Good bye! I am Felix, 30 years old, born in Hesse, raised and rooted in Upper Bavaria in the south of Munich. Went to Coburg in Upper Franconia to study and, after working in Vancouver, Canada and Berlin, is now settled and “at home” in Nuremberg, Middle Franconia.
JB: How did you get into brewing beer?
Felix: I started a beer blog in 2007 ( Favorite Beers ), which quickly gained momentum and while I was studying social work I had a lot of time to drink beer, write about beer and also brew beer and so I had my first experience as a hobby brewer quite early on. But the beer we brewed in the kitchen somehow turned out to be shit and so I concentrated more on “drinking beer” again.
After studying, I went to Vancouver, Canada with my wife. That was mid-2012. Just live and work. There I worked in a small craft brewery and had my first “real” experiences. Then I got hooked on brewing again and since brewing beer together is a normal evening activity among friends and almost everyone brews their own stuff (also because beer is incredibly expensive there - both craft beer and industrial beer, the cheapest are still German imports à la Becks, Holsten, Warsteiner, etc.) I deepened my knowledge of brewing again.
Back in Germany we moved to Berlin in mid-2013, where I and Sylvia Kopp spent the first year at the newly founded company Berlin Beer Academy worked there but quickly realized that I was missing the craftsmanship and so I met Johannes Heidenpeter (studied artist and founder of the in 2013 Heidenpeter's brewery ) was so annoying until he let me into the basement of Markthalle Neun in Kreuzberg and I brewed beer there for about two years with Heidenpeter and a few other boys and girls, bottled it and did everything else around it. It was a great time that I never want to miss and that put me on the right path!
The idea for our own brewery was born early on in Canada or solidified as an “idea” and “dream”, but it only became concrete after Heidenpeters got a new brewing system and I took over his old system that I had assembled myself and moved to Nuremberg could ship. Here I am now, brewing almost 5 hectoliters of beer per brew, also known as “craft beer” or “creative beer”. The latter term appeals to me the most because, in addition to the classic ingredients that can be used to brew various types of beer, I also use spices, herbs and fruits. This drives creativity even higher. Everything is brewed according to the “German Naturalness Law”, which was initiated by the newly founded “ German Creative Brewers ” association. So I always have something new and my beer certainly surprises many people. In general, you have to be open and not think too narrowly into categories. It's boring too, isn't it?
JB: What makes you happy?
Felix: Spending time with my wife and my little son, who is now a little over six months old and is developing just as interestingly and well as “ orca Brau ”. Basically my second baby.
JB: What does a typical day in Felix’s life look like?
Always different
JB: What comes to mind when you think of the following keywords?
– Social media
Immensely important in all matters, both private and “business”, although this is a blur for me anyway. But also “dangerous” because some things can develop very quickly and idiosyncratic dynamics.
Social media is important, but it’s also not the most important thing. Nevertheless, I think that far too few small breweries still use the diverse social media options.
– Music
sometimes extremely important, sometimes rather unimportant. Good for switching off and motivating but also nice to have fun in the background.
- Role models
Do not have any. More like “sources of inspiration”. There are a lot of influences from many corners and from many people who impress me, but there are no direct role models.
- Happiness
For me, happiness is what you make of it yourself. The little things can sometimes make you incredibly happy.
You can find out more about “orca Brau” here: http://www.orcabrau.de/
