Member Bios - tell us about yourself

[Weizenberg]

Born in Munich, Bavaria. BSc (Hons) Computer Science, University of London, Queen Mary and Westfield College.

When my parents divorced I spent a few years at my grandparents estate in lower Bavaria (near Passau) where they looked after the surrounding farms livestock as veterinarians. I often spent time on these farms, watched (and helped a little) harvesting the wheat and barley, which often ended up at the maltster and brewery not far away.

I never thought much of it all, but my interests awakened when I started a job overseas in the US back in 2007. Colleagues of mine often made beers when I visited them the week end. I was a bit perplexed because I didn't remember anyone I've ever seen making beer doing what I know know as single infusion mash. I got a bit of help via tips from people back home and it wasn't long before I was decocting my own grains...

My interests are in professional brewing techniques practiced in Bavaria as well as the production of Helles, Pils, Weizen and the occasional ESB.

I live and work in Manchester, UK and spent a short time at Brew Labs doing a foundation course in professional brewing. I am quite proud of the fact that with this tradition I am following the footsteps of Dreher and Sedlmayr who were both educated in England as well.

[ctbeard]

Hi - I'm Chuck and I currently live in Cincinnati OH. I've been brewing for about 5 years and I went all grain about 2.5 years ago. Started brewing with Mr Beer and gathered lots of brewing lessons from several folks in Minneapolis before moving this past summer. I brew ales for now but I'm looking to get into lagers and specifically more German brews in 2016. I am of German heritage but have not been there yet. Looking forward to leveraging the experience out here and offering my own as we go!

[lhommedieu]

Hi, I'm Steve and I live in East Northport, NY (Long Island). I started brewing about 3 years ago and have recently started brewing German lagers. I'm fourth-generaion German-American on my Dad's side: his great-grandfather moved his family from Baden-Baden to Williamsport, PA in the mid-19th Century, his grandfather started a German-American newspaper that morphed into a national paper, and his father left Columbia University during his sophmore year to drive ambulances for the French Army during WWI, and then enlisted in the US Army in 1919. Both my grandfather and father visited Germany to look up distant relatives, and it's my desire to do the same one day.

My dad enjoyed brewing beer back in the '70's and introduced me to outdoor living and good Pennsylvia-German food. Consequently, I enjoy brewing, fly-fishing in Lycoming and Tioga counties, and scrapple for breakfast.

I've been a NYC elementary teacher for the past 27 years. I'm looking forward to starting a second career as a practitioner of Chinese medicine.

[frank.laske]

I am from Cleveland, but now live just outside Cincinnati. I have been brewing since summer 2013, with about 30 batches under my belt. Like others have said, I started out with IPA, porters, and the like. My SO and I drink about 95% of what I brew, so I have been looking for more diversity in my brewing, and utilizing smaller batches to find out what I really like to drink and brew. This year, I am planning on brewing 2 small batches 12-13 times , roughly 1 brew day per month. My plans include several German and European styles I have not yet brewed: Helles Export, Vienna, Kõlsch, doppelbock, Czech Dark, light, and Premium lagers. Most of the recipes I have planned I have found through the AHA forum and I hope to develop my skill set with these styles. I have not been to Germany, but we are planning a trip in 2 years for my SO's 50th birthday for Oktoberfest, can't wait!
On an equipment standpoint, I batch sparge AG with a single burner, all man power, generally by myself but have a trainee scheduled for next month who is eager to see how it all works. I love this hobby/obsession. Looking forward to learning from you all

[RPIScotty]

My name is Derek. I post at the AHA Forum as RPIScotty as well. I've been brewing for a about a year and a half. Not a huge fan of German beers (with the exception of the Dunkel/Bock/Doppelbock varieties) but I am interested in how process improvements can improve my brewing.

I've been skeptical about some of the methods and attitudes of some of the members here but I want to keep an open mind and learn how to make my process better. Doing that involves respecting the efforts of the members here and being open and honest.

I'm an engineer by trade, husband and father of two by choice and Belgian beer fan due to forces on high I suppose.

I'm originally from the Poughkeepsie, NY area and am currently living in the greater Syracuse, NY area. I'm an electrical design engineer working in nuclear.

I'm a small batch stove top Brewer. My kettle is 12qt stainless, 2 quart insulated cooler mash tun and 2 gallon bucket fermentor. I'm a bottler. I like Dingeman and Weyermann malts and prefer Dubbel, Dark Strong, Bock/Doppelbock, Dunkel, Stout, Porter and regular Pale Ales.

I will likely not be a big contributor here but will be observing the dialogue and using some of the methods in some of my upcoming brew days.


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[Bryan R]

[RPIScotty]

Like I said. I'm here with an open mind.

I'm looking to make world class beer for myself. I'm a big Trappist beer fan and I would like to ape or exceed those styles but also infuse some of the processes/mechanics of those styles into my own original recipes.

I'm not here to judge or to put anyone down. Just would like to be a consistent visitor, occasional contributor and a better Brewer.

In addition Brian, I came here because you seem like a decent guy, as do many of the other German beer fans, and I'd like to not have my only interactions with all of you be of the type typically experienced at the AHA forum.


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[Kit_B]

I'm Kit, from Minnesota.
I've been brewing for about 20 years.
For a good portion of that time, all I knew was extract & steeping grains.
In the last several years, I have switched over to all-grain brewing & (obviously) found much better success in formulations & recipe building.

I currently use a manually-operated electric brewing system, with a cooler mash tun, March pump, & 5500W electric kettle.

In teaming up with the LI here, I've improved my brewing by leaps & bounds, in mere months.
It's amazing what can be accomplished, by researching real brewing industry publications & doing experiments, rather than trusting US homebrewer texts.

My advice to any homebrewer is:
Whatever those guys selling books & equipment are telling you...Always question it.
Also, be wary of anyone that tells you things like:
"We don't need to do that, because we're homebrewers" or "That doesn't matter on the homebrewing scale"
It's rare to find large-scale practices that don't (or shouldn't) apply to homebrewing.

[Roachbrau]

[Roachbrau]

I'm Steve, born and raised in West Virginia. I started homebrewing about 3 years ago, all grain and lagers from the get-go. I subsequently discovered Bavarian beer, and the rest is history.

I still brew with simple equipment, single propane burner, gravity feed, and cooler lauter tun. 90% of the time, I'm doing decoctions. I like the smell and get bored otherwise.