Staff Spotlight: Taylor Strein the Beer Wizard

Taylor in his natural habitat, the brewery, with a beer in hand!

Taylor Strein has been brewing at Rosko's Brew House since before the doors were opened. Taylor met the owners, Adam & Sam, through a mutual friend, Taylor's former teacher Party Patty from his "gifted" classes. [I add that last part because Patty likes to tell the story of when she told Adam that Taylor was one of her former "gifted" students, and that Adam lifted his eyebrows in surprise before she reiterated that gifted meant very advanced. For the record, I (Adam) deny this reaction, but it is a silly story when Patty tells it. I digress...] As mentioned, Taylor started on one Batch #1, and has worked his way up to over 90 batches of beer. Learn more about his story from his perspective below!

🎸 About Taylor

• Where are you from and what did you study in school?

  • I am from Montoursville PA and went to the University of Delaware for Physics & Astrophysics.

• What are some thing you like to do for fun?

  • I play, listen, and write music. I like to hike and travel a lot. It is a huge part of my life, not only from a life perspective but also in brewing. I enjoy traveling to the Pacific Northwest (Washington and Oregon). It’s really where my heart feels more at home. New experiences are around every corner and I take full advantage of the opportunities I am given to explore and learn.

🔧 Brewing Journey

• What got you into brewing in the first place?

  • Most of it was circumstance. Covid threw a wrench into what I was doing professionally and I realized 8 or 9 months in that I needed to change direction. I decided to go back to school for brewing and the rest was history.

• What led you to join Rosko’s Brew House?

  • Actually, a former teacher of mine (former middle school teacher) is close with Adam and Sam. My mom posted something on Facebook and she saw it. She messaged her and mentioned that she knew a brewery that was looking for a brewer and the timing and everything lined up perfect. 

• How were you introduced to craft beer?

  • I guess my parents would be my introduction. Growing up they were always drinking craft beer and introduced it to me as I grew of age. My introduction to the industry was through Dogfish Head when I bartended there. It was my first industry job that got me more acquainted with everything and grew my interest surrounding craft beer.

• What's it like being at a start up brewery from the beginning?

  • It’s all about learning together. It truly is a joint effort especially when you have multiple people working together to make this vision of Rosko’s come true. You can see our voices represented in the end product throughout the years and even by the names of the beers.

• What amount of input have you had in shaping Rosko's into what it is today?

  • I am the one making the beer [from start to finish], but there are some limits due to space, location, and collaborative efforts. I can’t always make the exact beer that I want, but throughout the years I have gotten more creative freedom.

  • [Editor's Note: I think Taylor is being a too modest here! He has done way more than just making the beer. His ideas have ultimately created an elevated experience in the taproom, too. There are many examples of this, from glassware to pour styles to staff training to event ideas, and more.]

Taylor is also a highly regarded mixologist & beertender

🍺 Craft & Creativity

• Where do your recipe ideas usually come from?

  • I think I’m always looking for inspiration from around the industry and seeing what other people are doing that speaks to me in some way. I have spent a lot of time in the Pacific Northwest and I try to key into what is going on out there whether that is various types of lager or wild ale. Granted we don’t do wild types of fermentation [Editor's Note: "yet"]. I find inspiration from other places that are doing stuff on the edge and bringing it to a small town. And of course it is things I usually like.

• Do you have a favorite beer you’ve brewed at Rosko’s? 

  • [Editor's note: He said he couldn’t choose one so he gave us his Top 5:]

    • Devet (Czech Pale Lager)

    • Parlor Pils (German Pilsner)

    • II Piccolo Dio (Italian Pilsner)

    • Admiral Halsey (Extra Special Bitter / ESB)

    • Shadow Self (Cold Black IPA)

• Is there a beer style you haven’t brewed yet but want to?

  • I think farmhouse ale would be the only one. I haven’t got to do much with a lot of microbiological things with beer. Either that or barley wine (love barley wine). Other than that we have covered a lot of bases here.

• What was the first beer you ever brewed, and what did you learn from it?

  • I brewed a maple stout at home first. My friends and I all thought it was great at the time, but thinking back I would hate to taste it now. Professionally, it was my first beer at Rosko’s. It was intended to be an amber ale but it turned into a brown ale. It didn’t fully feel like my beer because it was an a collaborative effort between Adam and I. We learned a lot from that experience about brewing together and in general. I cannot begin to even list the things that we learned from our first year of brewing.

Taylor with the first beer he brewed completely solo, from recipe to glass. "Something Completely Different," English Best Bitter.

🌾 Ingredients & Inspiration

• What’s one ingredient you think is underappreciated in brewing?

  • I think it's probably still malt. I think you can take malt for granted. But there is so much intricacy in how you can adjust a beer's malt profile and what you can do to malt to completely shape the beer. We have been in such a hop phase for the last 30 years that malt has really fallen to the side. But then again people don’t even consider the water profile that goes into their beer, but that is something that in general people don't even think about and brewers don’t like to get into. So, I think malt and water are something that people undervalue. 

• What style allows you to be the most creative, and why?

  • I think creativity is two fold. I think a lot of people look at creativity as different recipes rather than what I see it as: process driven creativity. I enjoy lagers because I can change processes to dramatically change the end product. Lagers really make me feel the most creative.

Let's face it, Taylor makes lederhosen look GOOD!

🧪 Behind the Brews

• What does a typical brew day look like for you?

  • I don’t even think about it at this point. But it can be chaotic, deeply chaotic. If you were observing it you wouldn’t think that. My brain is all over the place and having to make adjustments on the fly while still going along with the process. A brew day should be stressful if you care. We are not as automated so it is a lot of tweaking, stress, hard work, sweat, but don’t forget a lot of fun. That’s really what I’m here for. At the end of the day, you are creating something new out of nothing but a collection of ingredients that make an entirely different thing. It is multifaceted. 

• What is the most important lesson you learned in the beer industry so far?

  • I think the most important lesson I’ve learned is that beer is capable of being more than just a beverage. It is truly something that can foster connection and understanding. The amount of folks that beer has brought into my life and other peoples lives is amazing. Approaching it with the mindset of “I’m just going to make an alcoholic beverage” is just not right. It is so much more than that.

• Lastly, what do you like about working at Rosko’s? What makes Rosko's different?

  • The people, the atmosphere and the size. I enjoy bringing different beers from all over to our small town. I also like the entire vibe of Rosko’s. We get a lot of people to come in and share their love of beer but stay for the people. We are smaller, but it allows for us to be so connected with the people that come in.

Taylor truly is a remarkable brewer and man. Stop on in and try some of his beers. You may even catch him bartending or at the end of the bar, computer up & book in hand, sipping on one of his tasty creations. Cheers!

Taylor knocking another one out the park!