Some brewers are chemists, some are engineers, some microbiologists, and others mechanics. Brian “Stillwater” Strumke of Stillwater Artisanal Ales is a musician—more specifically a DJ.
To Brian, crafting a beer recipe is like composing an electronic song, in which malt sweetness is the baseline and hops aroma hits a high treble note. If he is talking about the brewing process, it is likely a conversation riddled with allusions to electronica.
Under the name Brian Stillwater, Brian traveled the globe for a decade producing and spinning progressive house music. He didn’t discover his love for craft beer until he retired from his DJ career and moved back to Baltimore. In his neighborhood watering hole, The Brewer’s Art brewpub, he acquired a taste for Belgian beers. “House beers were $1.75 during happy hour, and I’m talking a double abbey and a Duvel-style beer, 7.5–8 percent beers,” he remembers. “I’m was in my twenties and cheap, so I thought, ‘I’ll learn to like beer.’”