Ken Damon

My first batch was sometime in the ‘90s. I did extract brewing for a few years but I am certain it was pretty miserable by today's standards. I had no community or internet to refine my knowledge and processes. I joined the Horsemen shortly after retiring a year ago and started asking questions about what I should get for equipment. I built my kegerator first using a 7CF chest freezer, and put in two taps. Now it's time for beer. Still treading lightly on what to buy, I went to Jarrett's big brew day, brought home five gallons of Old Ale and did the fermentation and kegging. Meanwhile, I met the Big Cypress crew at Stacy Myers' crawfish boil and Stacy stepped up to mentor for me. We brewed a Cali Common at his place and I brought home five gallons to finish. A month or so later, having purchased a surplus Anvil Foundry all-in-one kit from John Skelton, I endeavored to brew my first solo batch. A Ful Croi Irish Red. I was painstakingly careful...wrote out every step. It came out great. I entered a later batch of this same recipe in 2023 Bluebonnet (my first competition) and it scored a combined 41 and made mini-BOS.

This past winter, I decided to try lagering. My medieval way of getting lower fermentation temp is an Igloo cooler water bath and frozen water bottles to modulate (thanks, Chris Bart for the suggestion). Six weeks or so later, I learned about diacetyl when my Munich Helles had a distinct buttery taste. (It cleared up in the keg.) At this time, I was a week into fermenting a Helles Export so I raised the temperature the second week to clear up the diacetyl. It worked and every time I poured one through the life of that keg I would think to myself: “that's a damn fine pour!” To this day, my favorite.

Two, actually. - The day I started late in the afternoon and rushed myself and forgot to insert the mash tun before adding grain. I brainstormed ways to save it but knew I'd always question the outcome so I bailed and dumped it. - I brewed an Oktoberfest and was preparing to rack to the fermenter. I hoisted the Anvil onto something that was inadequate for the purpose (although I'd done this same way several times before). I turned to get a piece of hose and the whole thing tipped. Five gallons of Oktoberfest wort down the driveway. I didn't initially want to share with club members but have since found everyone has a similar "oh s***!" story.

If it's a long, hot day at the pool or lake...a light Anheuser-Busch product often makes it to my cooler. My favorite all time commercial beer is Red Hook ESB. Can't find it here these days but I have a clone in my kegerator as we speak.

I have three taps on my kegerator that have Red Hook ESB, Belgian pale ale, and a Scottish ale. Nothing fermenting...no room at the inn.

I like malty-front with a bitter finish so German lagers, ESBs, and Cali Commons.

A 10-gallon Anvil Foundry with two Fermonsters, igloo water bath, and three-tap kegerator. Pretty pedestrian.

When I was coming up on retirement, a common question is: what are you gonna do with all that time? I wasn't sure either. It's such a paradigm shift from having worked 40 years in engineering. I enjoyed my extract brewing back in the ‘90s but wanted to step up quality and include all-grain. My first call was to Brewhound when I asked Chris about classes. He directed me to the Horsemen and I attended my first gathering at Cowtown the next night. I attribute the camaraderie and knowledge Horsemen offers as the reason I've stuck with it.