Compadres Before Competitors:
This past Saturday we were fortunate enough to bring home a Gold Medal at the Texas Craft Brewers Cup for our Vienna Lager (Freudian Slip N’ Slide). I won’t lie to you - It feels good to win! But the bigger truth is that none of us got into the industry to win medals… We got into it to have fun, brew some beer and be a part of the most amazing community the world has to offer- the beer community.
Whether its GABF, World Beer Cup, or TX Brewer’s Cup you go in hopeful - but not just for yourself… For all of your friends too. Because you know that if anyone in your inner circle wins - it’s going to be a WILD night. (And last Saturday was no exception)
I remember talking to a friend in the industry a while back who said, “If you win a medal it means you brew great beer, but if you don’t win a medal… It does NOT mean you make bad beer. It’s stiff competition out there. So just be happy to be a part of it” Wiser words have never been spoken… Okay wiser words probably have been spoken, but still - you get the point.
Saturday evening, the room at the award ceremony was E-L-E-C-T-R-I-C!!! Category after category went by as the tension grew with each beer name read… Until finally some of our closest friends won a medal (Pondeseta Brewing Co. - go check them out they brew killer beer). The night would indeed be a WILD one.
Then more of our SA Friends medaled (Freetail, Kunstler, Dorcol, Ranger Creek, Alamo) - the night was about to get even WILDER! I jumped up in joy shouting some “less than family friendly” expletives of excitement… San Antonio REPRESENTED!
The night was winding down and to be perfectly honest, with only a few categories left to be announced we thought all the beers we entered had come and gone… Then....”Gold Medal goes to Freudian Slip N Slide”
We had forgotten about our beloved Vienna Lager, and the next five minutes went a bit black. I can’t say I remember walking up to the stage, or high fiving people, or trying to exit the stage the wrong way… But there are photos to assure me that it happened haha
Flash forward to the after party at Hold Out Brewing and I am sitting next to one of my best friends in the industry (S/O to you Rey) when we both just smiled at each other with joy - not just for ourselves but for one another on getting our first “Bolo Ties”
That’s the moment I’ll remember most when I look at the Gold Bolo Tie that is now hanging on our dog at the brewery - the moment of joy shared amongst my fellow brewers that night. It didn’t matter who medaled or who didn’t, it matter that we celebrated TOGETHER!
Special shoutout to DeuxSouth Creative for the photos.