Back East Brewing had just opened a brand new taproom alongside a major overhaul of its production facility when head brewer Vinny, a former coworker and longtime friend, brought me in to document it. What started as a single shoot of the team and the new equipment grew into a long-term relationship, with Back East calling me up to the brewery whenever there was something worth capturing. When the new taproom opened, my photos covered one of its walls from end to end. They stayed up for four years.
The first shoot focused on the people and machinery behind the new facility, with the brewing team at work on a production floor that had just been rebuilt. From there, the work followed Back East's calendar. I came up as needed to shoot new beers and to capture the taproom as it filled out and found its rhythm. Because I kept coming back, every visit started with already knowing the space and the people in it.
