Marcelo Paniza
What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?
IT Professional.
What got you into homebrewing?
First curiosity, then became a hobby and these days, an obsession.
What are your hobbies/interests outside of homebrewing?
Lately, brewing took over everything, but I'm also into aerial photography (i.e.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
How long have you been brewing and how many batches last year?
My first beer batch as in 2011. Last year I brewed about 50 batches. 8 kegs of beer from these batches became garbage. (tears)
Do you have any favourite styles you like to brew?
It rotates, but I always go back to Belgian and Lagers. The more I brew, the more complicated recipes and stronger ABV I want to do.
What kind of setup do you use?
Summertime, I brew 10-15G outside. The other seasons, indoors with the lovely Grainfather.
What is the worst beer you have brewed?
I think that is a question for the people that drink my beers. I remember an amber that tasted like perfume. After drinking 1/2 pint, I gave up and sent it down the drain. Sigh.
What did you learn from that worst beer?
I learned the meaning of cheating on cleaning and sanitation.
What is the best beer you have brewed?
What is a change you have implemented that you feel made a big improvement in your beer?
a) Grainfather: took issues out of the way.
b) PH manipulation: brought the results two levels up.
What advice would you give to a new homebrewer?
a) A good beer is not just about having a good recipe. You need to know how stuff works and need to have seamless processes (i.e.: cleaning, fermentation, transferring and bottling/kegging).
b) Read about brewing and fermentation. Don't have the patience for reading? No problem, start with YouTube. There are endless materials there.
c) Start brewing something simple such as blond ale recipe. Once you have done without mistakes, add or change an ingredient to brew something similar and start again. After a while, you will be able to expand to other recipes very fast.
d) Never give up, never surrender. There are going to be many annoying days before it becomes fantastic.
Do you have any certifications related to beer and/or homebrewing (BJCP, Cicerone, etc…)?
Level 1 Prud'homme, Off-Flavours Cicerone. BJCP is in the works.
If you could be a tree frog, what colour tree frog would you be and why?
Blue. Because I like blue.