I am a novice home brewer.  There I said it.  I am attempting to get better.  Really that’s the crux.  I have brewed off an on for about a decade but can’t seem to crawl out of the beginning stages of my brewing career.  I’ve brewed some decent beers – beginners luck turned my first ever brew, a hopped up Pale ale, into my all-time favorite beer.  But I’ve also brewed some duds and encountered some really strange outcomes – including an oddly sour hefeweizen – I don’t want to talk about (but I will, of course). 

Like many home brewers, I came to the hobby via the craft beer explosion in this country.  The experience of tasting really good beers created a curiosity in me about all things beer-related.  It wasn’t too long before I was at a home brew supply shop getting my supplies and requisite copy of The Joy of Homebrewing, along with a handful of pointers from the friendly owner. 

Despite all the years I’ve been doing it I’m no expert. In fact, I’ve got a lot to learn.  Sure I’ve been brewing for 10 years.  But, I’ve got no flow.  I brew a handful of times a year and each time I seem to need to re-learn a portion of what I’ve forgotten since I last brewed.  Thrown into the mix are a day job, a night job and two small children to wrangle – a one year old and four year old.  I realize that kids aren’t necessarily an impediment to brewing but in my case they are a distraction (albeit a happy one) from my pursuit of the perfect brew.  My goal of brewing on a regular basis has moved off the front burner.

But no more!  As we all know, the best way to learn is by doing.  Therefore, with the launch of this blog I am setting out to go from novice to intermediate to, someday, expert.  Fingers crossed.  Here, I’ll share my successes and inevitable – let’s not call them failures – missteps.  I will provide details on what a novice brewer can do to get better, whether it’s tweaking a recipe by one ingredient per batch; utilizing a particularly useful tool; or reviewing some of the helpful brewing literature out there.  I may even attempt to grow hops in my big back yard.  Come along with me as I struggle, stumble and, hopefully, learn how to become a better home brewer.

When I’m not home brewing (or spending time with my kids or both) I write the weekly Tasting Note Tuesday column for Private Tap and, in addition to Brew Your Own, my writing has appeared Saveur magazine.  I am a member of the PALE ALES, a Princeton, NJ based home brew club.