The Co-Founders of Founders

There is a story behind this night that I consider a delight.  I’m not entirely sure how to tell it, though, to pass on such a sentiment.  So, just imagine that…you are knee deep in Beer Week and it’s been good.  You’ve met the people you wanted, and there are still several events ahead, events that have kept you in Philly when friends in other cities have been calling you.  

Add on a layer of relative indifference (I enjoy Founder’s Oatmeal Breakfast Stout, but it does not make me moan like it does my friend, AK.  But, frankly, I would take any excuse to go to Kite & Key.  I love that bar and its bartenders, but my friends are tired of it.)  After work on Wednesday, you make your way to a bar that will likely be crowded due to your home team’s Stanley cup playoffs and a simultaneous bus pub crawl.  But, you power through this apprehension for your friend, who’s been patron-ing bars with you all week.  There is an exciting beer list: With a particularly rare beer:Unfortunately, you will need such a high abv to temper the discomfort of sweating in such a humid, crowded bar.  AK started with the Cerise, I think, and I went with the Devil Dancer because I’ve had the Centennial and Pale Ale elsewhere.  

Once settled in the corner, I headed out into the sea of drinkers again to find the brewer.  What else is Beer Week for?  I found a man with a Founders fleece on and asked if he was the brewer.  He said no and handed me off to Dave Engbers, an actual founder of Founders.  Not a sales guy.  Not a marketing guy.  An actual founder.  We talked the beer list and it turned out he was drinking the last of the Kentucky Breakfast (11.2% abv) because it was on firkin.  The kind man then offered my friend and I a sip, which I gladly accepted.  (Side note: I am totally ill right now and should not be surprised for all the sharing.)  It was totally boozy and whiskey rich.  I would enjoy it in the winter, but not in a sweaty, crowded bar.  We continued talking and he kept referring to Mike, the other founder who was present, but elusive.  Eventually, some tall men came over and stole Dave’s attention, so I thanked him and headed back to the bar.  

The unexpected delightful part: I was torn between another Devil Dancer and the Centennial IPA for my second round.  Dave happened to be ordering another round for his crew and I asked what he would recommend.  He explained that Devil Dancer is rare, so I clearly had to go with that.  He put it on the Founders tab.  

Extra delightful: 1) The fleece guy saw that I was holding my camera while talking with Dave and offered to take our picture.  2) I had been reading the menu, which referred to Founders’ founders Dave and Mike.  When fleece guy asked me how I like the photo from across the bar, I pointed at the menu and asked if he was Mike.  It turns out, he was the other (very shy) founder.  I wanted a photo with him, too, but there’s a reason he stays behind the camera.  Witness protection program maybe??  Yeah, that was a terrible telling of that revelation. But, you get the idea, hopefully.