Meet the Baron: Joe Kolbach

Age: 24kolbach

How long have you been a Baron? About a year and a half.

How long have you been brewing? About a year.

What got you into brewing? Did a study abroad in Germany and got hooked on good beer. From there I wanted to start making my own beer.

What kind of equipment do you brew on? Started off doing extract brewing in my kitchen. I now have a 3 tier system and do all grain brewing.

Do you brew solo or with other people? Usually brew solo, but sometimes with other people.

What is your favorite style and why? Since I lived in Germany for a bit I like all the German styles of beer and also tend to brew the German styles as well.

What is your commercial to homebrew consumption ratio? About 50/50. I keg all of my beer, but also keep bottles of commercial beer in the kegerator.

What has been your favorite Baron meeting? I sadly had to miss the Belgium night last year, which I hear is a lot of fun. So for me the holiday party is the best meeting.

Have you served as an officer of the club or would you like to? Never been an officer, but would be interested at some point.

What is the strangest of funniest thing that has happened to you while homebrewing? First time I brewed was an extract kit and once I had the glass carboy sanitized I didn’t realize how slick the sanitizer made the carboy and I dropped the empty carboy on a tile floor. Luckily it didn’t break or chip.