Bierscapes: Creating the Perfect Beer Experience

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2024 issue of Zymurgy Magazine

By Ryan Pachmayer

Creating the Perfect Beer Experience

What’s your favorite beer experience? Odds are it didn’t take place alone on the couch, or at the bottom of a plastic cup. The very best times in the world of beer usually involve great beer, but there’s more to it than that. It’s also about the company you keep and the environment you are in. If you have those three things you might just create a great memory.

Most of us seek out he best beer. In fact, many of us go to great lengths to find the ever-elusive perfect pint. Whether we’re trading boxes of beer with people halfway around the country, flying across oceans on beer-centric trips, or tediously adjusting processes and tinkering with recipes to create our ideal beers, it’s not uncommon to focus on quality beer.

It’s also natural to look for good company with whom to enjoy those fantastic beers. We make friends through brewing and drinking or elevate existing relationships by the addition of beer hobbies.

The third factor, the environment, is often the most neglected. It’s understandable, after all, as you can certainly have a great time with good friends and good beers. But there’s a sort of holy grail when you combine those two with a special place.

Jim Spaulding decided to do just that. Spaulding had been brewing since the mid 1980s, and his backyard shed had become a sort of de facto gathering place for his closest friends. There, he would throw yearly parties, usually revolving around Oktoberfest and winterfest.

Spaulding has always favored classic Continental European beers and has focused his brewing career on English, Belgian, and German styles specifically. When building his brewhouse, he though about the rich history of these beers and how some of his favorite commercial producers originally made (and in some cases still do make) them.

“My wife has been pretty damn supportive over the years, but if I were knocking down walls inside our house, I’m pretty sure she’d want some details on that project first,” says Spaulding. So, he focused on the spaces outside of the living quarters.

Access the full article in the January/February 2024 Zymurgy magazine.

This article includes the following homebrew recipes: