Sue bought me a brew kit in late July, 2010 from Williams Brewing. (Thank you Dr. McGleam for your advice!) What a great birthday present! Along with the brew kit, she also threw in two beer kits to get started. One was a summer ale and the second was an American IPA. The kits were great way to start the learning process of the brewing process. However, the first kit was was not for me (or shall I say that I found that only non-beer drinkers liked it). The IPA was very nice, but moving away from a "kit" was a high priority for me.

After the first two batches, I have learned to listen to others for recommendations and recipe creations. While the excitement of my new hobby got my heart pumping, looking and investigating on the internet was too confusing at my level of knowledge in the beginning. Thankfully, Pat McGleam ("we brew for you"), has been an instrumental part in helping me get this going. He has pointed me in the right direction and started me with the right connections.

Currently, my brewing schedule is every other Sunday. I brew using extract and specialty grains for my recipes. While I would love to do all grain, I just don't have the extra time, as all 4 kids keeps my brewing to a precisely timed out half afternoon.

I tend to brew an IPA every other batch. It's my favorite ale and fun to experiment with. The non IPA batches have consisted of Reds, Browns, Blacks, and now getting into some Belgiums.

My goals are to continue to explore the vast spectrum of recipe opportunities. You can do just about anything you want. My plan is to continue to update this site with recipes and stories as they happen. As the famous Dan Garvy said, "life's too short to drink cheap beer". I say, "It's all about the beer".