Top 5 Things Making Art and Brewing Beer Have in Common – Observations From The “South City Strong” Mural

South City is thriving, and it has a new star player. Armstrong Brewing is four guys and a gal who got together and decided to put their money on Nick Armstrong’s brewing talents. His talents are many, and many years in the making. As he put it, “I come from a long line of bootleggers”. I come from a long line of tea-totalers, but I couldn’t help but notice that Nick and I were in very similar businesses. Here are five observations on the ways making art and crafting beer is alike:

1. You don’t choose a career in beer making or art making if your goal is to make a lot of money.
2. In the end, it’s all about taste. Not everyone is going to like what you do.
3. An exceptional product requires an “intuitive knack”, developed over time.
4. A technical foundation is extremely helpful even in the “old world” careers.
5. Fans are won over one at a time, from individual positive experiences.

The industrial mural was not without technical challenges for me, including painting perfect circles for the cogs and gears as well as and making clean lettering on textured siding. Stepping back to assess my work was not really an option, so I relied heavily on my yardstick and “intuitive knack.” (See #3 above).

As you can see, the Armstrong Brewery mural is across the street from City Hall, so it will be easy for you to find when you visit, which I highly recommend. Nicks fermentation prowess is confirmed by tasting the product. He doesn’t brew IPA’s (they “wreck the palette”) but he does have IPA’s and cider on tap from local sources. Try a flight, every brew is memorable. See hours below…

Cheers!

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