Get the low down on an integral part of the Payette production crew
Staff feature: Cole schott
For our next installment of Behind the Beer, we sat down with Mr. William Cole Schott II. The man goes by many names around here: Cole, Schotty Grooves, Tex, or my personal favorite, John Grady Cole. Hailing from deep in the heart of Texas- Alpine, Texas to be exact, he grew up as a legitimate, no joke, cowboy on his family ranch doing exactly what cowboys do; roping, herding, and doctoring cattle. If you haven’t met Cole you can tell pretty quickly on a Friday or Saturday night that he rocks that cowboy hat and denim in the realest sense possible.
Cole cut his teeth brewing at Big Bend Brewing Company, right outside of Big Bend National Park while pursuing his bachelor’s degree in history. Much like the rest of us he relocated to Idaho a few years ago for the obviously enticing lifestyle in the Mountain West. When he’s not fly fishing, hunting, or kayaking, you might be lucky enough to find him singing and performing his own original songs right here at Payette.
While the craft beer bug caught Cole early on, he has turned that into a solid lifestyle, spanning 2 states and 4 years, with a fair amount of travel mixed in. Cole now spends his days performing, at least in title, Cellarman duties here at Payette. Although, like most of the production ninjas we’re lucky to work with, each of these guys and gals are serious jacks-of-all-trades in the beer industry. At any given time, you might find him helping with a brew, checking and transferring batches in the fermentation tanks, or filling orders for our distributors.
If you happen to see Cole at the brewery or with his crew rocking out in Downtown Boise, probably to some badass country jams, go say hello, ask him about Waylon Jennings, and buy him a yellow belly because he deserves it.