I'm a homebrewer living in Red Wing, MN. I have a wife (Barb) and 2 kids, a daughter (Lindsay) and a son (Alex whom you may have met earlier). As a family we enjoy boating on the upper Mississippi River during our way too short summers here in Minnesota. For those of you who are keeping score of the running tally of pets around our house, we still have 2 cats, a couple fish and a hamster. As the animals expire they're not replaced because the kids are becoming more involved in activities in school and seem to have less time for pets and their upkeep.
I'm a nuclear power plant operator working at the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant. Barb works as a client payroll accountant at Opportunity Services, which is agency for handicapped adults. Lindsay is in 9th grade this year at Red Wing High School. Alex is currently in 6th grade at Twin Bluff Middle School here in Red Wing.
I started homebrewing sometime around September of 1995. My first batch was a John Barleycorn pilsner kit. I was hooked right from the start. That was the only "kit" beer I've ever made. My second batch was a pale ale that I made following a recipe using DME and whole hops. My third batch was a scottish heavy ale made using DME and steeped specialty grains. By November of that year I was on my fourth batch, an all-grain stout. Even as I was doing my first all-grain batch I was thinking that a RIMS would make some of those steps easier or more convenient. In dozens of batches since, I've only made one other brew using malt extracts and that was a barleywine. At the time I wasn't able to mash enough grain to get the gravity I wanted so I used malt extract syrup and a small mash.
The original version of this webpage started out as email I exchanged with Geoff Scott. I was actually writing all the HTML coding by hand and sending the files to Geoff. I didn't know there were tools and utilities for that stuff. Finally he said "Why don't you just post it up on the web?" Ok, I thought, why don't I. The first posted version of my RIMS system went up in the early spring of 1996 (early March I think). At the time there were no other heat exchanged systems posted. There were a lot of great systems out there but, none of them really seemed to be what I wanted. I wanted RIMS but I really didn't want to mess with electrically heated elements, pump speed controls and other electronic things. I really didn't want to put a fire directly under my mashtun for fear of scorching or burning every batch without paying constant attention and a lot of stirring. When I first conceived the system it was because of a reference I saw (I think) in the HBD archives from a person that used a heat exchanger in their hot liquor tank. I wish I knew who it was so that I could give them the credit for my system. Since that time there have been a few other systems similar to mine that have sprouted up on the web. Each one seems to take the concept a bit further in either technology or simplicity. I take a bit of pride in each email that says my system inspired them to build their own.
I've reached a level of satisfaction, though, as far as my brewing goes. I make what I think to be excellent ales and have enjoyed sharing my "product" with friends and family. I have also slowed down quite a bit over the last couple years. I only brew about 3 or 4 ten-gallon batches each year. I've found that you can buy good beer at a reasonable price. What I brew now are mostly beers that you can't find a good example of around here. Those usually turn out to be HUGE beers like barleywines and very strong Scottish ales. Maybe the homebrewing "movement" has had a part in this. We demanded good beer and now the commercial market is providing us with what we asked for. (Ain't american capitalism great!)
