By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
WABASH,IN A Wabash home brewer’s wares will be featured Friday night during the “July Gathering of the Tasting Society” in Indianapolis.
Jim Reynolds, president of J.M. Reynolds Oil Company, will have six of his beers featured at the event, organized by Indiana on Tap. The event will take place from 7-11 p.m. Friday, July 29, at The Speak Easy, 55 Winthrop Ave., Indianapolis.
“What they do is invite craft breweries, craft wineries, eclectic food companies and some craft coffee companies” to show off their goods, he said.
Indiana on Tap first learned about Reynolds last fall during a visit to Wabash.
“Indiana on Tap came to town last fall to visit our nice, little artsy town that has started making a name for itself because of Stellar, I believe,” Reynolds said. “They came to town and spent the weekend at Charley Creek Inn reviewing what Wabash had to offer as a destination place.
“Christine Flohr (director of tourism with Visit Wabash County) asked me to put together a little selection of my beers, so I put together a little care package for them that we left in the room.”
Indiana on Tap founder/president Justin Knepp got a hold of the samples and later contacted Reynolds to be featured in one of the group’s events.
“We’ve been talking about it for awhile,” Reynolds said. “They approached me back in February, and it’s taken this long for me to get in line. They always ask two breweries and then they ask a home brewer to present their wares.
“I was honored by them asking me that someone actually wants the public to taste my beers. I’ve always been told I make good beer. No one has ever told me that it was not good, other than people who don’t drink beer.”
Reynolds has been home brewing for about four years. It was actually Flohr’s husband, Brooks, who introduced him to the hobby.
It takes about four weeks to complete a batch of beer, he said.
“It takes about six hours to brew a batch of beer, just to cook it,” Reynolds said. “Then you have to ferment it for a couple of weeks, then you have to carbonate it for another week. It takes about four weeks from start to finish to create a batch of beer.”
Fresh ingredients are one of the key aspects of making a good batch of beer, Reynolds said.
“Outside of ingredients, you have to make sure you control your temperatures,” he continued. “Not just your cooking temperatures, your mashing temperatures, which is a process of making beer, but your fermentation temperatures. So the two important things are quality ingredients and temperatures.”
For Friday, Reynolds had to produce 30 gallons of beer to be sampled. He plans on taking six different varieties – all with oil-related names.
His samples will include “The Wildcatter,” a very hard cider; “Sunrise Delivery,” a grapefruit session; “Strategic Lemonade Reserve,” a lemonade session; “Top off Your Tank APA,” a mosaic amber APA; “Sweet Citrus Crude,” a citra orange ale, and “Petratart Gose,” a lime gose.”
While Reynolds enjoys brewing beer, he sees it as nothing more than a hobby.
“I looked into creating a brewery one time, but the dollars … you have to be really serious,” he said. “I have a full-time job here running this business.
“You have to be the brewer, you have to be the salesman, you have to be the guy dispensing. I’ve got a full-time job here.
“For now, I’ll just keep giving free beer to all of my friends.”