Brewer Atwood educates Rotary about beer making

At their March 16 meeting, Tehachapi Rotarians were introduced to Jim Atwood who will be the brewmaster at the soon-to-open Tehachapi Mountain Brewing Company at the new Mountain Bowling located on Santa Lucia in Old Town. Atwood retired from the Navy as an E9 Master Chief on submarines and has worked as a consultant and been involved in global leadership.

Atwood has also been a home brewer for some time and has been competing with his beer annually at Cheers to Charity and other brewing competitions. He explained the complicated brewing process for Rotarians and how beer is affected by different grains, what happens when the hops are added and how the beer is boiled and then quickly cooled. He explained that wheat is added to the beer to get a hazy look.

"Making beer is part chemistry and part baking," said Atwood.

At Tehachapi Mountain Brewing, they are looking for consistency. Too often a brewer will create a great beer and not be able to duplicate it in the next batch. They plan to use hops oils and extracts to control the consistency of the batches. Atwood plans to work with other local brewers to make the best beers in Tehachapi. They hope to have the brewery operational by this summer.

The Rotary Club of Tehachapi is a volunteer service organization with the motto, "Service Above Self." The club meets on Thursdays at noon. For more information about Rotary Club, you can visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RotaryClubofTehachapi/ or contact club President Judy Trujillo, (661) 699-5851.