Olav's perceptions of the role that beer could play in our lives was deeply rooted in his German upbringing. For him, beer is an everyday occurrence paired with most meals. In the US, he was quite surprised with what was happening with craft beer. "In Germany it's a big lager landscape, and some wheat beers. The huge variety that we had 20-30 years ago has given way to a pretty bland selection of similar beers. This is an inspiration here in the US to start something new, and maybe even bring it home to Germany and reinvigorate the beer culture there."

When these two met in San Francisco, first over Craigslist (the internet is awesome) and then more officially over beers, it was Seth that had a vision for what a brewery could be about. He wanted to change people's perceptions of a beverage that's too often seen as "a little rough around the edges."

"When Seth said that to me it really resonated with my own perceptions." Olav said. "Beer is under appreciated. In Germany, all these old styles and old breweries we had in Bavaria were basically pushed aside by a few big players that tried to make beer a very homogenous mass-market product. Seth's appreciation for beer, and knowledge, and desire for the consumer to know about the variety out there — I thought that story needed to be told. The best way you can tell it is by producing the stuff and have a place where you can really celebrate it."