I Haz Homebrew: #1 Stuart West: An Introduction
We’re launching a new reoccurring series here on BTA called “I Haz Homebrew,” penned by homebrewer extraordinaire, Stuart West.
After crossing paths at about every single local beer event, consistently bugging him for homebrew advice and eventually winning his good graces and becoming tolerable to drink with, we mustered up the courage to ask Stuart if he would like to share his extensive homebrewing wisdom on our site as a “monthly” columnist.
AND HE SAID “YES”!
Basically, we asked Stuart to share some of the lessons and tips he has picked up along the way with some of us who may be starting out homebrewing, tinkering with the idea of homebrewing, have been homebrewing for a while but have hit a wall, or are just interested in the subject as an observer.
Stuart recently moved to Austin last Fall from Houston, has already become a huge supporter in the ATX brewing arena, is the former Foamrangers homebrew club president, organized the 2009 Dixie Cup homebrew competition and is an all around nice guy.
Enough from me, here’s what he has to say:
After stumbling into Defalcos homebrew store on Morningside in Houston sometime during the early 1990s my parents bought me my first beginners kit as a Christmas gift and a lifelong obsession with beer took root. For several years I brewed all extract batches on the stove while my wife watched in horror as boilovers coated our apartment range with sticky wort.
Sometime in the late 1990s I discovered a business associate of mine also homebrewed and was involved in a local area club called the Foamrangers. As it happened the business associate and his brother in law were quite prolific having won numerous awards and brewing a robust porter for a competition at St. Arnolds that would become the brewery’s Winter Stout recipe.
Although I had a strong independent streak I first entered and attended several of the Dixie Cup competitions hosted by the Foamrangers, but after three years of doing so I decided to attend a club meeting. There I met other avid homebrewers and relative newbies like myself, all eager to learn about anything related to making better beer. I later joined other area homebrew clubs including the KGB and Deja Brew which provided insights into how different groups operate as each proved to be very different.
Still, I focused most of my attention on the Foamrangers with their monthly quasi-educational style tastings and a wealth of brewing expertise among their members. Luckily the club also hosted a Beer Judge Certification Program class (BJCP) which myself and several other people took advantage of.
Over the years I held a number of positions within the organization and in 2008 was elected as their Grand Wazoo, the defacto head of the group. My wife and I also organized the Dixie Cup homebrew competition in 2009, a highly taxing but rewarding experience that brought in almost 900 entries.
In July of 2009 we realized a dream of moving to Austin having been regular visitors for the last five to ten years (so much so the folk at the Draughthouse and other brewpubs already knew us by name). Here in Austin I joined the Zealots homebrew club at monthly meetings and now frequent the Austin Homebrew store.
For the last ten to twelve years I have brewed only all-grain batches (unless I win an extract kit in a raffle) on a two tiered pump assisted 10 gallon system. My favorite styles to brew include Barleywines and Imperial Stouts, partly because I like the end result, but I also like the idea of party-guile brewing in which the second runnings from a “big” beer are utilized to make a session beer, often a bitter in the case of making a barleywine or a dark mild in the case of an imperial stout. It’s a practice used in the UK for quite some time and replicated by a few companies like Anchor and Alesmith in the US. Beyond big ales I also enjoy making a hoppy Bohemian pils with lots of Saaz character and an occasional sour ale, my last being a Belinerweisse.
As far as a homebrewing philosophy I suppose I would suggest I enjoy brewing what I like and taking my time. While I know many people that brew a huge number of batches each year, I sometimes go several weeks or even a month without brewing. It’s easy to pour all of your spare energy into a hobby as great as homebrewing, but there are some incredible brewers out there that “burned out” quickly, so my last piece of advice echo the words of Charlie Papazian “relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew”.
Stuart West
Stuart also has a beer blog of his own over at Zymurology.com.
Thanks guys!
Man that was a beautiful day! For anyone curious as to what I was doing in the last picture – I was drawing off part of the wort to boil down and carmelize to increase the chewiness and color of the finished beer (in this case an ESB based loosely on Timothy Taylor Landlord).
Cheers,
Stuart