MR.BEER® Community

I’m a math teacher at Franciscan University of Steubenville.  It’s sort of my second career, having graduated from the Naval Academy in 1981 and spent 9 (fun filled) years as a submariner in the U.S. Navy.  I now have the greatest job in the world at the greatest university in the world.  I’m the father of 5 little girls, ages 4 through 14, the loves of my life and occasional assistant brewers.

I started brewing when my wife bought me a (non-Mr. Beer) kit for Christmas 2004. I tried it (twice) and it wasn’t so much that the beer was bad – it wasn’t beer at all.  I had a couple of friends that homebrewed and they said it was “so easy”, so I figured it was “just me” and didn’t really pursue it any further.  But my wife tried again for Christmas 2005 with a Mr. Beer kit.  She’s often said that she really didn’t think much would come from it past one or two “successful” batches.  But she miscalculated to say the least.  Beer brewing, I found, really was easy.  And I’ve been hooked (or should I say “assimilated”?) ever since.

I love to brew using extracts, partial mashes, and all-grain.  I still brew mostly small (Mr. Beer size) batches using mostly Mr. Beer ingredients, but I always brew 5 gallons at a time when I do all-grain beers.

Started Brewing: Christmas 2004

Favorite Beer:  Budweiser of course! Crisp, clean, refreshing.  The King of Beers.  The Head brewer at Orval seems to have a similar opinion so if you disagree, please take it up with him. I also love Munich beers – both Helles and Dunkles are particular favorites – and Samuel Adams Boston Lager.  As far as my homebrewed beer, my favorite recipe is Winter Dark Lager, but I also like several IPA’s and my own Boston Lager clone.

Person Dave Would Most Like to Share a Beer With: A beer brewing monk.  I do believe there’s something more to all those phrases like “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy” than just funny lines. And I figure a brewing monk would understand it in a way that I never could.

I got a last-minute invite to a Beer Dinner hosted by Bj's Restaurant and Brewhouse yesterday, and decided to check it out. The menu featured items from the BJ's regular menu paired with a diverse selection beers from the Flanders region of Belgium. In general, the food was  no match for the beer, but there were a couple of very nice pairings. Here's my report:

Before the dinner began, we were treated to a brand new Belgian Tripel released by Papago Brewing in Arizona (the beer is actually brewed in Belgium, by Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V.) called Oude Zuipers, which roughly translates to "old drunk" or "old boozer." The beer was strong, at 11% ABV, with a coppery color and a sweetish, slightly spicy aroma and flavor. The Alcohol was noticable but not overpowering, which was nice. 

Our second beer was Brugse Zot, a Belgian Blonde (or pale, depending on who you ask).  Slightly hazy, with a dry finish, this beer seemed a bit plain initially, but developed nicely as it warmed in the glass. It showcased soft Grainy sweetness with fruity Esters including pear and a hint of banana. The Bitterness was just there to balance things out, which it did perfectly.

We get a surprising number of requests for an estimation of the number of calories in our recipes. I say surprising, because the caloric content of my beer has never been of central importance to me. Color, Bitterness, and ABV are all numbers that I tend to focus on, because they speak more to the flavor of beer than a count of calories or carbohydrates. As such, my standard answer to questions like these is often, "if you need to ask, it's probably too many."

Get ready, homebrewers -- National Homebrew day is May 7th!

 To celebrate, the American Homebrew Association created Big Brew, an annual event that celebrates homebrew in all its glory. Each year, Big Brew is held on the first Saturday in May. 

What is Big Brew? Basically, brewers get together all over the world with one goal in mind: brew a whole lot of beer. Oh, and there's a communal toast at noon central time, where homebrewers everywhere raise their glasses as one. Sounds good to me. 

There are official big brew sites registered from here to Timbuktu. Click here to find a site near you, but be sure to raise your glass even if you can't make it to an official gathering.