In Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, he writes, “When we put something in our mouth, and in that blink of an eye decide whether it tastes good or not, we are reacting not only to the evidence from our taste buds and salivary gland but also to the evidence of our eyes and memories and imaginations.” So it was in Brussels on a near fateful summer night in 1994 that I first fell in love with Belgian beers. Inaccessible in Georgia after my return, this love affair soon faded into memory and loss until years later on my first visit to the Brick Store Pub, a glass of La Trappe reawakened hidden passions. Soon after I journeyed to Portland for a friend’s wedding, one of my traveling companions from that night in Brussels, and discovered Portland beer culture and the wonder of home brewing. Returning from Portland with a passion to brew and a new home in Decatur, I spent the next 10 years discovering and practicing the timeless secrets of monastic brewing. And while my passion for beer is not limited to Belgian brewing, it is my deepest devotion and most difficult to master. It has now been over three years since my vision for a new Atlanta brewery first took shape, so with plans to launch our New Monastic Series of Belgian-inspired beers, it is time to make a return pilgrimage to the place that birthed this pursuit and discover what it truly means to brew like a monk. We leave June 2nd. Transcendo Mediocris.