Everything Pales Compared to Home Brew

Everything Pales Compared to Home Brew

The hobby for those who thirst for new tastes

Written by Claire Goforth

Published September 4, 2012

   Pssst, craft beer aficionados: The city has been quietly infiltrated by a sleeper cell of homebrewers. While you were busy just drinking beer, a legion of enthusiasts has been practicing chemistry with hops, yeast, carboys and kegerators behind closed doors. This time next year, your neighbor’s toolshed might be your favorite watering hole.

   Although people have been brewing beer for 12,000 years, according to the American Homebrewers Association (AHA), homebrewing was virtually unheard of in the United States 20 years ago. In those days, beer came two ways: regular or light. But as the craft beer market trickled down from the higher, Western states, palates were whetted for more diversity of flavor. People thirsted for hoppy American pale ales, clamored for caramel-hinted Irish reds, longed for sophisticated Black Lagers and English Barleywines. Grocery and liquor stores with larger selections provided some relief, but it wasn’t enough for these people. They wondered what would happen when a Belgian ale met an India pale ale and got a little frothy.

   Enter homebrewing. As the hobby grew in popularity, clubs and brew supply shops popped up all over the country. Today, tens of thousands of people enjoy a hobby that is equal parts science, art and fun.

   Northeast Florida is no exception. In 2005, a small homebrew supply shop, Just Brew It, opened in a tiny space off Blanding Boulevard. And in 2006, some enterprising brewers eager to share and learn started a club they dubbed Cowford Ale Sharing Klub, or CASK. Since then, the local homebrew scene has exploded. The owner of Just Brew It, Ken Stevens, wrote via email that business has more than doubled since the first year, allowing the shop to move to Rosselle Street, expand its hours of operation and in 2011 open a second location in Jacksonville Beach. “I would guess that there are more than 2,000 home brewers in Duval County alone,” he wrote.

   According to CASK president Prescott Scaffe, the club currently has more than 400 members, 250 of whom are active. He said at least 75 people typically show up for monthly meetings. “I don’t know what happened this year, but it’s starting to get really crazy.” Meetings are run like any typical club, introducing new members, judging “interklub” competitions, talking about upcoming events and exchanging information about competitions. But there is one key difference: the beer. A little of nature’s social lubricant goes a long way to forging friendships and creating a micro-culture. CASK member David Poquette said, “One of the best parts is the camaraderie and sharing beer at the meetings.” Fellow homebrewer Shaun Newman agreed. “It’s a community to me,” he said, “the sort of community that’s hard to find anywhere else.”

   So how does a person get into brewing beer? Most brewers began as average, if enthusiastic, beer drinkers. Somewhere along the way, someone gave them a homebrew kit — such as the Mr. Beer Kit — as a gift. The rest, as they say, is zymurgy (fermentation science). From pre-packed mixes, it’s a few short steps to using and then developing recipes and competing. If you’re like CASK member Lukas Kluz, it was just another step to entering all nine homebrewing competitions in Florida (and placing in the top for homebrewers in the state in 2011).

   CASK member and UNF biology professor Mike Lentz has been brewing for 20 years, ever since folks in a lab at University of California San Francisco challenged his lab at UC Berkeley to a brew-off. He uses his scientific background by “collecting, purifying and characterizing wild yeast” to “identify new strains that have potential for use in brewing.”

   One weekend in July, a group of these scientists masquerading as artists amassed for the fifth annual First Coast Cup (FCC) at the Four Points Sheraton on Baymeadows Road. Held by CASK and sponsored by Aardwolf Brewery, Bold City Brewery, Green Room Brewing, Intuition Ale Works, Just Brew It, Kickbacks and Webb’s Honey, among others, the event was not “a bunch of guys getting drunk at a brew-ha-ha,” a typical stereotype attendee David Lemaine mentioned. It was a highly technical competition that just so happened to include lots of beer. The contest has gotten fierce: In its first year, 245 brews were judged, compared to nearly 600 this year.

   As both Lentz and Kluz pointed out, homebrewing isn’t just a hobby, it’s a community. Facilitated by competitions like FCC, homebrewers develop long-distance friendships and friendly but fierce regional rivalries. CASK members were happy to point out that they won the Hogtown contest in May. Hogtown members were not so quick to admit this loss, but it didn’t stop the two clubs from joining forces to create some seriously delicious brews to share. In the world of homebrews, the rule is “may the best flavor win.”

   Many judges, competitors and friends travel to competitions. Jeremy Pate and Ron and Sharon Montefusco drove from eastern Alabama for the FCC, one of several they will attend this year. Members of MOOLA (Malty-Orgasmics Of Lower Alabama) and Hogtown Brewers in Gainesville, all three have been involved in the homebrew community for years.

   Using a flashlight to assess a brew’s clarity, Ron Montefusco pointed out that competitions are not just about winning; many people enter to get an expert opinion of their creations. With a low entry fee ($6 a brew for FCC), competitions are a great way to figure out how to improve recipes. “Ron is the highest-ranked judge in Alabama,” Sharon Montefusco said proudly. Pate, a brew consultant who helps professionals refine their own brewing operations, chimed in, “My official ranking is I likey and I want morey.” For them, homebrewing is more than a hobby. “This is our beer life,” early retiree Ron Montefusco said.

   The camaraderie among brewers was evident at the awards banquet. As winners were announced, people cheered and shared brews from private stashes. Beaming with pride, David Webb, a commercial beekeeper in Cocoa, passed around anise mead and sassafras/orange blossom mead to celebrate his win. And when the home team won the club gold medal, people stood and hooted.

   It’s the kind of fun that occurs when great passion intersects with great company. CASK philosophy declares, “Brewing may be considered as a science but it is the chemistry between the ingredients and the brewer that gives beer life.” And it’s the chemistry between brewers that gives homebrewing life.

Claire Goforth

themail@folioweekly.com

Lukas Kluz

Hails from: Poland

Began brewing: 2007, after I got a Mr. Beer Kit for Christmas.

Brews: Twice a month, sometimes twice a week.

Joined CASK: 2007

Favorite brew: In the summer, I drink wheat beers. I like hoppy beers, too. I like a good IPA. I start brewing those darker, stronger beers in the fall to have them for the winter.

Notable: Leads CASK members in points for Florida brewers; won four medals in First Coast Cup, including bronze for An Ugly Looking One Roggenbier (German wheat beer); once had a full five-gallon glass carboy explode.

On Brewing: I’ve never really brewed the same beer twice. I get a general idea, find a recipe online or in one of the recipe books, and I take it as a guideline, basically.

Alicia O’Brien

Hails from: Butler, Pa.

Began brewing: In 2011 because friends talked us into it at the third anniversary of Bold City.

Brews: Once a month.

Joined CASK: 2011

Favorite brew: I like Terrapin Rye Pale and Bold City Smoky Porter.

Notable: We flooded the kitchen once. The first time we brewed when we put the bottling bucket together, it was in the “on” position instead of the “off” position, so when we poured the beer in, about a gallon came pouring out. My husband was too busy videotaping to help me because he thought it was so funny. The kitchen was sticky for a while.

On Brewing: I like homebrewing because I get to try new things and learn new techniques. I’m starting to experiment with the recipes. I just brewed a smoky porter, and I have cream ale.

Prescott Scaffe

Hails from: Tampa

Began brewing: Two-and-a-half years ago when my fiancée bought me a True Brewing kit.

Brews: I try to brew every two weeks.

Joined CASK: 2010

Favorite brew: Probably 90 Minute by Dogfish Head, but I try a new beer every week. Delirium Tremens was the first real craft beer I ever had and that’s what got me wanting to drink other beers.

Notable: CASK president; gold medal for Big Boy Pants Imperial IPA

On Brewing: I always think it’s really cool when you can make something and enjoy it and share it with people and be like, ‘oh, I made this.’ You know, how chefs are really proud of people enjoying their food.

David Poquette

Hails from: Jacksonville

Began brewing: Nine or 10 years ago, after my wife bought me a Mr. Beer Kit.

Brews: About once a month.

Joined CASK: 2007

Favorite brew: Lately I’ve been on a sour kick. Six months from now, it’ll be something else.

Notable: Silver medal for 1C Premium American Jalapeno Lager

On Brewing: The brewing is kind of like self-expression; you’re putting yourself into the beer. It’s something you’ve created and bringing to other people and letting them try it.

Shaun Newman

Hails from: Chicago

Began brewing: Three years ago. I got one of the Mr. Beer Kits for Christmas. About a year ago, I got kind of bored doing the extract kits.

Brews: Two to three times a month.

Joined CASK: February 2012

Favorite brew: Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

On Brewing: It’s community to me … that sort of community is hard to find anywhere else.

Mike Lentz

Hails from: Lancaster, Pa.

Began brewing: 1991. I was doing my post-doctorate at UC Berkeley at the time, and we had people in the lab going out for beers pretty regularly, and there was a group of us who interacted with another lab from UC in San Fran and one of us challenged the other to a competition. I still have and use the equipment from the very first one that we did. We decided the best beer was when you mixed the two together — neither were all that great.

Brews: 15 to 20 times a year or once or twice a month.

Joined CASK: 2006

Favorite brew: I have a Rye Pale Ale right now that I really like. Latrobe’s IPA was the best I’ve had in a while.

Notable: Highest-ranked judge in CASK; bronze medal for Cowford ESB (Extra Special/Strong Bitter)

On Brewing: I design all my own recipes, and I like that aspect of it. I’m a biologist, I’m a scientist and I like that a lot of the science is involved in it. You can do it without thinking about the science, but the fact that there’s biochemistry, chemistry and biology is very interesting to me as scientist.