Beer

I discovered "real" beer while on a 3-month language trip in Vancouver, Canada. On a friday afternoon, our teacher took us to the nearest bar to have a beer. As I lifted the glass towards my mouth, I couldn't believe my nostrils... The beer smelled like roses. Fresh, beautiful and lush roses. I later learned that this kind of beverage, called craft beer, had pretty much nothing to do with the kind of pale macro lager you drink (too much of) on weekends. And that's how I fell in love with beer.

Brewing

After brewing a couple of small batches of beer that tasted great, I decided to brew more and sell the beer. That's how, in January 2017, I founded Hoppy Hour, my brewery. I ended up mainly selling to friends and family, but I also managed to get my brews on the shelves of a small local shop.

Even though the beers weren't all that great, I did this for two years before giving up because of severe quality issues. Instead of improving recipes of basic styles and trying to fix issues along my brewing process, I always wanted to try something new and more delicate to brew. But as I brewed in my appartment, things like controlling the fermentation temperature were virtually impossible to do.

Today, the spirit of Hoppy Hour lives on on the door of my beer fridge, where I have stuck the label of every beer that has come out of the brewery. Oh and the instagram account is still live...

Reviewing

After realizing that I had accumulated a fair bit of knowledge about beer and that I was comfortable analyzing many aspects of it, I decided to make videos reviews of the beers I drank and post them on YouTube. The channel is called Just Another Beer Review.

Now, it's no secret that making videos regularly to post on YouTube is a hard thing to do. Add to that the fact that the main subject is beer, which means you have to shoot when you're in the mood for beer, when the time is right for beer, and so on. It's not easy... Furthermore, I found myself trying to exaggerate - or even fake - emotions in order to make the video more entertaining. Obviously, a lot (and I mean a lot!) of people do it on YouTube, but it's just not my thing. I prefer being honest and boring. I thus paused the video reviews.

I started again in 2021. We'll see if I'm able to post regularly, but it's obviously easier in winter as you spend much more time inside. Update: it didn't last long.

Drinking

Last but not least, there's drinking. To me, beer is best enjoyed in a nice glass, with a clear mind, and lots of time. In fact, sometimes a beer lasts me 1-2 hours. This allows it to evolve and unleash its full character.

In January of 2016, I downloaded Untappd, which is a social network based around beer. Every time you drink a beer, you can create a post with a photo of it, a rating, a much more. As of the end of August 2021, I've had more than 1'560 different beers. Yes, it's a lot. But, for me, the goal has never been to drink as many beers as fast as possible. My motto is quite simple: never drink a beer twice. Now obivously, I've had a lot of beers twice or more. But I want to constantly discover new things, see how the styles and the breweries evolve. Drinking the same beer over and over again is so boring to me.

Other

I'm always happy to share my expertise in beer with people that are curious and want to learn more. Even though craft beer has come a long way and is becoming more and more accessible, many people still have a very limited understanding of what it really is. I'm happy to contribute to changing that! Feel free to contact me and ask if you have any questions.