and began to learn the craft that year. One year later Scott decided to drop his horticulture major and moved to Eugene where he worked jobs as an apprentice or assistant at various breweries around the city but consistently held onto the goal of emerging in the professional world of brewing.

Moving to Eugene turned out to be a step in the direction of Scott’s goal as the state of Oregon is a popular place for renowned breweries. According to Oregon Craft Beer 6400 people in Oregon work in one of the 161 breweries in the state of Oregon as of this past week raking in nearly 3 billion dollars annually. In Eugene specifically there are ten breweries including Falling Sky brewery on 13th and Oak where Scott Sieber is the head brewer. With all of the microbreweries in Eugene, in addition to the various clubs and festivals, JJ Nelson explains that the community “feeds itself”. Between the people tasting or pouring, the amount of people in Eugene who are knowledgeable about micros makes it “an amazing place if you’re lovin’ the beer.”

Sieber’s journey to head brewer was a rocky one including unpaid apprenticeships, and even lay offs but eventually he came together with a few others to lay out the business plans for Falling Sky which now has three locations in Eugene including a home brew supply store.

Although he claims to be a, “very very small co-owner amongst the four main owners” Scott proves his obsession when he admits he manages to squeeze in a 24 hour work day by dreaming of yeast at night and spending the day cleaning, prepping, and crafting a great product.

When asked what the lead brewer position entails, Sieber replys, “A lot of sweat and work” and based on the amount Falling Sky cranks out weekly it is evident how physically challenging the average brewing task can be. Right now Scott spends a work day in the Falling Sky pub where he moves 55 pound bags of malt grain up and down stairs and into a milling machine and extracts healthy sugars from yeast to begin the fermentation process. Between batches, Nelson explains that it takes about three weeks to brew beer. The first two are all fermentation, which is a tedious process of re-racking the batch on and off of the yeast. The last 10 days is when priming sugar is added to combine with what little yeast is left and creates carbonation.

According to Scott, the hard work is worth the end product. He says that seeing people enjoy his final product and witnessing the good times facilitated by the beer is his favorite part of the job. Of course the science and experimentation along the way is enjoyable, but when it comes to forever linking Falling Sky Indian Pale Ale to a good laugh, Scott believes that is what he loves most about his job.

Taking a look into the world of micro brewing shows that this is more than just a job for brewers. In order to take one sip of a micro beer, it takes a finicky process that requires hands on work and the thoughtful care of a brewer who really knows what he or she is doing. Tasters may notice the malty or bitter taste, or how hoppy it is. None of this is by accident, all flavors, colors and consistency of a micro is a product of much research and planning from the start of the batch. In many cases, the brewer gets their job from what begins as a hobby and when their curiosity grows beyond their home, brewing can become quite a demanding life work. Our group went out to find someone with an obsession for beer, what we found is that in order to be a successful brewer, obsession is the first requirement for the job.