Here we are! This was a long dream coming. March 15, 2012 in Princeton, NJ to be exact. That was the first time I brewed on my own with my own equipment. It was an India Black Ale, an extract kit I bought at my local home brew store. (Shout out to Joe from Princeton Homebrew). I had wanted a pumpkin ale kit but couldn't find one. So, I realized early on that if I wanted to brew the beers I wanted I couldn't rely on kits, I was going to have to graduate into "All-Grain" brewing right away. A second kit (Rye Pale Ale) and I was ready to jump in with both mash paddles (I had one, it was made out of plastic) into All-Grain brewing. It was an American Saison and I loved it. My own beer had opened my eyes to this style and I was hooked on brewing. 2 all grain brews later (Jewish Rye Bread Ale and a DogFish 90 minute clone) and I finally made that pumpkin ale. (It was ready to drink in early September, I'm pretty sure some pumpkin ales were in the stores)
Fast forward to 2018 I found a co-worker who also brewed, Alex Sierra. Alex was a huge turning point and I can honestly say Bull N Bear would not have existed with out him. We talked about brewing and the different beers we liked as much as we talked about our stock picks. We brewed together in my garage in perhaps one of New Jeresy's coldest and windiest nights. After that night we actually started looking into what it would take to open a brewery. I can still hear him saying over and over "you can do it Dodge" and me saying "Alex, why the hell are you buying bit coin?".
So much has already happened and I didn't want to publicize this business venture until I was sure it was really going to happen. I'm not going to try and fit everything in the first post but the ups and downs have been incredible. My next post will cover; Why the name Bull N Bear?
"The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last" ~ Oscar Wild (and Willy Wonka)
Sláinte,
Will Dodge
Owner and Co-Founder