Let’s Do this (Part IV, The Reckoning)

So there I was, brewing big batches of beer, no heavy lifting, a miracle of modern brew-engineering! I was at the James River Homebrewers meeting at Mekong one night (I am now a member of M.A.S.H. now, as they meet at Sergio’s, right across the street from my apartment), and Eric and Patrick, Founders of Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in Richmond, were promoting their soon-to-be-opened brewery.

They brought in kegs of the Singel (a Belgian Blonde Ale), and the RVA IPA- a community hopped IPA. At the end of their talk, they asked for volunteers to help out on the labor intensive bottling line, the tasting room, and any other tasks that needed to be completed around the brewery. Naturally, I added my name to the list along with a few dozen others, so I didn’t expect to hear back.

A few days later, however, I received a call from Brian, the head brewer, asking me to come in the next day. I had a meeting up in Maryland, but promised to stop in on my way back in. After labeling bottles of th

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