Itʼs 1992 and Yuseff Cherney is sitting in his pickup truck in a parking lot , psyching himself up not to get a job . He ’ s 22 years old , three months out of Muir College with a degree in philosophy , and soon headed for law school . But for now , he ’ s headed into a homebrewing store to buy supplies for a hobby that is swiftly turning into an obsession . “ I ’ m just going in there to get ingredients ,” he says to his friend . “ That ’ s all .”
Inside the shop , among the barrels of bulk barley and hops and aisles of glassware , he can ’ t help talking shop with a fellow customer struggling with which kind of crystal malt to use in his next batch . Malt is a big factor in sweetness and color , Cherney explains , walking him through the many varieties , finally helping him with the right choice .
Watching all this from the register is the store ’ s owner , Jack White . White ' s dedication to homebrewing led him to open the shop , even while he worked nights loading luggage at the San Diego airport . When Cherney approaches the register , White asks , “ Who are you , and how do you know enough about brewing to be helping my customers ?”
Cherney recounts his story : how he ’ s brewed his own beer for a few years now , how he started teaching homebrewing classes at UC San Diego ’ s Craft Center as a student . He leaves out the more fanatical details : the days in college when he and friends would forgo the frathouse swill and geek out over imports — logging them all in a notebook no less , complete with flavor notes and , more importantly , whether they liked them or not .
But the enthusiasm is apparent , the experience is there , and if anyone overheard this exchange at the register , they might have figured this kid was nailing a job interview . But not Cherney . He was headed to law school . He was only there to get ingredients .
He was hired the next day .
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