 Like many people who have gotten into brewing
beer, my journey began as an extract brewer. Nearly 20 years ago as I was
pursuing a PhD in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison,
a number of my friends were brewing and asked me to join them for their brew
days. After learning a bit about the process (and drinking their tasty brews) I
decided to jump in with a plastic bucket and 5 gallon kettle to brew styles of
beers I couldn’t readily find at the time. My early beers were… less than consistent.
Diacetly bombs? You bet. Oxidized? Oh yeah. I didn’t
really know what those flavors were at the time (just that homebrew twang,
right?), but some of the beer I brewed was decent, and I felt like it might be
a fun hobby to keep up.
Then I moved to the Netherlands, and the hobby
took a bit of a pause. Why brew beer when I could buy Tripel
Karmeliet, Duvel, or Rochefort 10 in the grocery store?!? During my time in
Europe I got exposed to a wide range of European beer styles. I started
developing my palette by doing sensory evaluations as I logged beer I was
drinking in RateBeer. I also started to appreciate
things in German and Czech lagers as well as Belgian and British ales that I
had never noticed or been exposed to before. It was an eye-opening experience
to the world of beer that led me to dive deeper into various brewing traditions
and the history of brewing around the world, something that I continue to geek
out about today.
Upon returning to the US and moving to Chicago,
I didn’t jump right back into brewing as other parts of life took over (kids
anyone?). Eventually I picked up the hobby again and quickly went to all grain
brewing. Around the same time, I decided to take the sensory evaluation of beer
I’d been doing myself to the next level by becoming a BJCP judge in 2019. The
combination of these things, and a certain global pandemic which shall not be
named, really kicked my brewing into high gear.
I didn’t get serious about competitive brewing
until last year when I met with some early success in some of the local Chicago
comps. After moving to the Chicago suburbs, I joined the Urban Knaves of Grain, and benefited immediately from the amazing community of brewers
and judges in the club.
Towards the end of 2021, I was introduced to the
Masters Homebrewer Program via the Competitive
Homebrewing
Facebook Group. I quickly became immersed into the world of competitive homebrewing, and managed to rank up from Proficient to
Grand Master I over the course of 2022. Through that group I decided to start
competing across the country in the Circuit
of America as well, where I
managed to place 5th last year. I’ve learned a ton from my fellow homebrewers
in that group as well as from my club, and have used those learning as I
competed in the 2022 MWHBOY circuit.
Winning MWHBOY this year is the culmination of
these experiences, a continued passion to learn as much as I can about the
brewing process, and a desire to continuously improve my own judging abilities
which I apply to my own beer. I’d like to express my gratitude to the following
folks who helped me along the way and continue to help me to become the best
brewer I can:
- Jeff Landers for talking through tips and tricks to
success in comps.
- Dave Fetty, Joe Formanek, Jay
Bakula, Steve McKenna, Mike Uchima,
Kevin Wojdak, and many other folks in UKG who
have provided me invaluable feedback as I bring my beer to club meetings.
- The broader Chicago homebrewing
community whose many competitions and social
events provide a great community and place to learn and share knowledge…
and beer.
- The Masters Homebrewer crew whose passion and
experience with competitive homebrewing is
unparalleled.
- And finally, my wife Katie Cronin and two wonderful
daughters, Basil and Annie, who have supported me and put up with the
smell of boiling wort that is often wafting through our house.
|