About Me

Here I am enjoying the summer sun at Horsetooth Reservoir!

My name is Wendy-Anne Hamrick; I am a junior at Colorado State University majoring in French with history and English minors. For a project in my CO 300 (Writing Arguments) course, I began exploring home brewing and how it offers a new method to consume economical, local and sustainable beer. Then I decided I would try to spread the word of home brewing in Fort Collins so that other beer connoisseurs could enjoy this hobby. I made this website, to inform Fort Collins residents of their local options to get beer brewing starter kits and ingredients from two homebrew shops here in town. This hobby does not only benefit local homebrew shops, it will also benefit you (if you mostly buy beer from microbreweries) by saving you money while also allowing you to consume high-quality beer crafted to your individual taste preferences. Brewing your own beer will also benefit the environment by reducing the amount of transportation and therefore reducing the carbon footprint of your beer.

About a year ago, my boyfriend was introduced to home brewing and ever since he has enjoyed brewing a new and improved batch of beer every weekend, learning new techniques and becoming more skilled each time with the help and advice of Hops and Berries, a popular brew shop in Fort Collins. I have had the pleasure of going to the brew store with him, helping him cook up and cool the wort, transfer it to the fermenting bucket (where it stays for about a week), then put it into individual bottles (where it is bottle-conditioned for about another week).  I love helping my boyfriend with this hobby, especially because it saves trips to the liquor store and supplies more (very tasty and fresh) beers for less money. Home brewing has given me a new appreciation for the variety of beer that anyone can produce, making it very close to home, cheap, easy, eco-friendly and delicious!