The ReBirth of the Beerwolf
Although hard to imagine, I wasn’t born beerwolf. The journey towards the love of craft beer was a long arduous road. It all started soon after high school. I moved to the suburbs of Chicago to attend a trade school for a year. While living away from home I roomed with three buddies who loved to drink and party. We were lucky enough to find a fellow classmate that was of age and willing to supply us with alcohol. Several nights a week we would finish class and head to the local liquor store. My roommates would grab Southern Comfort and Jack Daniels or Icehouse and Bud light among other things. I on the other hand am a compulsive “ticker”. I love to collect and sample new stuff. I found the craft section and thought I would try to sample every beer they offered. The selection was pretty solid so my choices were numerous. I would save an empty bottle from everything I tried. Soon my dresser wasn’t big enough to hold my collection so I moved onto the TV stand and end table in the living room. At one point our entire apartment was full of empty beer bottles. It was a great year of exploration. I walked away with a taste for Blue Moon Raspberry Cream Ale and Hornsby’s Hard Cider. (Not exactly beer geek worthy)
After graduation I moved back home. This put a huge damper on my craft beer consumption. I wasn’t 21 yet so I had to pretty much get whatever was available to me. My dad and brother drank High Life and Rolling Rock so I pretty much lived on that for a year or two.
When my 21st birthday rolled around my girlfriend took me to a now defunct brew pub in Kenosha called Brewmasters. (My birthday is in November and I love anything pumpkin) Lucky for me they had a pumpkin ale on tap. I figured well, I love beer and pumpkin this should be good. Well that first sip was a life changer. Craft beer would never leave my side again.
Fast forward ten years and although I drank and enjoyed craft beer. I never really “thought” about it much. I started getting sick of buying stuff and it turning out to be crap. So I hit the web and found this magical site “BeerAdvocate.com” (Que angelic music) I signed up and from that day on I would become a champion of the craft beer movement know as Beerwolf. BA has led me to many new beers, people and experiences. Including the founder of BeerFM.
Beerwolf’s Devouring Process
When I review beer I like to sit on the couch with my laptop in a calm setting. I use the BeerAdvocate style to grade my beer. I rate in order; appearance, aroma, taste, mouthfeel, overall/drinkabilty. Grading on a scale of 1-5 for each aspect. Beer is meant to be enjoyed with others so whenever I get the chance I love to invite friends to share my beer. I simply feel a great beer deserves to be shared with other like minded people. What’s the point of drinking something “EPIC” by yourself?
