Jim is a Healdsburg resident who has been brewing for about 15 years. He originally discovered homebrewing from a neighbor who would brew kits of Porter on his stovetop for his wife. Jim was invited to help one day and to sample a bottle --- he was hooked.

Jim is a big fan of dark beers. He has lived through the craft beer revolution and remembers when it was hard to find dark beer for sale in stores. Way back when, the closest thing was Rainier Ale, the 'green death'. Then came the crafters with Albion Ale, Red Tail Ale, Boont Amber, Anchor Porter and Old Rasputin. He likes the spectrum of malty beers so long as the hops are not overwhelming. His first homebrew was a German Alt kit, and from there he went on to designing bigger and stronger brews. Researching and developing recipes is half the fun, he says. He loves dreaming up malt bills for Russian Imperial Stout, Strong English Ales and Robust Porters.

This is the first time he has entered his beer in a competition. A great first showing!

This batch of New Archangel Strong Oatmeal Stout (all-grain version) was bought for him by his wife---she knew it was his style. He added extra German malt to ensure a malty background and added some extra East Kent Golding hops to balance the malt addition.

He reports that his setup is a very basic 5 gallon setup. One big improvement he has made was purchasing a 7 gallon kettle with a built-in thermometer. For his brew-in-a-bag process, it makes things easy. Now, he ends up with five full gallons of beer in the bottle.

And with that tricked-out 7 gallon kettle and passion for dark beers, Jim clinches the win! Way to go!