When I was a young and cheeky teenager, my dad thought it wise to train my taste towards beer. He figured it was much safer to have a cheeky teenage daughter who loved beer as opposed to something a little more dangerous. And so began my intense relationship with beer, a hobby which has seen me transition from my studied trade of Biology into managing a craft-beer shop in the heart of Berlin. But beer to me is so much more than a wonderful beverage to indulge upon; it is also the product of complicated biological and chemical mechanisms which includes the production of short sugars from the break down of carbohydrates which yeast then metabolises into alcohol and carbon dioxide which, give or take, was incredibly similar to what I was teaching my senior Biology students back when I was teaching in a secondary school (without the beer references of course!) Science! Indeed, beer is science!
In 2013 my love for travelling the world saw my relocation from Melbourne, Australia to Berlin where I couldn’t help but continue on with pursuing my beer brewing hobby. I got right back into brewing, and was fortunate enough to win a homebrewers competition in Berlin Beer Week 2015 which allowed me to brew the winning beer in a large scale and subsequently supply the beer to craft beer bars and restaurants Berlin wide. Since then, my former hobby has now become my full-time profession. I manage Bierlieb, a craft-beer shop in Friedrichshain which also runs regular homebrewing and craft-beer tasting seminars (in which I occasionally get to host, allowing me to utilise my teaching). Bierlieb also stocks homebrewing equipment and ingredients, so I am still surrounded by new or more advanced hobby brewers regularly. I am incredibly passionate and excited about the craft-beer climate in Berlin and it thrills me to witness its rapid evolution.
Cristal will also join our Bierkränzchen at Braufest Berlin 2016. Come and meet her!