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Brewer of the Month
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Monday, 30 November 2009 00:00 |
 Happy New Year My Fellow Brewers!
It’s the start of another decade and a new locale for me and my family as we recently transplanted from Los Angeles, CA (my home of 35 years) to Gilbert, AZ. By day, I’m a sales manager for a global telecommunications company and I share my home with my beautiful wife and our 2 children.
Homebrewing is a hobby that my whole family can support. My wife is my designated taster and my son stands on a chair to watch me brew. I even brewed up a batch of homemade root beer with my daughter’s help. I also picked up several Mr.Beer kits and gave them away as gifts to friends, who have also been bit by the brewing bug. Needless to say, Mr.Beer has become a regular topic in my circle of friends and every get-together usually consists of sampling a few homebrews and praising/critiquing each other’s progress. It truly has been a bonding experience.
I received my 1st kit as a gift from my dad on my 33rd birthday. Before brewing my 1st batch, I did some research on the Internet and luckily stumbled upon MrBeerFans.com, where I found brewers like D Rock, Eric and many other experienced Mr. Beer brewers to guide me through my first batch. I was hooked before I got the lid on the fermenter --and lucky for me, my dad picked me up a second kit and that allowed me to get a pipeline going.
I needed more ingredients to feed my hunger, so I joined the Mr. Beer Brew Club and bought enough recipes to keep me brewing through the summer and fall. I started playing around with fermentables and adjuncts as my brewing knowledge grew. This allowed me to move onto to steeping grains, which in turn lead me to create and design my own recipes. I just recently made my 1st All Grain (a New Year’s Goal that I’m glad I kept) and the process opened my eyes as to why a Mr.Beer kit is a must for the novice brewer. I fear many brewers give up before they truly get started because they are overwhelmed by the complex process and expense that exists with the majority of the homebrewing “starter” kits available at their LHBS. You have to learn the basics before you have any hope of making a great beer and the Mr. Beer process provides a new brewer with an excellent roadmap that will help them avoid these pitfalls. That said, I love the educational aspect of the brewing process, and learning about the chemistry and technology involved in the brewing process has shown me enjoyment I haven’t experienced since I played soccer in grade school.
I have been fortunate enough to have shared many beers with homebrewers I have met through forums like this, mrbeerfans.com and HBT and I plan on continuing to share brews with my fellow Mr. Beer Alumni as my travels allow. Pretty sure I’m going to need to make a trip to Colorado soon to share some suds with the likes of D Rock, Druce and Jkarp and I’m pretty sure Eric wouldn’t mind tossing back a brew or 2 when I Head down to Tucson. Time to burn up some frequent flier miles, but if you are ever in the Phoenix area, feel free to drop me a line and stop by for a homebrew or 10.
Prost!
1) How long have you been brewing?
I’ve been brewing for a glorious year and a half.
2) What is your favorite beer?
Wow, just one? Well, I’ve kinda been on a New Belgium kick lately and I just made a 1554 clone that will be ready by the time this is published, but I have also been enjoying their 2 Below throughout the holiday season. However, if I had to pick, my all-time favorite brew is Köstritzer Schwarzbier, a German Black Lager. In the near future I will be visiting their brewery in Germany and try my hardest to create a worthy clone.
3) Who would you most like to share a beer with?
Another tough question. Not sure if I can narrow this down to just one, but these names come to mind:
Jim Koch- I really believe he kicked open the door for many homebrewers by taking on the big guns of BMC. I would love to get his perspective on homebrewing over the last 20 years.
Jamil Zainasheff- If Jim kicked the open door, then Jamil knocked it off it’s hinges and brought homebrewing into the mainstream.
Brett Favre- I’m a life long Vikings fan (couldn’t tell that from the pic huh?) and maybe a year ago, he wouldn’t have made the list, but this guy loves the game of Football and how could anyone not want to sit back and discuss the game with someone who is so passionate about the sport of football.
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