Meet Adam Thompson | Homebrewer & Craft Beer Enthusiast

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adam Thompson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adam, what makes you happy? Why?
I really enjoy making time for creativity. It’s a good opportunity to center myself against the stress of everyday life and work. Through photography, we can learn to see things differently through a new lens or angle. It a great thing to readjust your viewpoint from time to time.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed more of an appreciation for craftsmanship as well. I like the challenge of forcing myself to use some of my free time to develop new skills and strive to master others.

Craft beer meets at the intersection of creativity and craftsmanship. I always enjoy learning new things, experimenting, and pushing myself to get better technically and artistically.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
There are two aspects of beer brewing that I find very interesting: the finished product and the process to get there; the journey and the destination.

Brewing is such an interesting activity because it combines so many subjects: art, language, chemistry, biology, engineering, and more.

From designing a recipe, to building a water profile from different salts, to mashing (steeping) the grain, to providing an environment for the yeast to be successful, there are many stages that I find interesting to capture with photography.

At it’s most basic, beer is just four simple ingredients: malt, hops, water, and yeast. The joining of the natural and the industrial, the ingredients and the steel in which they are combined, presents many unique moments.

Then, once a beer is completed, it’s a wonderful feeling to share with others and bring them into the experience.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love trying out different beers and breweries. Colorado certainly has amazing ones.

While it is easy to focus on some of the larger ones like Coors or New Belgium, it’s the small, independent neighborhood breweries that I find the most interesting.

Some of my favorites include Little Machine (which has an excellent tart raspberry beer, Razz Against the Machine), 105 West (which has a great hazelnut & peanut butter ale, Deez Nuts), and Dry Dock (which is a perennial award winner and has many great beers, including a stellar vanilla porter).

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
During my senior year of high school and on into college, I worked part time at a pizzeria in Boulder, Colorado. It was there that I got my first exposure to craft beer from one of the managers, Frank Straub.

Frank brought in some homebrewed beer one day. It looked like everything that macro beer wasn’t. He had packaged it in some very interesting blue swing-top bottles. It appeared unique and artisanal. I was blown away to learn that a person could make beer at home.

While I didn’t have any then, the visual made a lasting impression on me and would help spark my interest in picking up the hobby down the road.

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Image Credits
pixelHop Beer Company