Craft Beer: A Hopumentary is 15 minutes of crafty film-making

Craft brewers are characters. They’re also everyday Joes or Janes who decide one day they need to embrace their inner brew spirit and start creating new recipes for drinkers just like them. Need an example? Watch, learn and laugh as Ron Lindenbusch, bear weasel and CMO at Lagunitas Brewing Co., as he talks about the early days of the craft brewing industry in the opener of this awesome 15-minute video called Craft Beer: A Hopumentary. Then just go ahead and watch the rest of it, but heed this WARNING: It will inspire you to start brewing craft beer.

Filmmakers Jeremy Williams and Phil Shutz have made this impressive mini documentary about the San Francisco beer movement, profiling the likes of local brew hounds like Lagunitas Brewery Co., City Beer Store, Zeitgeist and Southern Pacific Brewing. But what this “hopumentary” captures the most is the passion and personalities of these great craft connoisseurs. According to SFWeekly:

“It was definitely a lot of fun to make. All of the folks involved in front of the camera couldn’t have been more open or interested and just telling their story, excited about getting their story out,” says Schulz.

Right now the team is showing it around town and hope to submit it to festivals. And as for a feature? It could be in the works. “For me, it was a great growth experience,” Schulz says, talking about how much he learned about craft brewing thanks to the generosity of the people in front of and behind the camera — including a crewmember who donated his long-term bottle cap collection for the opener.