A morning cup of ... beer

My day as a brewer always began early—say 4 or 5 in the morning. I could accomplish the bulk of the brewing before the heat of the day—and before meetings would begin.

Quality control at a brewery should include organoleptic (tasting analysis): sampling from the various tanks with their contents in various stages of fermentation or maturation.

The sense of taste is at its most acute in the morning. So, after a few sips and spits—that morning jolt of cold beer is quite refreshing—and recording of my impressions, only then would I begin the day's dulling process with a cup of coffee.

Here's what Sheraton's new Chief of Beer Operations (!!) has to say about that.

"Something just seems a little bit wrong about drinking beer at 8 in the morning, every morning, for me, so I often will wait until about 10 on the mornings that I'm tasting. Not to say that there's anything wrong with having a beer for breakfast. I do that sometimes, too," Kerkmans says.

In the morning, your taste buds are evidently most alive.

Chief of Beer Operations?

Scott Kerkmans recently bested nearly 8,000 applicants hoping to be chief beer officer for a national hotel chain.

You read that right. It's an actual job. The Four Points by Sheraton hotels chain created the position because it wants to market so-called craft beers as one of its specialties.

Chief Beer Officer Does Best Work Before Lunch
National Public Radio (NPR)