Jeff 绿色 ’97 had the time of his life at 州立鲍灵格林大学, 无论是在校内还是校外，他都将这段时光总结为“非常愉快”. He majored in environmental science and tended bar at Junction Bar & 他在大学期间一直在做烧烤.

Both played significant roles in 绿色 becoming the proprietor and brewer for the Very Nice Brewing Co. 在科罗拉多州的尼德兰，距离丹佛大约一个小时的车程. 在Junction酒吧工作的时候 & Grill, he always thought a good name for a beer would be “Very Nice Beer.再加上他作为环境科学家的专业知识, 主要是博天堂官方网站水质, and it was only a matter of time before his two passions came to a head — in this case, 泡沫重重的脑袋.

绿色, 在凯特林长大的人, 俄亥俄州, 代顿城外, 他搬到科罗拉多州后就开始喜欢精酿啤酒, 一个处于行业前沿的州, in 1999.   

“I had had craft beer prior to moving to Colorado — Red Hook and some of the bigger craft brewing companies like Fat Tire from New Belgium Brewing Co. — but not until I got to Colorado did I begin to see the diversity in craft beer,他说. “我会说不. 1 beer that turned me on to it all was from a brewpub called Mountain Sun in Boulder.”

绿色 started hanging out with a brewer who owned Wolf Tongue Brewery in Nederland who taught him how to brew his first batch of beer. 

“那, 我是在多年的家庭酿造中学会的, and basically one of the things that made having my own brewery possible was the craft brewers in this state are so genuine and willing to answer questions and let you come in and watch them brew and even brew with them,他说. “I brewed with one guy for several months and toward the end I literally was doing as much work as an assistant brewer would.”

在格林成为酿酒师之前, he worked as a quality engineer and field engineer with pharmaceutical companies and then an instrument company that measured water quality.

“An environmental science degree is heavily based on water chemistry, so with my degree from BGSU I had to take a lot of biology and organic chemistry and chemistry in general,他说. “The study of water and its attributes all has to do with brewing beer, and, obviously, the No. 1 ingredient in beer is water, so knowing a lot about water still to this day comes in very handy.”

格林开了一家非常好的酿造公司. in 2012, and he feels fortunate to have opened at that time, rather than trying to start out now.

“It was a good time because I was never really passionate about water quality for the production of intravenous drugs, 但我对啤酒很有激情,他说. “加, I wasn’t getting any younger and didn’t want to be 50 years old throwing around these huge kegs of beer. Because when you start out, you pretty much do everything yourself. It wasn’t a situation where I was going to be able to hire a bunch of people to do those things. 尽管我在之前的工作中并不痛苦, 所有的因素都表明，这是一个尝试的好时机.”

Plus, the craft beer climate in Colorado was a little more forgiving at the time. 

“One of the things I’m thankful for in 2012 is there was still a lot of grace that beer drinkers in Colorado were willing to give you, knowing that you were just starting out and still had to refine yourself as a brewer,格林说. “从那以后，我酿酒的能力有所提高. You do something a thousand-plus times and you end up getting really good at it — anyone would. I’ll be the first to admit that where our beer is now certainly isn’t what it was at the beginning, 但我现在会把我的啤酒和任何啤酒对抗.

“我不确定宽限期是否还存在. There are so many craft breweries out there right now that you really have to come out with your ‘A’ game. What was great about back then was people were willing to grow with you and give you constructive criticism. I’m so thankful for taking the step when I did because wanting to do everything yourself now, 你会有一段艰难的时光. Most breweries opening these days usually have a proven brewer in the brew house as opposed to a very passionate guy who was into homebrewing but didn’t have a lot of commercial experience.”

Very Nice最受欢迎的啤酒是其旗舰品牌印度淡啤酒, 皇家印度淡啤, 这是格林最喜欢的电影之一吗, “大勒博斯基.”

在电影中, 勒博斯基把“高贵的我们”指的是我们所有人, 这就是我对印度淡啤的感觉, 它适合各种印度淡啤酒的饮用者,他说. “到目前为止，这是我们的答案. 我是卖家，我酿造的酒最多.”

格林最喜欢的啤酒, 然而, 不是国际淡啤, but a style that benefits from Very Nice’s location in the Rocky Mountains and in Nederland.    

“我最喜欢的啤酒总是奇怪的啤酒，”他说. “在山上, we have an herbalist who we work with and that has accounted for some really strange beers with all sorts of herbs — everything from yarrow, 柠檬香蜂草和新鲜采摘的玫瑰果到艾草, 苦艾酒的主要成分是什么. Those are my favorite beers because they are so interesting and they really push the limits of people’s palates and what they’re used to tasting.”

Nederland “is a very strange town,” but 绿色 can’t imagine living anywhere else.

“我们有《博天堂官方网站》日，这是我们的第一天. 我的节日在这里，”他说. “Nederland is known for having the vibe of a town of free-thinkers. 所以在自由思想者的范畴里有各种各样的人, 不仅仅是嬉皮士, 但是有很多艺术头脑. 任何时候都可以来我们的酒吧, we’ll have two or three artists’ work displayed — everything from photographers to painters to people who work with patterns. 它也是一个非常独立的城市，也是一个非常适合居住的城市. It’s filled with eclectic people and mostly a bunch of peace-loving people who congregate together here and have a really good time.”

The town vibe has encouraged 绿色 to find the artist within himself, 这是他认为自己作为酿酒师所做的事. 

“I think a lot of brewers consider the most fun part of what they do is creating the beers themselves, 的食谱,他说. “我肯定会说，这就是我变得有艺术感的地方. 我真的不会画画, 我不会写诗, 唱歌或演奏乐器, so brewing is where I get to access that part of my brain that gets to be creative.”