BEER SNOB

Outside of his life as an EC PE teacher Adam Chumbley pursues his passion for brewing. His work and hobby crossed paths in Fall 2022 at the annual EC Oktoberfest event. Here’s his brewing story.

By EC PE Teacher Adam Chumbley

Even dating back to my college days, I’ve always essentially been a beer snob—always thinking to myself, there has to be something better than this domestic lager, right? I lived with my college teammate, an Irish guy named Barry Egan from about 200206. If we went out, he would always reach for a pour of Guinness or Smithwick’s or some other import that was simply better than anything America had to offer at the time.

I fell in love with German beers, particularly wheat ales before they were popular (and after they were popular, too). Barry taught me a lot about beer, including that each style of beer has a specific glass that goes with it for a very specific purpose. I went on to learn more about the four main ingredients in beer: water, barley, hops and yeast. I wanted to know more about packaging, storage and what makes a great beer great.

My friends at the time used to poke fun at my passion for beer, and a few decades later, they still consistently send me pictures of their night out at a brewery or a snapshot of the craft beer in their fridges. At one point, we even had a rotating craft beer box we sent around to one another. I made believers out of all of them.

I tell everyone you can imbibe whatever your heart desires, but when I put my beer up against the one you’re drinking, I bet you’ll reach for mine every time after that. My first homebrew was from a basic brewing kit when I lived in Florida. A German Hefeweizen. I nursed that beer like a baby, and it turned out real nice. I was hooked. Times changed and I gave away everything I owned, including my beer brewing supplies, to chase a girl I had just met back to Washington. Three kids later I’d say it worked out just fine!

Around 2014 my sister-in-law bought me a one-gallon brew kit for Christmas. I made an IPA, and it turned out well. I asked my amazing wife if I could get a more extensive kit like the one I had in Florida, and she gave me the green light. My first beer on that kit was a Belgian Tripel. This beer generally has a pronounced booziness to it, with the presence of Bavarian yeast and some fruity esters. To experiment, I threw some Citra hops late in the boil to mix it up, even when those hops would usually be reserved for hoppy citrus-style beers like IPA’s. The beer turned out great.

My friend Josh Caraccio moved from Utah a few years ago and now resides in Sammamish. He generally hated any beer not named IPA, but after getting his hands on my homebrew, he started to love and appreciate all styles of beer…even dark beers! Josh and I chatted and he strongly hinted at wanting to support my hobby.

After years of brewing once or twice a year, I asked my friends, who were drinking all my precious homebrew, if they would be willing to support my hobby financially. Not because I wanted to make money but because I refused to cut corners in making the best beer possible, and there was no way I could foot the bill for all the people asking to try my beer! They all obliged, and Silvana Brewing (named for the town I live in) was born. The brewery is not real but I have an Instagram page (@silvanabrewing) and our logo is on our cans.

At some point, I reached out to my cousin Rachel Dawley (Instagram @artieearl) to add labels to my cans. I mainly come up with design ideas and she makes my vision a reality and then some. Actual beer can labels are quite pricy, so we go with a sticker website that does the trick. The labels may be considered an unnecessary extra cost, but I disagree. It’s all about the craft beer experience— from the can all the way to the glass!

The first beer I canned was “Trust Fall Tripel.” It‘s the same beer I brewed for my first five-gallon batch here in Washington, and the label features me in lederhosen falling into an endless abyss of hops. Appropriately named, and after this year’s super fun Oktoberfest at EC, featuring my Marzen (traditional German Oktoberfest beer), I believe everything has truly come full circle.

We have expanded quite a bit from my extract brewing days (powdered malts) to my all-grain brewing (grains steeped in a mash) prowess that gives me the most control over my beer. All professional breweries are all-grain, which is one of the reasons they can be so creative and produce such great, quality beer. I brew anything from traditional beer styles to coloring outside the lines with fresh cherry ales, coffee beers, and my pride and joy, Chumbley Family Christmas ale, which tastes like a rum soaked fruitcake in a glass.

I can now develop every recipe I write for 15 gallons of finished beer (a standard half-barrel keg). Each year, I will be able to brew at least 150 gallons of beer, which is almost nanobrewery size. It certainly is fun down in the man cave these days!

Because I ask lots of questions, I’ve made friends at quite a few breweries in the greater Seattle area who support me. I made Ravenna Brewing’s very first mash paddle for them out of solid oak. Over the years they have repaid the favor with some free beer and merch, endless brewing advice, and even letting me use their loading dock to deliver a pallet of commercial-level pint cans.

My homebrew club, the Stilly Mashers (Arlington, Washington), started at Skookum Brewery and now all the meetings are at In the Shadow Brewing. Both breweries are in Arlington, and I know the owners and employees well. One of our Stilly Mashers is also the head brewer at Scuttlebutt Brewing, so brewing advice is always on the forecast at our once-a-month meetings.

This past year I decided to enter my first homebrew contest. I just went for it and entered the National Homebrew Competition, which is supported by the American Homebrew Association (AHA). I entered my “Get Ready To Live” cream ale. Due to the large footprint of the homebrew community and the lack of BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) judges, some categories are lumped together when they normally wouldn’t be. My cream ale was put up against the lager brews in the nation. I was not hopeful, as it is quite difficult to brew a quality ale that can stand up to the clean taste of a lager. But I received 5 out of 5 stars from two of three judges and made it into the final round of judging in a category that received nearly a hundred entries!

I’m super stoked to continue with my craft and keep sharing my hobby with anyone who will listen, is 21 years or older and has taste buds. With that said, I’d like to offer a “Learn To Brew” with Coach Chumbley as an auction item. I would collaborate with the highest bidder on a beer style of their choice. We would brew together on brew day and I’d provide five gallons of finished canned beer after the brewing process is over.

If you’re licking your chops and just want to taste this stuff, consider joining our Silvana Brewing Beer Club by reaching out to me on Instagram @silvanabrewing or email me at achumbley11@gmail.com