Kegging in Beer Land!

It was open mic night at the brewery when he came up to me. I had heard about him. We will call him Boy #2 and he was the brewer. At least he used to be, they told me. They said that after the Nica brewery closed from the political stuff and then reopened, he just wasn't as reliable. And when it came to opening the brewery in Costa Rica, it seemed like he wanted to spend his time doing other stuff.

He had a million dollar smile and was very handsome. “So you're the new brewer?” he asked me. He was quirky and weird. He played the Ukulele and sang some songs. I liked him immediately.

He had developed a few recipes, he told me. We would brew one of them together soon so he could show me how to use the equipment. It was pretty straightforward he said. But like most breweries, I assumed, it would have its quirks.

He was a bit of a renegade, I could tell. But then again, you'd have to be to start a brewery in Nicaragua. It was just so difficult to get ingredients, he said. There just weren't many options.

He was also a really good surfer. The next day, at playa Remanso, in the sea with all the other surfers, he was easy to spot. He could do tricks and flip around on his surfboard. I was jealous. (When I surfed, I was happy to just stand on the board and not fall over. All though that can be kinda fun too.)

Nicaragua has a national brewery he told me. The boys had worked with them to brew and export a beer a while back. It was named after a local surf spot. The run had gone ok, he said. But then the political turbulence changed the momentum for everything. They weren't sure they were going to do another run. (Later in my time in Nicaragua, I was fortunate enough to meet some of the men from the National Brewery. They once had a woman brewer, they told me. She didn't last long, they snickered.)

I can't even remember what beer Boy #2 and I brewed together. I just remember that while he wore shorts which is super unsafe, he was very kind, he smiled a lot and that was much appreciated.