Member Bios - tell us about yourself

[Beersk]

Welcome, Rob. My homebrew club is very much the same way. Me and another guy are the only ones who brew lagers with any regularity, so we get a fair amount of questions about it. They all brew IPAs for the most part...

[asdf-user]

Deleted

[Brandon]

[caedus]

Where abouts in California are you headed? I am in the Sacramento area, feel free to reach out.

[asdf-user]

[caedus]

Total Wine carries Augustiner Edelstoff in the valley. Not fresh but alright nonetheless.

Trumer Pils from the tap is good stuff too. Other than that... don't try Sudwerk. You will be disappointed.

[KenLenard]

Hey guys. I'm finally over here. I did see a topic about the low-O2 philosophy in one of the forums but if anyone can point me to where the most activity is for it, let me know.

I'm Ken from Chicago. Brewing since 1999. I am of Austrian descent and I enjoy brewing German, Austrian and Czech-style beers. My wife and I went to Warsaw, Vienna, Brataslava, Prague and Munich in 2013 and it was great all the way around. Prost.

[Bilsch]

Welcome Ken.

[Brandon]

Hey Ken...over here. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=296

[mchrispen]

Introductions... everyone calls me Matt. Been brewing seriously going on for about 7 years. Just hit beer batch 122. I also blog at accidentalis.com, largely focusing on water chemistry (especially Bru'n Water tutorial) and supporting the Brew-Magic. After a year fighting with mashing in a cooler, I sold a 2004 GTO and bought the Brew-Magic. After about 6 months of not seeing an improvement with the new investment, I finally got a water analysis and dove deep into water chemistry. Once I discovered the ridiculous alkalinity and sodium levels of my municipal water, I bought a big RO system and everything changed. More recently - my palette has shifted significantly from IPAs to more subtle styles. Traveling Europe and the UK extensively, I have gravitated that direction more and more. Last 8 brews (as, of last week) have been solely focused on lager brewing (using that term loosely). I am also fascinated with farmhouse/saisons, but more on the tart, but non-sour side.

I am BJCP Certified, working on National qualification. I also have my Mead Endorsement, and will sit for the Cider Endorsement when that is ready. I am very active in competition coordination (NHC Austin First Round most recently), less active in competing with beer. I will submit to 4-5 competitions per year. On the mead making side - I compete much more often and successfully. I also help moderate and contribute to BrewUnited.com, Reddit, and occasionally as a guest writer here and there.

Looking forward to improving both techniques and recipes, but really towards creating more fully flavored and "authentic" flavors in my ales and lagers.

Full disclosure: I am friends with a number of home-brew bloggers and personalities, many of whom maybe controversial here. I like to explore all sides of an issue, and try to avoid personality conflicts, name calling, etc. I am also very good friends with Chris Colby (former BYO editor, Beerandwinejournal.com, author), who lives down the road. All that said, I am by nature a skeptic, so will seek to confirm concepts and ideas and form my own opinions through experience and research.