This blog will be my personal opinions on beer culture as well as reviews of beers I try. I welcome comments and discussion as long as it’s tasteful and in the spirit of beer. You may agree with me or disagree with me, either way is fine. Beer is a very subjective drink and one beer that a person may love, another simply can’t stand. That is the beauty of it all. There is so much flavor and aroma, as well as the overall experience, that everyone has an opinion and no two are ever going to be the same.

Here is a little about my brewing and beer enjoyment background. I was introduced to real beer in the early 90′s, prior to that it was all Budweiser products for me. Little did I know at that very young age, that there was so much more to beer enjoyment than just downing some suds to get a buzz. Then, one day after work I went to a little pub with a coworker and he told me we had to drink a yard of beer. So I was just about to order a Bud Light when he stopped me and said, “You can’t get a yard of Bud Light. You should try Hacker-Pschorr Weisse, you’ll like that”. Well, that was my gateway beer to many many other styles. Today if someone sees me with a Bud, Miller, or Coors in my hand they are shocked, I very rarely drink them. I am a believer that every beer has it’s place and I don’t think I’m above drinking them. I just generally choose not to because they are so lacking in flavor and aroma.

I then took up homebrewing in 2003 and loved it. I went the extract with grains route, and after my first batch became hooked. My first batch was also my only kit batch because what interested me the most about brewing was the ability to create my own custom beer. So I formulated my first extract with grains recipe on my second run, and have been off the races since. I won a few awards with extract before moving into the all grain arena, and that is where I still am today. I’d say my best brewing accomplishments have been taking runner up to a commercial brewery at a local beer festival for the “Best of the Fest” and lost by only 4 votes. My second was a 45 point California Common I made in celebration of my first born son. This batch not only holds an average score 43 points in competition, but was the batch that we gave out as gifts to the doctors, nurses, and our family. So I am happy it was a good one.

After I won my first medal in homebrewing competition, I was interested in becoming a beer judge. So I contacted the BJCP who pointed to a nearby homebrewing club who was holding a class. I stated that I never even stewarded a competition before and they told me that was OK, I could still take the course and test without doing that first. So I set a goal for myself of scoring at least a 70 on my first run through the test. I studied hard during the course and worked my palate. The day of the three hour written essay  and tasting exam came, and after an excruciating long wait for my results to come, I ended up scoring a 72, which was enough to get me to the certified level once I had enough experience points. Now, prior to the class I never evaluated a beer formally and had to learn everything from the ground up. When I took the course I was a very novice brewer, with no tasting experience under my belt. So for me, this was a big accomplishment. Several competitions later, I had enough points to earn my certified rank, which is where I am at today.

We had a homebrew club in the city where I lived, but we were a young club and didn’t have the experience to have a BJCP judge or prep course here, that is why I had to go to a different club for the exam. But myself, along with one other member did make the trip and we are both still judging today. I also was the President of our local homebrew club for  a year, then I decided not to run again because I was going to school for Networking and my schedule as well as family life didn’t give me the time to focus on the club any more as much as I would have liked. Someday after I am done with school, I think I’ll run again. But for now, I am happy just giving short classes on things like hops, beer evaluation, and doctored beer labs.

That all pretty much brings me to where I am today brewing.

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