Good men down, we must rise.

I am en route to the Yarnell Hill Fire 19's memorial. The bus I am aboard is packed with the loved ones of my friend, Garrett, who was a true badass.  I feel sympathy and sadness as any normal person would at this moment.  He was an amazing soul and friend, and his family and friends are now a large part of my life.  This blog however is about Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. and without convoluting things to terribly, I can draw some incredible insight from the situation.  There is a certain brotherhood among first responders that has absolutely astounds me. A true humbling experience that cleanses the soul from any bitterness it may have picked up. I'll tell you this: Hearing how many people have said something along the lines of , " Garrett and the guys talked about your brewery so much, they were so excited about it!"  gives me such a feeling of pride. Hotshot  firefighters and brewers are so similar, but we pale in comparison to their tenacity and heroism. The beards( in the off season), the quasi brash personalities, smelly, and dirty men and women who choose a career based on passion and tireless work.  That's why I respect those guys.  They did it the way they wanted to...the hard way.

  Previously, I wanted to write a blog entitled, " What's taking so long to open?!?!", but it seems so trivial on this July morning that we mourn friends and family. I am invigorated more than ever at the chance to get this brewery started.  Be patient with us, we are so very close.  The key to remember is we all didn't come into this with wads of cash.  We are truly earning this with blood, sweat, and tears. Making sure to protect our brand and allowing it to be 100% OUR direction comes at somewhat of a cost and time is the currency we pay with.  Keep your excitement alive and we will deliver! I promise the sweat is rolling off our foreheads today as we clean and get ready for final inspections.

Today... today I celebrate life and all its intricacies. I hope you all can too, with a fine craft beer of course!

I will miss you my ginger bearded friend.

Jonathan