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About Bulldog Brewery

As you can tell, I'm a graduate, and consequently a huge fan of anything related to the University of Georgia. The picture is of UGA V, our mascot, trying to eat an Auburn player. What can I say but, Damn Good Dawg! By the way UGA V is the only college mascot to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, and star in a movie (Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil).

I started my brewing career on February 27, 1985. I got started because I was under age and was tired of being ripped off by the older guys. I would give them ten bucks and ask for a six of Bud. I would get the six of Bud and two bucks change. Bud was going for around $3.25 a six-pack then.

My first batch was a 50 oz. can of Premier Malt Extract primed with 6 cups of corn sugar. The few bottles that didn't explode in my closet were discarded out my bedroom window. Mom kept asking what the smell in my room was for weeks. Anyway it was almost two years before I tried again. In the beginning, my beer was really bad. Stupid Brewer Trick #1 was to use cane sugar to boost the alcohol content. I eventually stopped, but it wasn't until several years later that I learned that the cane sugar was what was causing the cidery taste. Stupid Brewer Trick # 2 was to rouse a stuck fermentation by taking the lid off and really stirring up the wort, splashing it all around, creating lots of foam. It was years before I learned about the evils of introducing oxygen in the wort after fermentation had started. Over the years I learned more about the craft and beer in general. I also decided that I would never buy another BudMilOors again.

I joined a brew club in late 1999. I must say that this act is responsible for the largest increase in my knowledge of beer, and all Things beer related. Another thing that helped my education was subscribing to the Homebrew Digest. This is a daily e-mail of posts from all over the world by brewers new and old -- lots of good discussion. I became so immersed in beer that I decided that I should study for the Beer Judge Certification Program test. I began studying in earnest, early 2001. I sat for the exam on January 20th 2002, and finally received my scores in early June 2002. I had failed miserably with combined tasting and essay score of 49. I failed because I had stayed up until 5:00 AM the day of the test. Bad idea. On January 31, 2004 I did a retake and scored a 75 on the written and a 76 on the tasting.  This with my accumulated points gets me to Certified level.