Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben “Shaggy” Blaney.
Hi Ben “Shaggy”, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started homebrewing with my dad after some traveling and realizing college wasnt for me and practically begged for a job at any brewery that would take me. I eventually landed at one of the best breweries in the country, The Lost Abbey. I worked my way up from the packaging side to cellar and eventually brewing where I learned so much about both “clean” and “wild” beer, barrel aging, producing world class beers on both the west coast and Belgian profiles, how to handle them both in a production scale without ruining the brewery w/ cross contamination…i could go on about the amount i learned from them and am forever grateful. I moved over to Mason Aleworks when they started their production facility in San Marcos w/ the former head brewer of The Lost Abbey, because I had hit that ceiling where i was starting a family and it was hard to work on a rotating production schedule (i still say that the Lost Abbey was the hardest job i ever left and am still very good friends with the guys up there). At Mason Aleworks i learned alot of the intricate parts that i wasnt exposed to as a “shift brewer”, I eventually i took over the roll of Director of Brewing Operations that ranged from writing recipes, overseeing production at 2 breweries, distribution, sourcing ingredients/material, and just about everything else under the sun.
Once i saw the writing on the wall of what was going on at Mason and by a recommendation from a close friend, I put my hat in the ring for the position of head brewer for My Yard Live Beer Co. To be nice and Cliche The rest is history, It’s truly my dream job and working for the ownership team, (shoutout to Mark McLarry and Jamie Minotti for being the coolest dudes i’ve ever worked for, & Ryan Kernion our GM who holds down the fort on the daily basis and keeps the mothership flying), i’ve learned so much from not only a business perspective but also the community perspective that business’s can operate with.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
we opened up July 2019 (6 months before Covid) so i’d say the road has been pretty tumultuous but as i previously mentioned our ownership team and management team has done everything in their power to make this concept succeed. The team took everything in stride and we we’re able to get through all the obstacles, now the problem we’re having is we’re not able to produce as much beer as the market is demanding which i’d say is the best problem to have. As a brewer my favorite thing is running out of beer while it’s still fresh so as we’re figuring out expanding i’m definitely enjoying that i dont have old beer on shelfs.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’d have to say that my dad and mom are both the biggest influence on my career path. I mentioned earlier that he was the one that got me into homebrewing which led me on this wild career path. But he’s also a general contractor that could literally build/machine anything he wanted (and with no more than 5 projects going at a time i learned a lot from him) but he taught me a solid work ethic and whenever a hurdle was approached it turned into “i can fix/build something to get across that hurdle”, My mom being a “clean freak”. I joke that being a brewer is a “glorified Janitor” and anyone that does it knows it’s true, but i’m not joking when i say that my mom will still clean circles around you even after you’ve sanitized everything, she taught me that nothing is never clean enough. The other thing that i have to say about brewing is, it’s a great industry to be constantly humbled and by that i mean theres always going to be someone making a beer on a homebrew system or a production system that draws attention. it’s really about the drive of what people can do with the resources they have….It’s a perfect blend of Art, History, and Science. I truly believe thats why so many people find a personal connection with it.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I’d have to say that i have alot of favorite childhood memories and i couldnt pick just one so i’ll take this chance to thank my parents for giving me one of the best childhoods a kid could ask for and also putting up with my shenanigans
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.myyardlive.com
