Homebrewing

When I'm not spending time selling Charlotte Real Estate, I concentrate on my hobby of homebrewing(yes, I brew my own beer). I have been brewing for 12 years. What started out as a curiosity, turned into an obsession of sorts.

I made some really bad beer in the beginning, but thanks to a local homebrew supply store, Alternative Beverage(www.ebrew.com) I was able to buy prepackaged recipes in styles that I preferred. Once I became more familiar with process, I made the conversion to all grain brewing(like the big boys do) and began formulating my own recipes.

Then I joined the Carolina BrewMasters, Charlotte's homebrew club(and I am the club President for 2008). I thought I knew a lot of about beer before I joined, but I learned quickly I didn't know near what I thought! The Carolina BrewMasters belongs to another larger club with other Carolina clubs, both NC & SC. Each club holds a competition during the year. That's correct, we enter our beers for judging by certified beer judges. I have won ribbons at several of the Carolina competitions.

This past weekend, we hosted the U.S. Open competition. There were over 350 entries in 20 different categories of beer. I was fortunate to take a 1st place ribbon for my ESB(Extra Strong/Extra Special Bitter).

This morning I was on a local radio station WFAE discussing the U.S. Open, homebrewing, and craft brewing in general. It was a great experience. If you would like to listen visit www.wfae.org click on the Charlotte Talks tab at the top and look for the today's date May 12, 2008. I think you will find it interesting and informative.

Cheers!
Rick