Member Highlight – Jon Wurth

In 2006, I quit smoking.  When researching tips on how to quit, everyone said to stay away from alcohol.  I wasn’t much of a drinker at the time, so this really wasn’t a big deal.  After three months without a cigarette, I was out to eat with my wife.  I decided I could have a beer after going that long without nicotine and, on a whim, I decided I wanted to try something different.  The restaurant had 4 beers on tap: Budweiser and Miller Lite, both of which I had had plenty of times before.  They also had Newcastle Brown Ale, which I had vaguely remembered trying before.  The other beer was one I had never heard of called Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.  I can’t remember what I ate that night, but I had three of those Sierra Nevadas and was amazed at what I was tasting.  I went into full beer nerdery after that and, around 2010, I got my first homebrew equipment and ingredient kit from My Old Kentucky Homebrew.