Category Archives: Member Profile

Member Profile: Kieth Caines

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Kieth Caines

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

Spent 35 years in the Office furniture industry, Since 2014 I’ve been working with SceneAereo Aerial Photography, we’ve done some very interesting projects over the last year including commercial real estate, construction site progress and building thermal inspections.

What got you into homebrewing?

Started making wine, getting my juice from Magnotta.
Saw their beer wort kits tried a couple of those then discovered all grain and haven’t looked back.

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Member Profile: Mike Vandervoort

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Mike Vandervoort

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I am a Police Officer with Toronto Police Service and am currently working in the Jane and Finch community. Don’t let the media scare you it is actually a great community and I really enjoy working there.

What got you into homebrewing?

I did a university exchange to the Netherlands for a year. Every Friday (ok, maybe Thursday and Saturday too), a group of us would each purchase different beers from around Europe. I attempted to start that here with a group of friends when I got back and one said, “Hey, why don’t we make it?” Enough said.

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Member Profile: Clayton Hoy

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Clayton Hoy

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

Hold on to your butts! I am by title the Operations Manager for Supply Chain Division. Really, I’m mostly an implementation consultant for Warehouse Management Software. Have fun figuring out what that means.

What got you into homebrewing?

Pretty certain I was walking in Loblaws one day and noticed a can of extract they were selling. No idea if they still do or not but I was intrigued by the idea of being able to brew at home. I persisted through so many terrible beers and eventually learned a little bit.
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Member Profile: Mark Verok

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Mark Verok

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I appraise commercial real estate. I’m an AACI, which basically means I value the stuff that banks lend on and developers spend way way too much money on.  The bulk of my time in the past year though has been concentrated around starting and marketing Katalyst Brewing Company.  We are listed in the LCBO and will very shortly be in stores!

What got you into homebrewing?

If I recall, I was sitting talking to my father, and somehow beer came up, I had tried making wine a few times, with varying success, and he said “I don’t think that’s a great idea, not sure it’s that easy”.  Of course, I have spent the past couple of years throwing home brewed beer at him.  I won this round Pete! Continue reading Member Profile: Mark Verok →

Member Profile: Kat Goodale

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Kat Goodale

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I was a computer studies teacher at a girl’s school for 12 years, but made a career change in 2013. I was accepted into the Brewmaster program at Niagara College, and am now a brewer at Magnotta Brewery in Vaughan.

What got you into homebrewing?

My dad! He’d been homebrewing on and off since the 1985 beer strike, and we helped by bottling. I inherited his bottle capper, which is still as much of a PITA to use now as it was then.

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Member Profile: Jon Mains

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Jon Mains

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I’m a businessman. I work as a financial analyst at a kitchen cabinet manufacturer, crunching numbers, financial statements, spreadsheets, graphs, charts, Excel baby!

What got you into homebrewing?

Some combination of unemployment, curiosity, frugality, education, and entrepreneurial aspirations. I had recently completed my Master of Business at U.B.C. in Vancouver, and had a lot of spare time while job hunting. As someone who loves craft beer and cooking, I figured I could probably brew up a decent batch myself while simultaneously saving money! By the way, I’ve yet to save any money making my own beer, the equipment is expensive!

I started reading every book I could get my hands on and anything I could find on web forums. With an undergraduate degree in Biology, the science of brewing came quickly and easily, that’s when the same thought crossed my mind that crosses every homebrewer’s mind, “Why not start a brewery?!” Continue reading Member Profile: Jon Mains →