By Brian Yaeger

In one sense, every brewery around the world makes the exact same thing: Beer. Pure beer, as regulated by the Reinheitsgebot (the Bavarian purity law of 1516), contains only water, malted barley and hops. It wasn’t until some 300 years later, thanks to Louis Pasteur, brewers realized there were microorganisms—yeast—also at play. Numerous strains of yeast are now available.

If only four ingredients seems limiting, think of how many musical variations you can groove to played on guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. Within the vaunted, if outdated, confines of the Reinheitsgebot, dozens of styles of beer are possible from bottom-fermented lagers (ranging from crisp pilsners to strong bocks) to top-fermented ales (ranging from tawny, bitter India Pale Ale to inky, sweet stout). Nowadays, adjuncts include frown-inducing corn and rice, lip-smacking wheat, and eyebrow-raising herbs and fruits. Make your way to the Brewers Association’s Great American Beer Festival, held annually in Denver, as I did and you can “research” yourself into oblivion by sampling 75 different categories.

Brewery owners are now charged with the task of all competing for your one mouth, whether you drink a single bottle of beer with dinner, three cups at a ballgame, or go for the lost weekend down by the river. As such, most brewers run their companies similarly for economic reasons. And because first and foremost they are businessmen and women, trying to get them to talk about non-industry issues was a challenge. Being operations-minded, they often talked about issues of distribution, of cleaning stainless steel, and of bottling, which really isn’t so fascinating. But when they get to the point where their job and their numbers transcended mere productivity, I find their stories and lessons captivating. In those moments, they aren’t brewers or presidents, they are fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, sages and philanthropists, pioneers and explorers, and in the best cases, drinking buddies.

No longer is beer just water, barley malt, hops, and yeast. In addition to cereal, chocolate, coriander, coffee, and cumin, brewers pour their blood, sweat, tears, and souls into their beers. I didn’t set out to discover what they put into their brews so much as what they got out of them.

Brian Yaeger is the author of Red, White, and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey (St. Martin’s Press, 2008).  When not blogging at beerodyssey.com, he can be found exploring Bay Area pubs, one pint at a time.