[VIDEO DESC & TRANSCRIPT: Mark is standing in the brewery. The NAD logo is at the bottom right corner.
MARK: I’m the head brewer here which means I’m responsible for all of the beer brewing we do on-site and making sure our beer is on tap. There’s a lot of cleaning involved — I make sure the tanks, kegs, and other materials are clean. There’s also a lot of science behind the scenes in what makes it a beer! There are four main ingredients that make a beer: water, malt, hops, and yeast. The most rewarding thing as a brewer about this place is seeing my customers satisfied, enjoying our beer, and having a good time here. We want this to be a place where people can gather and just hang out with our community.
Black and white clip of Mark unlocking the front door and opening the door. In the center, a white border surrounds white text “MARK” underneath, appears in white text “HEAD BREWER / — CO-OWNER OF STREETCAR 82”.
MARK: Hello! I’m Mark Burke, I’m one of the owners and the head brewer here at Streetcar 82.
Black and white clip of Mark filling a pint with beer on tap.
MARK: I’ve been a home brewer for years. A Gallaudet professor, Tom Baldridge, knew I brewed beer at home and he invited me to enter the business pitch competition at Gallaudet University about an opportunity to open a brewery. I mean, I thought about opening a brewery occasionally, but I never seriously pursued it until that moment where I realized, “Why not!?” I asked some friends to join me with this idea and pitch it. We entered into the pitch competition with our selling point, “Beer brings the community together.” Even though we didn’t win the competition, we did win the audience favorite vote. After that, I decided to study financing, business plans, researched local breweries — to see if this idea would be possible and we went from there. It took us almost two years to set up our business, it was challenging but it was also fun!
Black and white clip of Mark filling a pint with beer on tap.
MARK: Before opening this brewery, I was involved in the school system for many years as a school administrator. I was an Athletic Director at several schools for the deaf. It was a big career change from being a school administrator to being a brewer, but I believe my experiences from there applied to opening a business. I mean, to open a business you need to be able to manage your projects, interact with customers, and other people from all walks of life. My experience as a school administrator helped me run this place too.
Black and white clip of Mark giving someone their beer off the screen.
MARK: Brewing beer is a skill you learn by actually doing it. I’m a self-taught brewer basically, I learn things as I go. I read some things before but didn’t fully get it until I finally did it and finally understood. It is a learning process and I’m still learning every day! Before we opened, we talked a lot with other brewers — we went to a lot of breweries, shadowed people at their brewery, and I’d asked a lot of questions. They told me that I got the right idea. The bottom line was how beer is brewed. When things go wrong or differently, you’ll figure it out as you go through the process. One of the other reasons why I wanted to open a brewery was not just to provide a job for myself or few others, but to give an opportunity for any other deaf people to work behind a bar, learn how to make beer, and stuff. We had an intern from Gallaudet University who started out as an intern. Then when we opened the brewery, we decided to hire him as our first employee and an assistant brewer! He also works behind the bar. He wants to open a brewery himself too, so he’s getting a great first hand experience while we go through this. He learns from the mistakes we made.
Black and white clip of Mark checking the kegs.
MARK: I didn’t dream of being a brewer growing up, but I had it in me that I wanted to start a business but I was never sure of what kind of business. I didn’t know what my heart wanted. Right now, brewing beer is hot out there and hey, I’ve always liked a good beer! I enjoy brewing a beer. Especially seeing our customers get great satisfaction out of it.
Black and white clip of Mark taking a client’s beer order. White text appears at the bottom center, “Our brewery is a place where people gather and for some its a community hub. People come here for good beer, meet old friends, and make new friends.” Light blue text “- Mark” and a light blue line outlines the left side of the text.
MARK: If you want to make beer in the future, I’d recommend studying science or chemistry. Study yeast and fermentation, this study is very trendy with our culture nowadays, with Kombchua and food. Bread especially with the yeast and fermentation. It’s truly a wonderful thing and it’s something we all should learn more about!
Black and white clip of Mark checking the beer’s acidity in a small tube next to the tanks.
MARK: If you want to open a brewery, I say do it! The brewery culture is growing rapidly and the support you get from your local breweries is fantastic. When we opened the brewery, I reached out to other local breweries who told us to do it and if we needed anything, we could let them know. I really felt like we had their support. It’s important to connect with your local community too! With Streetcar 82, our community has really supported us through the entire journey.
Black and white clip of Mark taking customers’ beer orders. Video cuts to a dark blue background. Red alphabet letters of “N-A-D” in American Sign Language appear one by one in the center of the video. The copyright text appears in white underneath, “National Association of the Deaf, Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved”.]