Page 51 of Hammer and Hops

And there were my parents. Standing there with actual smiles on their faces. What the hell? Had Cameron picked up a couple of pod-people? “Uh, Mom? Dad?”

My mother took my hand. “I wanted to greet you outside first, since what I’m about to say is personal.”

I braced myself for anything that might spew out of her mouth. I wasn’t going to let her ruin this day. “Okay…” I looked to my dad, who only nodded.

“I listened to what Cameron said. He was right. Your success and happiness in life need to be something you’re passionate about, and what that looks like doesn’t have to look the way I think it should. I’ve been judging you with a very personal lens. But it was because I love you and want everything for you. I just got lost in what that everything should be.” Then she hugged me. I hadn’t had a hug like that from her in a long time. “I’m proud of you.”

“And I’m dying to see this brewery,” my dad added.

“Well, come in. I’ll give you a special tour.” I stepped back and opened the door, surprised that they followed me. I was actually floored by this. I’d been wanting them to be proud of me, to see what I’ve accomplished, and wanted to feel worthy of their expectations. Maybe finally, they could give me what I’d needed all along.

They ooh’d and awe’d over everything in the facility. Lukas came by and explained the flavors, and I shared information about hops, which was my specialty.

My dad put his arm around my shoulders. “Son, this is incredible.”

“I’m amazed at how pristine everything is.” My mom looked around a bit more before I led them to the back.

“This is our temporary gathering spot for today. Come over and sample some finished product.”

Eddy and Alfred were pouring, after having taken a few lessons from Kit and Nate over at Pints ‘n Pool. Cameron introduced our parents, and Eddy turned into super host, handing them beer and pointing to the next table with all the food. Seeing them settled, I grabbed Cameron’s arm. “Time to open. I’m going to the front.”

“We’ve got everything handled here. Go.” He waved me off, and I gave Lukas a thumbs up as I made my way back to the front.

When I opened the door this time, I swear half of Foggy Basin stood in my parking lot. I needed a new plan. I stuck my head in and yelled. “Lukas!” When I saw him, I zipped over. “How many can you take on a tour at a time? Fifteen to twenty?”

“I’d rather have smaller groups. It would go faster.”

“Twelve?”

“I can live with that. Why? What’s going on?”

“There’s more than fifty people out there.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. I’m going to organize them and send them in batches of a dozen.”

We quickly worked out the plan. He’d take the first group, then the second group would wait in the lobby, and the next group would sort out by the door. Then he’d come get the lobby group, and I’d send in the next group. It would work, except that after the first group finished, I needed to be in the back. “Go get someone else to handle the door.”

“I’m going to have to but…”

Conroy picked that exact time to walk up. “Cameron sent me to see what’s taking you so long to get back.”

“I’ll show you. Come on.” I guided him out with me and shut the door behind us. Some of the people actually cheered. Well, guess they were ready for free beer. I gave them a wave. “Thank you. Thank you for coming and celebrating this day with us. We’re going to start sending folks in, a dozen at a time. This is Conroy.” I shoved him forward and shook his shoulders. “He’s going to help keep us all organized. I need the first twelve people…”

I sent them in, set up the second group, then left it in Conroy’s hands. “Call me if it gets crazy.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

I made a mental note to give him a bonus for working on this today. He deserved it for sure. With everyone temporarily settled, I headed to the back. “Okay, first tour group should be here in a minute or two. Everyone ready?”

Eddy and Alfred high-fived each other. “We’ve got this.”

Cameron gave me a hug, and I saw my parents and his sitting together at a far table. Well, that was interesting. I might have wanted to run interference there, but I didn’t have time. The first tour group showed up.

I introduced myself, gave directions on the beer and food, and then made myself available for questions. I was surprised that after the tour, several people had questions about the hops and growing them. I had a field that bordered Dawson’s Hay Farm where I grew them. You could see the bright green towers strung out kind of like grapes from where we were behind the brewery. They would be due to harvest very soon. This year’s harvest from this location was smaller than where I’d grown them in Sacramento. However, I’d planned for that and had plenty still growing in Sacramento to supplement for the next few years.

The hops were so integral to what we were doing that an artist’s drawing of one of the seed cones was on our labels. The work I’d been doing on them for the past few years was all coming to fruition, and now so many people were here to enjoy it.