Back where it all began...and where the story continues

I've had a love affair with beer since about 1998. I know, you're saying: "Wait a minute, you weren't 21 in 1998." However, my roommate was, and that first six-pack of Red Hook's Black Hook (that I could barely choke down) began it all. Around the same time, I became a regular at the now defunct Kaw River Brewery in downtown Lawrence. Perhaps their downfall could be attributed to their lax age discrimination system. Ah, Kaw River....the first of many microbrews; long gone were the days of the traditional American Piss Brew. Then came Boulevard and Free State, the staples among Lawrence's discriminating taste. By the way, I find Free State's Copperhead Ale and Populist Porter among my favorites, they also make a very tasty Oatmeal Stout.
So I move to Florida, or as I lovingly refer to it as Hell on Earth. Not only is the retail beer selection expensive and limited, but there's only one real microbrewery down here and it's 30 minutes from my house. So I ended up dealing directly with the distributors, educating some of the local retailers, and purchasing a Haier kegerator on a Black Friday sale in 2005. It wasn't long before I gutted that kegerator and added a dual-tap tower and new CO2 system. It was nice to pour frothy goodness on demand from the likes of Sierra Nevada, Shipyard, and Dogfish Head. But my brewing paradigm shift came one evening at an event called Beer Fest. The first couple Beer Fests had been absolute crap; you pay $20 and if you get there a 1/2 hour late all you get are 4oz cups of Budweizer. Anyway, 2006 was different. I happened to know most of the distributors, got a lot of good beer and met a girl that had brewed her own at a place called Brewmasters. This sparked my interest and I sought out this "Brewmasters". I finally found this place and stopped in. "What do you do here exactly?", I asked the gentleman behind the counter. "Why we're a Brew on Premise", the gentleman replied. "What on earth is a Brew on Premise?", I asked. "Well", he said. "You simply select a recipe from my magic book, and turn it into your very own beer". Intriguing, I thought, as I thanked him and left. Now I only need someone to venture into this beer making with. Ah...Ellis, he's Canadian, they drink a lot of beer; perhaps I can convince him to go in with me on my endeavour (that's Canadian for endeavor). Luckily, it really didn't take any convincing. He was in from the word beer. So we made a Liberty Pines IPA (Anchor's Liberty IPA clone), and the rest is history (or rather the humble beginnings of this blog). So pull up some bandwidth and read along. It'll at least be interesting for me.