My first craft beer, or at least I think it was my first craft beer - so the first craft beer I became consciously aware of was a "Fat Tire" from New Belgium Brewing. I was on a hiking trip with my dad and some close family friends and we were taking a drive through Yellowstone National Park and we stopped in one of the lodges to take a break from our 38 hour road-trip to get to the Teton mountain range. I know everyone says the same thing "I did not realize beer could taste like this", but it is a pretty great and fitting way to describe that "discovery" moment akin to hearing a new song from a band/genre you were never aware existed, and then that overwhelming feeling of "catching up" overcomes you as the realisation hits that there is a whole world you are just now finding out about. I tend to become pretty obsessed when stumbling upon something new to me that I really enjoy, be it a band, an activity, and in the case of Lonesome Oak - Beer. Its not that there is a desire to become an expert on these things, but to just learn as much as there is to learn about the history, the process, the culture, the tools and everything else. For music its the back story of the bands, the venues, the studios, the equipment, the surrounding culture - and with brewing its the same. When I am introduced to or am able to stumble upon new music that really captures my ear and, well, soul - I dive in to hear more and learn more about how this music came to be. In some cases you discover something after its had its moment, maybe the bands no longer operate, or the artists have left this life - and you experience a sense of loss at having missed this thing that you have suddenly discovered. So this is what I found myself feeling when I had my first bottle of "Fat Tire" - the sudden realisation that beer was like music, never ending possibilities, variations, styles, brewers acting almost like musicians, with each beer acting as kind of a song release, the the brewery as a hole acting as the band. Fat Tire opened my eyes to the flavors available / possible with beer - and it opened the door to a world I am really in love with.

Lonesome Oak is then in my mind a band and we strive to release content that excites and connects and can be enjoyed by all (of legal drinking age) - but we also have a sense of purpose as we feel any organisation, business, restaurant, band, etc. should have - we have had so many good experiences involving beer, from visiting breweries with friends and families, to sharing beers during live events - and having our own brewery in Germany has truly been life changing in the best sense (it has also added more grey hair to my head that I would like to admit) - but the friends we have been able to make and the people we have been able to meet through this small project was something we did not anticipate, and we are thankful for it daily.