This Is Us: Man quits his job to tell beer's story in photos

At 25, Matthew Janzen quit his full-time job as an advertising copywriter — chucked it all to explore every angle of Wisconsin's brewing industry, from ingredient deliveries to the top of the tower in the former Milwaukee Gas Light Co. building that is soon to open as City Lights Brewery.

It was a bold move. But Janzen, a Waterloo native who calls Milwaukee home, prefers to think of it as a wistful one.

"I wasn't really passionate about writing about banks or nonprofits, as bad as that might sound," Janzen said. "I wanted to learn more about craft beer. The best way for me to find out what job I could find in the craft beer industry is to find out what all the jobs were."

He grabbed a camera and began taking photographs. He stood in fields. He stood on ladders. He leaned over boiling brew kettles. The images he captured became the 256 pages of "State of Craft Beer," a book he put together documenting the brewing business in Wisconsin.

"The closest I ever came to dying happened while taking photos at Rocky Reef (Brewing) up in Woodruff," Janzen said. "I was shooting a malt delivery from across the parking lot when a minivan behind me threw itself in reverse. I could feel the air rush past me as I stood in disbelief. If I was standing two feet to the right, I would have been an Aerostar speed bump."

In all, he visited more than 120 locations; 95 of them were breweries.

Janzen started in August 2015. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in journalism, advertising and media studies, he gave himself a deadline of one year to have enough photos for a coffee-table picture book.

He met that deadline, but another one looms. Janzen needs nearly $30,000 more to get the book printed so it can be available in time for Christmas. He's earned $5,000 from a Kickstarter campaign, but that effort ends at noon on Tuesday.

He plans to sell the books online and in stores for $35 each.

The final phase of fundraising is, Janzen hopes, the final step in a project that he says has taken up 80% of his time in the past year.

On one trip, Janzen spent the night in his car to be on time for brewing at Hinterland Brewery in Green Bay. He has driven through every kind of Wisconsin weather and took photos in weather that was 19 below.

"I've been to hop farms, barley fields for the harvest, honey farms. I haven't left this state since then except for a family trip," Janzen said.

That's not entirely true. Janzen, who is in a Marine Corps Reserve scout sniper platoon, now trains other Marines to shoot guns, not cameras.

Initial printing of the book in Wisconsin would cost $33,000, Janzen said. He promised $2,000 to the book designer. If he doesn't make his Kickstarter deadline, he might consider finding cheaper materials for the pages and the cover.

But it's not his first choice.

"I'm kind of one of those guys that really likes supporting local products when I can," Janzen said. "If this became anything, I didn't want to start off going the cheap route or circumventing jobs in Wisconsin.

"I think it's part of the reason that I picked the craft beer industry. I think that's how their values align. I really get behind that."

Editor's note: In an earlier version of this story, the photo of Deb Carey incorrectly said she was owner of New Glarus Brewing. She is founder and president.

About this feature 

This Is Us is a recurring feature in the Journal Sentinel Green Sheet, with stories on the people, places and things reflecting the spirit and heart of our community.