Like a lot of college students, Paul Fryman developed a true appreciation for beer during his four years on campus at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA.
Unlike a lot of college students, the Wayne County native wasn’t satisfied with merely consuming it in large quantities.
He had bigger ideas.
He wanted to brew it.
It was after spending a semester abroad in Germany — where beer-making is a centuries-old art form — that Paul decided to dedicate his senior thesis to the impact of microbreweries on the American beer industry.
Well, the thesis was brilliant, Paul earned his degree, and it finally came time to head out into the world and make a living.
Brewing beer, naturally.
He started at Great Divide Brewing in Denver.
Then he moved to Lake Placid, N.Y., to join the team at Great Adirondack Brewing.
Before long, though, he was back out West — Jackson Hole, Wyo., to be specific, where he mixed hops and grain for Snake River Brewing.
But then Great Adirondack called. They needed a head brewer, and so Paul headed back East.
Thousands of miles and thousands of barrels later, he returned home to Wooster in 2011 and opened JAFB with his father, Jerry, and brother, Tony.
After all, the people of Wooster deserve great beer too.