Men may not have been born with a “gift of gab,” Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis said, but gather them around a keg and, between sips, they’ll start discussing the history of the world—as it pertains to the influence of beer.
Twenty people signed up for a class with Davis and fellow brewer Rob Miller on beer-making at the Dunwoody Nature Center on two successive Thursdays in January. Davis said he’s been brewing his own beer for about 18 years and joked that his tastes grew up as he did.
After Davis shared his own “embarrassing stories” about college beer contests, “back before they had Bud Light,” the students shared their stories and the bonding over beer began.
Alan Mothner, executive director of the Nature Center, said he wanted to host a beer-making class with the mayor two years ago, but construction around the center delayed it. The six-hour beer-making course finally came together just in time to announce it before the end of year holidays, Mothner said.
While Sullivan came from an engineering background, Davis called himself a chemist who “tends to win the chili cook-offs he enters.” The chemistry involved in making beer taste the same time after time is what makes it difficult, he said at the class on Jan. 22.
Brian Sullivan, of Moondog Growlers, poured samples of India Pale Ales and other beers while Davis reminisced about “the perfect circle of life,” where men would bond by talking about and drinking beer while they brewed and bottled more.
Miller told the class that his first experiences making beer made him feel magical. “I just turned water into beer,” he said.