Welcome to our “Meet The Brewer” series! Where we interview brewers in Pennsylvania, from breweries small to large. Let us know if you know anyone who should be featured, email us at [email protected].

This weeks ‘Meet The Brewer’ is a little different. Many of you will be meeting this brewer for the first time as he was recently named head brewer at Whitehorse Brewing!

Mike Fahy has been brewing beer on his own for a very long time. As he describes the situation it was “dumb luck” on how he landed at Whitehorse. However, as you’ll read below, given his experience there was nothing dumb about pairing up with the brewery.

Having evolved from the household beer kits to now brewing commercially at Whitehorse’s, Mike’s journey has much intrigue. Learn more of his story below…

What was your introduction to craft beer?

I remember sitting in a restaurant and ordering a Sam Adams Oktoberfest and thinking, ‘Damn that’s good, I didn’t know beer could taste like this’

However, I always say that the 90 Minute IPA from DogFish Head changed my life. I can remember everything about the first time I had it. It’s still one of my favorite beers.

How did you get started as a brewer?

Years ago a friend and I bought a beer kit from Midwest Supplies and made a batch of beer. He didn’t understand that it had to ferment (he’s kind of an idiot) so he lost interest immediately. I brewed a few more batches on my own but lost interest in it until early 2014 when I decided to give it another go with some different friends. After a few beer kits, we started making our own recipes and having a lot of success with them and it’s been full speed ever since.

As far as getting started as a pro-brewer at Whitehorse, it was kind of just dumb luck. We met through a mutual friend who knew that they needed a brewer. After a few conversations we realized that it could really benefit all of us, and it’s been going great ever since.

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

Honestly, at this point every style has brought out my creativity. Whether I’m writing a new recipe or revamping an old one from Whitehorse, it’s been fun pushing myself to make the best beer possible. The challenging part is deciding when to push a traditional style into something not so traditional and when not to.

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

It was a beer kit that was supposed to be like a standard american lager. It turned out ok, but I learned to never trust the temperature dial on an old refrigerator because at one point it was about ⅓ frozen.

At Whitehorse it was a Pale Ale. Things went well and it turned out fine but I definitely learned to watch water levels a little closer.

Where do you see the craft beer industry heading in the next few years?

With so many breweries opening or set to open, I’ve often wondered if at some point the bubble will burst. I hope that’s not the case though. I do think people will continue to push flavors and continue throwing weird stuff in beer. I’m ok with all of that as long as we don’t lose good quality well made “normal” beers.

Describe what it’s like to be a brewer in Pennsylvania.

The entire brewing scene, from homebrewing to big time breweries, is full of good people. I’ve made a ton of friends and gotten a lot of advice. Everyone is willing to help each other out and it really is one big community.

What is the inspiration behind your beer names?

I get a lot of inspiration from the music I listen to. I’ll use lyrics and song titles a lot. However, a lot of the clever/punny names come from my girlfriend. She’s much better at that stuff than I am. She’ll think of a name and we’ll work backwards to the beer style. For example our Valentine’s Day release was ‘I love you a waffle lot.’ Once she thought of the name we decided that the beer should be a blueberry waffle stout.

What is your favorite beer to drink right now?

We make a lot of lagers at Whitehorse, which isn’t a style I made a lot while homebrewing, so I’ve been drinking a lot of those lately for…you know…research purposes.

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

Going from 5 and 10 gallon batches to 150+ gallons is really terrifying. However, after the first batch was on tap at Whitehorse, seeing someone buy a glass of it and really enjoy it was one of the most gratifying feelings I’ve ever had. So I’ve learn to trust my abilities and instincts and just go for it. It helps when you have as many good people helping out as I do.

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Thank you to Mike Fahy for talking with us! Make sure you visit Whitehorse Brewing for all the latest beers, news, information and special events!