Peter Johann · Engineer. Builder. Independent thinker.
Understand deeply. Build forward.
I want to understand what is happening, why it happens, and what we can do about it. From automation to living cultures, I turn that curiosity into practical work.
Observation is where understanding begins.From my photography archive
Why I share my story
Understanding starts with getting to know each other.
I created this website to share how I think, what matters to me, and what I’ve learned through work, life, and curiosity.
Through these stories and projects, I hope you’ll get a clearer picture of the person behind them—enough to decide whether you’d like to stay in touch, exchange ideas, or work together.
For me, good communication begins with understanding. From there, trust can grow, and successful cooperation becomes possible.
01 Independent thought02 Practical experience03 Creative exploration04 A constructive purpose
My story
Learning to see. Finding ways to help.
I returned to the same subjects through all four seasons, photographing growth, decline, and change. Looking carefully became a way of understanding the world.
That habit followed me into engineering, product development, and life in different countries. Then a conversation at a grocery checkout opened an entirely new creative world.
I describe my guiding principle as “pro survival.” To me, that means actions that help life endure and thrive, deepen understanding, lift our emotional state, and support better decisions.
01 / Understanding
Look beneath the surface.
I approach problems analytically. I want to understand the system, its constraints, and the consequences of changing it. A convincing explanation should help us decide what to do next.
02 / Consequences
Ask what an action makes possible.
My measure of a decision is what follows from it: more ability to survive and thrive, more understanding, a better emotional outlook, and better choices. These are the outcomes I want my actions to support.
03 / Contribution
Help people move forward.
I want to support people, and build relationships in which support goes both ways. Sharing knowledge and putting experience to use are part of the future I want to build.
Experience that shapes my thinking
Ideas meet reality in the work.
My background spans electrical engineering, factory automation, business ownership, construction, and facilities for biotechnology. Each has given me another way to understand how things work together.
From my engineering archive
Understanding the details. Seeing how they connect.
A technical system, seen up close. · Silent clip
Observe the working details
Understanding starts with a closer look.
My engineering work begins with understanding how the parts interact—and how the system behaves as a whole.
Engineering & enterprise
From a technical idea to a working operation.
Trained in electrical engineering in Germany, I went on to own an automation and robotics business. Building a company brought technical decisions into contact with customers, suppliers, and the responsibility of delivering.
Leadership & facilities
Systems that people depend on.
My experience includes serving as CTO at Clean Concept and working in facilities and manufacturing engineering for biotechnology. Equipment, infrastructure, vendors, and the people doing the work all have to come together.
Building & coordination
Making plans tangible.
I have built 15 houses and a factory building, managed vendors, and helped build a connected laboratory. These projects connect my analytical thinking with the practical details that make an idea usable.
I want my experience to keep opening possibilities—for myself and for people I can help.
My current interests connect practical engineering with experimentation: understanding wild yeast cultures, developing Brauhaus software, and finding better ways to measure, record, and learn from results.
I am interested in relationships where ideas can be examined seriously and turned into something worthwhile. That might begin with a technical problem, a shared experiment, or a conversation that gives us both a better understanding.
This website is where I will bring those efforts together: the thinking behind them, the work itself, and what I learn along the way.
Creativity in practice · Brauhaus
A different workshop. The same curious mind.
Brewing is an outlet for my creativity. It brings together living cultures, technical understanding, sensory judgment, and the pleasure of making something to share.
My brewing has earned 21 competition medals. The recognition matters to me because it puts creative work to an outside test—and gives me another reason to keep improving.
Ingredients. Process. Possibility.Image from my brewing journal · “Mash Temperature,” 2022
No beers match. Try another name or choose All beers.
Another expression of creativity
Giving a beer a visual identity.
Names and illustrated labels add another dimension to Brauhaus: a way to give each beer a character and a story.
A selected introduction to Peter’s beers—not a live stock list. Recipes and batch records remain in Brauhaus.
Less guessing. Better brewing.
Calculate it. Understand it.
Explore the full Brauhaus calculator collection, with formulas and live worked explanations. Try two quick tools below, or open the complete collection.
Estimate ABV from original and final specific gravity.
Estimated alcohol by volume5.3%
How it calculates
ABV (%) ≈ (OG − FG) × 131.25
OG is original specific gravity; FG is final specific gravity. The factor 131.25 converts the gravity drop into an approximate alcohol percentage. Results are rounded to one decimal place.Assumes no sugar additions or dilution after the OG measurement. This simple estimate becomes less accurate for strong beers. It is an estimate, not a laboratory measurement.
Hop substitution
Keep the same alpha-acid contribution when changing hops.
Replacement hop weight46.9 g
How it calculates
New weight = original weight × original AA% ÷ new AA%
AA means alpha acids. Both percentages use the same units, so their ratio gives the weight adjustment. Results are rounded to one decimal place.Use the same addition time and comparable hop form. This balances alpha-acid quantity; it does not match aroma, flavor, or differences in utilization.
Engineering gives me tools to understand. Creative work gives me room to explore.
Photography, writing, and brewing are different ways of paying attention. They make room for observation, imagination, and the unexpected alongside the analytical work.
Architecture and the passage of timeDifferent places, different ways of buildingTravel as a way of observing
A higher target cannot replace a missing spare part.
Why do some people welcome performance measurement while others reject it? A warehouse transformation showed me how statistics can build trust when they lead to practical help.
