I get excited every time I’m in someone else’s brewery. It’s their home, and I get to watch them work. Brewers become so intimately familiar with the personalities of their environment—how the flow should feel, the sounds that are OK (and the ones that aren’t), the smells of the mash, the way it looks when every valve is where it’s supposed to be. Ultimately, these familiarities are what make the experience magical. In that moment, they’re creating and giving birth to a vision.

Brewers believe that this vision is worth all those long hours, sore joints, and endless recipe tweaking. And they look forward to that vision manifesting in a glass, not to mention the smiles that follow.

This is Brendan Prindiville tending to the mash of a Tree House Brewing Company/Creature Comforts Brewing Co. Saison. Brendan and I worked on this beer together last September. Just last week, after a 10-month slumber in French oak puncheons, the beer was bottled. Now it's making its journey through the bottle-conditioning process, finding its way. It was an honor to spend a day with the Tree House folks and witness their magic. I can’t wait to taste our vision.

—Blake Tyers