Meet the Cast: Joe Vogelbacher

Joe Vogelbacher is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sugar Creek Brewing Company in Charlotte, NC. He is a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and holds a degree in Marine Engineering Systems and an Unlimited Marine Engineering License with the U.S. Coast Guard. Upon graduation, Joe completed his service obligation as a Nuclear Test Engineer supporting the nuclear refueling and overhaul of the CVN 69 Eisenhower aircraft carrier. He has served 16 years as a U.S. Naval Reserve Officer and has reached the rank of Commander. Joe has served the Navy in various locations around the world, most recently deploying to Kabul, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Joe Vogelbacher, Founder and CEO of Sugar Creek Brewing Co.

For the last 12 years, Joe has nurtured a love for business and has made his living as an entrepreneur. However, it wasn’t until 2014 when he founded Sugar Creek Brewing that he realized his true passion in the art, science and execution of craft brewing.

Since then Joe has received professional training from Siebel Institute and has worked his way through the Cicerone program, becoming one of the first 25 Advanced Cicerones in the world. Joe has judged beer in international competitions and is an experienced beer sensory taste panelist having clocked over 250 hours of taster training from Cara Technologies. Joe’s favorite beer styles to drink and brew are the classic beers of Belgium and his interpretations of the styles have received numerous medals in national and international competitions.

Hofbräuhaus

A musing by co-Director Scott Owen

By the time we embarked on the German leg of filming Beers of Joy, I had had the opportunity, dare I say "luxury" to enjoy some of the best beers on earth. Which is no doubt is a true privilege and regrettably it had gone to my head. That's about how I felt before we arrived at the Hofbräuhaus. It seemed like just another stop on the comprehensive beer journey checklist. I mean come on, what more can there be to a biergarten that I haven't already seen? Shame on me, the cobblestone streets leading up to the Hofbräuhaus are somehow electrifying, the only thing I can closely relate it to would be Mardi Gras in New Orleans. People are crowded around live street performances, bands playing, people funneling in and out of coffee shops, pastry shops, it's a thing.

How do you say “the regulars” in German?

So here it is. I have been called a beers snob, which is a term I'm okay with, if it means that I like drinking good beer then so be it. Go ahead tag me @skofilm #beersnob I can live with it. But the fact that I enjoy good beer shouldn't keep me from enjoying all types of beer, in all different situations. A beer drinker is and should be about inclusion, beer is not exclusive but rather the beverage for all. So I should never have had my big nose lifted in the air as we entered the Hofbräuhaus hallowed grounds.

First person view heading into a true social gathering place.

The Hofbräuhaus was for me an unexpected experience. First of all, let's talk about the beer. Frankly, and with full transparency I was expecting the beer to be kind of... well... ho hum - stadium beer, you know, beer that fits the scene but doesn't necessarily "wow" you with flavor. I was so wrong... Like really wrong. Wrong Wrong. The beer is GREAT and I don't use that term loosely when talking about the world's most important beverage. When you walk in, you see waiters and waitresses walking around - fists full of massive goblets sloshing with beer. You might think, that's a little bit excessive, isn't it? No. It is not, not at all. You see the Germans have the whole beer thing figured out. That's what happens when you've been brewing beer for thousands of years. Once you surrender to the happy vibe that is all around, you don't want a small flight of beers to sample, you want a massive tanker of beer so you don't have to keep asking for another one. It's brilliant, bloody brilliant. Centuries of perfecting beer, poured into massive glasses, mixed with live music, and friendly people. This should be part of everyone's beer pilgrimage.

Portrait of a filmmaker converted.

IMHO don't even bother stopping by the Hofbräuhaus if you are just going to have a look around and then get back on your tour bus. You will have literally missed out on what the Hofbräuhaus IS. While it's german by location and history it really is just a human place, I bet there were no less than 10 or 15 different languages being spoken at different tables. Humans relaxing, slowing down, smiling, laughing, all the things we don't do enough of. You can't be in a hurry when you visit Hofbräuhaus because people deserve your attention, the beer deserves your attention and you can't rush through eating a Hofbräuhaus pig knuckle, definitely pig knuckle (mouth salivating).

And the band played on.

★★★★

Chef Sean Z. Paxton in between takes and tastes while on location in Indiana.

Check out Darren Tilby’s review of Beers of Joy from UK FIlm Review:

#HomerSimpson famously said, “...alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.” That was Homer’s loving tribute to his favourite drink...beer. And Beers of Joy is David Swift and Scott Owen’s own tribute to the nectar of life. A riff on the well-known phrase, ‘tears of joy’, Swift and Owen’s #documentary delves into the history of #brewing and explores our centuries-old love of #beer through four individuals, whose lives revolve around the craft.

“I have to taste some #beer, I’m studying.” An excuse I’ve used more than a few times in my life, rarely has it ended well. But when Ryan Daley says it as he prepares for the prestigious Master Cicerone exam (the #beer equivalent to wine’s Master Sommelier), he actually means it. That's right, Ryan Daley and fellow Master Cicerone hopeful, Joe Vogelbacher, actually have to sample #beer as part of an examination. But don't envy them too much, this particular exam is one of the hardest in the world, and has a 99%-100% fail rate.

We’re also introduced to Tonya Cornett (an American brewer) as she embarks upon a pilgrimage to Germany and Sean Z. Paxton (a #beer chef) as he plans a meal centred around traditional cooking techniques and #beers. Both of these individual’s “adventures” are a studious look of the anatomy of #beer throughout the centuries. Cornett, during her travels, examines the ancient history of European #beer craftsmanship, visiting a monastery which has been #brewing #beer for one-thousand years; whilst Paxton explores the more recent history of American #brewing during the pilgrim-era.

The film cuts across these four characters throughout, occasionally interjecting short segments of the everyman and woman explaining their own particular love of #beer. But despite this back-and-forth, the film never felt confusing and never lost my attention. Editor, #MikeCooley (also producer and cinematographer), has done a great job of keeping the film in good order; ensuring the flow of the film remains unhindered and true. The film’s juxtaposition of the history of German and American beer-making and of these two fundamentally different individuals, as they go through the same examination, at the same time, is really well judged and brilliantly realised.

The only not so well-judged issue here is the movie's apparent glorification of a well-known and addictive drug that has devastated people's lives. By its very nature, this is an issue which will bother people to varying degrees, largely based on their own personal experiences. For me, it wasn't a huge problem. But there are moments which seem a little inappropriate in today's climate, and it will be a problem for some people, so it's worth bearing in mind.

With all said and done, I found Beers of Joy to be a well-made, entertaining, informative and – in spite of the aforementioned issue of propriety – a well-intentioned piece of film-making. At almost 2-hours in length, it's a long film. But not once did it lose my attention, nor did it ever feel disordered or abstruse. Beers of Joy is well worth a viewing, just be sure to have a few cold #beers in the house when you do!

A documentary that focuses solely on beer!

James Tai, Joe Vogelbacher, Ryan Daley, and Gavin Harper prepare for the grueling Master Cicerone exam.

The review of Beers of Joy from Carl Burgess at Screen Critix (screencritix.com):

Directors Scott Owen and David Swift take us on a journey that is all-things beer related in the slick documentary Beers of Joy. Here is our review.

Although documentaries have never been out-of-fashion per se, they seem to be all the rage recently. You only have to look at Netflix to see an abundance of documentaries, with the majority of them focusing on serial killers and other true crimes. Making a Murder, for example, has been a massive success and talked about the world over. Now, thanks to Scott Owen and David Swift, there is a new documentary on the block, and one for those not interested in the darker side of life.

A documentary that focuses solely on beer!

I think the majority of us have had experiences with beer before. The alcoholic beverage is popular all over the world and is actually the third most popular beverage, behind water and tea. Yet, many of us are still unaware of the journey a beer take. I knew it involved yeast and something called hops, but that was the extent of my knowledge. Now, thanks to Beers of Joy, my knowledge has increased.

 The documentary, as expected, shows us how beer came to be and the process of making it, but there is a lot more to the movie too. We get to see a couple of beer affeciandos in training to be Master Cicerone’s, which is like a master brewer, but it is extremely difficult to achieve, with only fifteen Master Cicerones in the world. The candidates have to test themselves, with the help of partners and colleagues, tasting and smelling beer to guess what type of ales they are and from what regions. From someone who wouldn’t know his Carlsberg from his Heineken, it all looked rather alien. The skills were impressive to behold.

We also get to see how a “Home Brew Chef” uses beer to cook fantastic meals and teach others his methods. The food on display really made me hungry, and also got me wanting to experiment in the kitchen myself.

Beers of Joy is a well-made film. It comes in at two hours run-time, and that may seem a little long to many, but it was thoroughly enjoyable. It looks and sounds professional throughout, with good use of lenses, drones, and gimbals. The editing is one of the most impressive aspects, keeping the audience invested throughout the 120 minutes.

If you love beer, you may very well enjoy Beers of Joy. If you like documentaries, you may very well enjoy Beers of Joy. I know I did. Now, whose round is it?

4.5 / 5 stars     

Pour with Vigor!

Pour with Vigor!

So begins the story of our story

As Directors and beer enthusiasts, it was an incredible experience for us to discover and document the amazing and compelling stories of the remarkable characters in BEERS OF JOY. This journey for us began as a desire to make the world’s greatest documentary about beer.

Having tempered our vision with the reality that we’d get 2 hours to tell the story of the world’s most ubiquitous brewed beverage, we refined our scope to follow people we had become passionate about. We first encountered individuals seeking to certify themselves as true experts of the craft of beer, Cicerones, and discovered the elite realm of Master Cicerone which at the time only 13 people had achieved. Among the several dozen people pursuing that ultimate certification, we met Ryan Daley and Joe Vogelbacher. Ryan’s story captivated us as a family man from upstate New York, achieving Master Cicerone would literally catapult him up in his profession of raising the awareness and cultural intelligence associated with beer.

Joe, on the other hand, had dedicated the past half decade to launching his brewery Sugar Creek Brewing Co. in Charlotte, NC. With his partners, they had carved for themselves an early and important place in their market of independent craft brewers, themselves seeking to bring the best of Belgian style brewing to their region in the US. Achieving Master Cicerone for Joe would validate their beer in a way few other distinctions could, as well as arm Joe with the ability to better guide customers and beer enthusiasts through the world of beer.

You might think that we thought the story would be complete just with our immersion into the lives and communities of these two men. Alas, beer is bigger than that. We wanted to anchor our perspective with a look at the tradition and historical influence the beverage has had in this and past civilizations. We encountered two more characters we knew our audience would relish some vicarious adventures with, innovation brewer Tonya Cornett and the Home Brew Chef, Sean Z. Paxton.

With Tonya, we were privileged to get a glimpse of a brewer literally at the top of her game in crafting new beers pushing the boundaries of flavor. She has one of the most successful competition records of any American brewer in recent history, and her team at 10 Barrel Brewing Co. in Bend, OR continues to innovate and delight their consumers in OR, CA, CO, and ID via their brewpubs. What does a brewer with this track record seek out for motivation? It turns out her passion for tradition is as strong as ours, and we followed her to Europe (Germany and ultimately Italy) in pursuit of both the old (brewing Berliner Weisse in the traditional methods) and new (well, we don’t want to spoil that for you).

Sean, in counterpoint to Tonya’s European exploration, honed in on the origin story of American brewing. Combining his career as a successful and prolific chef with his personal love of brewing, he revealed to us early on his enjoyment of researching the history behind recipes, styles, and flavors. That said, he hadn’t yet had the opportunity to personally explore the roots of our own country’s history as it related to beer and culinary styles. Little did we know the pivotal role brewing has played throughout American history since our founding.

If you’ve read this far, then you’ve graced us with enough attention to understand the premise we put before you in our film. We encourage you to check it our on our on demand page to find out where you can watch the film today, and we gladly encourage you to pair it with your favorite brew!