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About Me:
I began brewing beer at home in 1987. My first efforts were just good enough that I decided to stay with it, and I'm very glad I did. That gave me the motivation to become a beer expert, in order to improve my own beer.
After winning a number of homebrew beer competitions, I started writing about beer for a variety of publications. Since 1990, I have had hundreds of articles published on the topic, as well as a long-running regular newspaper column.
I began judging beer in 1992, and am currently a Grand Master Beer Judge, certified by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). I also served as Communication Director and webmaster for the BJCP for about 13 years. Beyond homebrew competitions, I'm also one of the professional taste panel judges for the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup. Beer competitions are great fun to judge. During the judging sessions, we sometimes evaluate as many as 50 beers a day (tasting as much as half an ounce of each).
Although I'm often asked what my favorite beer is, that's a question that really has no answer. It all depends on the time of year, time of day, and the surroundings. Fortunately, the wonderful world of beer has more than enough variety available to satisfy my thirst in any situation!
If I have one personal bias on the subject, I would have to say that I strongly believe that the best beer is usually local. Beer is a delicate, fragile product, and it often doesn't travel well. Encourage your local breweries by supporting them, and you'll have the best beer available.
You can find my latest thoughts on my favorite topic in my blog.
User Info:
Bestcovery username: Braumeister
Member since: 6/4/2009
Number of best lists: 7
