About Me

My name is Paul Heingarten and this is how I became a beer homebrewer:

In 1998 I took a trip to visit some friends who were living in Aurora Illinois at the time. Aurora is a suburb of Chicago, so you can imagine we spent a lot of time going around the city. I was staying at my friends' apartment, and one night they showed me a kit for making your own beer. Now, I had been a beer drinker for several years before this. I hadn't given any thought to making it but here it was, everything I needed to start making my own beer in one box!

Once I came home, I ordered the same kit my friends in Aurora showed me. The kit came with everything I needed to make my first batch, except for water and sugar. Once I bought what I needed, I set out making my batch, using the instructions provided with the kit. About two weeks after making that batch, I was trying my very first homebrewed beer! It wasn't my greatest...but it was beer, and I made it :) It was a great feeling.

Well, I was hooked. I began experimenting, trying different recipies and using different ingredients. Some didn't work too well, others made for really nice beer. Among several circles of friends now, I'm kind of known as the "beer guy"...if I show up for a party empty handed, its cause for surprise: "Where's the homebrew?" I usually hear :)