New Kids on the Block: Meet our new brewers

The Civil Life Brewing Company Welcomes Two New Brewers
 
As many St. Louis craft beer drinkers know, the Civil Life traces its start back to the homebrew community. We’re proud of our humble origins and like to think that we’ve grown a lot over the last few years. We recently brought two new brewers on staff, and they, too, come from home-brewing backgrounds. We were fortunate to have had many very well qualified applicants. We’d like to introduce Troy Bedik and David Seymour.
 
Troy Bedik, having graduated from Tufts with a drama degree, was working in New York City as a theater tech thinking she’d work her way up to stage manager, but she started to get disillusioned with life in New York. Her parents had moved to Saint Louis, which they informed her was a really affordable place to live. Oh, and Saint Louis had plenty of beer, something about which Troy had grown extremely passionate.
 
She thought she might pursue some beer-related marketing position, but what she really loved was brewing beer. She got involved with Femme Ferment, a local group of female brewers, whose members included Side Project Cellar Manager Katie Herrera, Libby Crider of Second Shift, and Cat Golden, brewer at Mark Twain in Hannibal.
 
Troy spent over a year at Schalfy as a cellar operator and kegger. She’s been recognized and awarded for homebrews and beers done with Femme Ferment. She loves Wit Beer and hopes to brew one for Civil Life. This fall, she will complete a course in brewing technology through the highly regarded Siebel Institute in Chicago, thanks in part to a scholarship from the Pink Boots Society, an organization that promotes and supports female beer professionals.
 
Troy is happy to be here working with her hands, following her passion—brewing beer. She says she couldn’t be in a better environment for brewing “high quality beers that are true to style.” Thanks, Troy!
 
Seymour also made a career transition to follow his passion for beer. (Please note that Seymour goes by his English surname “Seymour” not “David,” so we won’t have a repeat of that Brandon/Brendan confusion with our new chef Dave.) He left a long-term career in financial services to bring the Civil Life his longstanding interest in authentic English beer styles and traditional English public houses. He is an award winner home brewer who has written widely about beer and is active in the local beer communities. He also moderates on several English brewing forums.
 
In addition to education and outreach programs, Seymour wants to continue to pursue “super-authentic” English recipes, recreating these styles (many all but forgotten), while recognizing the modern palate. He’s also passionate about real ale and wants to help further develop the Civil Life’s cask program. His knowledge of cellarmanship and authentic dispensing are part of his plan to help create the most authentic English pub-going experience this side of the Atlantic. He has pledged to work with Jake to create one of the best authentic cask programs in the US.
 
We are honored to welcome Troy and Seymour to the Civil Life family. They’ll love it here as much as we do and as much as our loyal regulars do. And with their help, the Civil Life is about to get even better. We raise our dimpled mugs to Troy and Seymour. Welcome and Cheers!