Inside: Craft Beer From a Head Brewer
Read about how Kevin Lindsay approaches brewing technique with his craft beer
Watch a video of Kevin talking through the process
Shop the look Kevin's wearing
There’s often beauty in the process of craft, even though it’s the final product that’s consumed and ultimately reviewed and enjoyed by an audience or participant. The process is what pulled Kevin Lindsay toward brewing beer and away from his more traditional biology studies in college. Incidentally, it was Kevin’s knowledge from biology that equipped him to be a successful brewer. He’s now the Head Brewer at Stay Put, a popular brewery along Rainey St. in Austin.
Lindsay started homebrewing in college after he had a beer in Germany and came back to the States disappointed that he couldn’t find a similar style back home. The science behind craft brewing gave him enough floor to test, and enough fascination to keep his interest. He started tinkering.
🍻 While studying biology in college, a trip to Germany led Kevin Lindsay toward homebrewing. Little did he know, that Eurotrip would launch his career.
— HELM Boots (@helmboots) February 27, 2023
This is a HELM story on brewing great beer, and a love for craft.
📖 READ MORE: https://t.co/ThXttUlhxB pic.twitter.com/Jb4dSZU7yy
Kevin is wearing the hollis teak with our custom rubber lug sole, available soon
There are steps in the process that can be turned like dials and produce different outcomes to flavor. Domestically, most brewers have access to quality ingredients. Really fresh, good ingredients go a long way to a great product, but it’s the technique during the process that can make a style really stand out. Craft brewing at scale is about perfecting at a small level and being able to develop consistency at a much larger one.
“One thing I have found where brewers and homebrewers can set themselves apart is through extremely tight process controls,” Lindsay said. “Implementing those process controls, and then tweaking those one-by-one—to see what’s the outcome—is one of my favorite things.”
Make no mistake, like every great brewer, Lindsay has brewed bad beer. Those batches are informative and humbling, and remind him about the gift of tinkering, and the sometimes-unforgiving nature that comes with experimenting. One of Lindsay’s recent favorite beers is a Helles that he brewed, and that he lagered extensively. His Helles is a crisp-but-well-balanced beer that goes great with almost any weather, atmosphere or food; a true workhorse that is a complement to almost any situation you can find yourself in.
Through Craft Beer, Kevin has seen the world
More important than the craft beer itself, though, is where brewing has taken Lindsay in the world, and the relationships that brewing has brought him. He has met and worked with brewers in Germany, Puerto Rico, China, and coast-to-coast in the United States.
“The relationships and the people you meet in any craft industry is truly special,” Lindsay said, “and I think that is because those people you meet are willing to put the work in and put themselves out there for others, and we all share a common bond.”
Like a performer, Kevin Lindsay’s craft is on display all the time at Stay Put.
According to Lindsay, craft means opening yourself up through creating.
The definition of craft is the activity or skill in making things by hand, but more than that, he believes, it is pouring yourself into that thing that you are making by hand.
“Whether it is art, food, leather goods, tapestries, ceramics; the medium may change but the concept is the same,” Lindsay said.
Devoting a large portion of his life to craft, Lindsay now appreciates other craft goods through a different lens. Previously, he might buy a pair of boots and admire them as “nice boots,” but now he thinks about all of the work that went into them, from the idea, to the design, to the prototypes, and hard work and resources required to take that vision to life.
Craft is everywhere.
In his refrigerator during the time we interviewed him, Lindsay told us he had a Pilsner Uquell, Guinness, and Live Oak Pilz. (It should come as no surprise that he recommended all of them as excellent beers.)
Stay Put recently added a resident food truck to the brewery, TruBarbque, which serves TexMex-inspired BBQ dishes. He’ll keep playing the hits behind the bar, including cocktails.
The process of all of this is a constant work-in-progress, and it’s in the details where Kevin Lindsay thrives. But you don’t have to read about it, you can taste his craft for yourself.
Beyond Craft Beer: Shop the Look
In this photo, Kevin is drinking one of his craft brews and he is wearing:
- a shirt from The Charge Apparel,
- a button-down flannel from The Gap
- jeans from Madewell,
- and The Wilson Brown.
We recommend taking care of The Wilson Brown with Blackrock Leather 'N Rich and Otter Wax Leather Sealant if you're in wetter climates.
