On May 2nd of last year Meg and I left NY and embarked on a 3-month trek across the country visiting friends, baseball stadiums and lots of breweries.  It was an epic journey that lead up to our arrival in Portland, Oregon, a place where I envisioned delicious local brews gurgling from every Benson Bubbler and cheap rent available at every apartment building.

For the most part we were right about Portland; it’s an affordable city filled with great food, amazing bar and a hip vibe (sometimes a bit too hip).  However, despite the abundance of breweries, I was unable to find a job at a single one.  With the economy in shambles and the beer scene here tight and established, it’s a tough industry to break into.  I decided I’d bide my time, find a job to pay the bills and just enjoy the brews.

Last week I had the opportunity to interview for a position at a brewery.  The one hitch?  This brewery was located in NY at the Chelsea Brewing Company, almost 3,000 miles away. 

I took an overnight from PDX airport to JFK, spent the night at my parent’s place and trained into the city for my interview.  About half an hour later I got myself a job.  I was hired to be a waiter (lame!) but I’m going to start training to be a cellarman on my days off. 

Basically, this is the bottom of the barrel brewing position where a lucky individual cleans kegs, fills tanks and generally does all the grunt work of a brewery.  In other words, this is exactly what I want to learn.

In little more than a week Meg and I will be packing up our tiny little apartment and trekking back across the country to NY.  I’ll have to endure another long stretch of waiting tables, but in the end I’ll be training to finally be the beer man of my dreams.  Also, people on the East coast tip way better, so hopefully I’ll be able to add a little cash to my bank account.  Also, since we’ll be traveling via a sweet U-Haul truck, I’ll have room to truck across goodies like this: