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Lyle C. Brown, Virginia's first certified beer judge, with some of his home-brewed creations. Blueberry mead is in front, |
LYLE BROWN'S basement is a beer lover's dream come true.
He brews his own pilsners, porters and stouts down there, at the bottom of the steps in his Spotsylvania County home. A fridge in another room brims with frosty brown bottles filled with the homemade stuff.
"As soon as I turned 21, my beverage of choice was beer," said Brown, a combat systems engineer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, and a commander in the Navy Reserves.
As Virginia's first beer judge, Brown, now 44, travels the state, sampling the homemade concoctions others brew. But sipping suds isn't always as delicious as it might sound.
"I've gotten some really bad beer in home-brew competitions," said Brown, who also heads a Fredericksburg beer-tasting club and writes a monthly column about cold ones.
Sure, he shines a pen light through each brew to scrutinize its color and clarity. Yes, he notes the amount of yeast that settles at the bottoms of bottles. True, he takes note of the foamy head that forms on top when he pours.
But there's more to judging beer than meets the eye.
Brown also studies the hiss that comes when he pops a top. He swirls his glass to release each beer's aroma.
"You have to get your nose down in there and get a good, long sniff," said Brown, who has a special flair for uncovering diacetyl, a butterscotch quality that is considered a flaw in most styles of beer.
"And then, of course, you have to taste it."
Unlike wine judges, who sip, swish and spit, beer experts must swallow their drink, in order to rate its "tail" or aftertaste.
Just to be sure his assessments are correct, Brown said, he must polish off each 2-ounce sample that comes his way. That can mean downing as many as 12 portions in one three-hour session.
But he doesn't overindulge when he judges. Getting tipsy could compromise his ability to identify the specific qualities of each beer.
Brown, who also makes his own mead and cider, started bubbling about brewing beer when he spotted a beginner's kit in 1983. But at $50 a pop, the kits cost more than the newlywed flight student was willing to pay.
His wife, Robyn, surprised him with one for Christmas.
Two days later, Brown was holed up in the garage, brewing his first batch--an amber ale with enough flavor to mask the mistakes, he said.
He's come a long way.
These days, he barely bothers with the prepackaged starter extracts novices need. Instead, he mashes grain to make his own.
He mixes water, hops, malt and yeast in a basement workshop that looks a little like a chemistry lab. Stainless steel pots and big burners mingle with glass bottles, coiling copper hoses and a deep scrub sink.
Brown notes the volume and gravity of the liquid he brews, and measures its density with a glass hydrometer. Fancy equipment aside, he said, making beer is not especially difficult.
"Anyone who can cook, can brew. The only difference is you have to have more patience," he said about the process, which can take longer than a year for some styles.
But, for Brown, the end results are worth the time and effort.
He can control the potency of each 5-gallon batch he brews. And he can toy with the taste by tossing in extras, like peaches, ginger, licorice, even chipotle chilies.
He's proudest of a Scottish ale he made by mixing 11 types of grains, three types of hops and two types of yeasts. Robyn's favorite was a blueberry ale he cooked up years ago with fruit the couple picked with their children, 18-year-old Kevin and 20-year-old Wendy.
"He has made some wonderful beer," Robyn said about her husband, who compares his pastime to horticulture and other garden-variety hobbies.
Brown was instrumental in developing the recipe for the Blue & Gray Brewing Company's Fred Red. The full-flavored beer is a best seller for the Fredericksburg business.
"We're very fortunate to have Lyle in such close proximity to the brewery to draw on his expertise," said owner Jeffrey Fitzpatrick.
Brown took the Beer Judge Certification Program exam in 1986. To prepare, he read books, studied brewing techniques and memorized recipes for more than 20 styles of beer--from American lager to Belgian ale.
He breezed through the three-hour test, packed with essay questions, plus a tasting portion.
That same year, he formed the Hampton Roads Brewing and Tasting Society, which eventually drew as many as 75 beer enthusiasts.
"I love sharing my love of beer with other people," said Brown, who was forced to start over when he left Virginia Beach for Spotsylvania in 1996.
He formed the Fredericksburg Brewing and Tasting Society the following year. The club, which meets the third Sunday of each month at Andrew's Mediterranean Bounty, now claims about a dozen members.
Brown, who is pursuing his master's degree in national security and strategic studies through the Naval War College, presides over commercial as well as home-brewed contests.
He served as head judge at the Virginia Beer Cup, the state's first commercial beer competition, held in Charlottesville in 2002. And he judged the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, where more than 2,000 money-making beers were tasted.
He collects unusual brands when he travels and stocks up on special-occasion brews available only at certain times of the year.
And he's constantly polishing his beer-tasting skills.
"It sounds like a joke," he said, "but the key to good judging is practice, practice, practice."
For more information about the Fredericksburg Brewers and Tasters Club, call Andrew's Mediterranean Bounty at 540/370-0909, or e-mail Lyle C. Brown at beerking1@juno.com.
To reach LISA CHINN: 540/374-5424 lchinn@freelancestar.com
