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If youwant a better beer, brew it yourself!
Members of theSheboyganSudzzersHomebrewClub.
SheboyganSudzzersHomebrewing
ClubToastsOktoberfest
I
f you want to tap a barrel of knowhow about homebrewing,
just walk through the buildings of Plenco and ask
Tom
Badura
(Engineering),
Mike Dekarske
(IT),
Peter Madden
(Engineering),
Jeff Meise
(Tool Room),
Jeff Mohr
(Law),
Mike
Swann
(Maintenance),
JimWucherer
(Purchasing), andother Plenco
homebrewers and you’ll get an earful aboutwhymen, especially, enjoy
the art andprecisionof cooking up a quality craft beer.
“Makingbeer is likeplayingchess,”Peter told
PlastiScope21
. “Youcan
learn chess in tenminutes, and then you can spend a lifetime refining
your knowledge and expertise.” He’s been doing it for 20 years, and
thanks to the Internet, Peter’s hobby has been picked up by millions
inWisconsin and across the country.
TomBadura, a30-yearPlenco employee, suggested, “It’sonly rocket
science if you want it to be rocket science.” And they both agreed
homebrewing is becoming a communal activity. “You can brew your
own, but frequently youbrewwith friends,”Peter said. “It canbevery
social, and it’s not a bad way to spend half a Saturday. After all, you
can’tmake beerwithout drinking beer!”
But let’s get one thing straight. Homebrewing is not about drinking
quantities of inexpensive beer! Most home brewers are intent upon
replicating a really good brew they’ve tastedmade by a craft brewer.
Quality trumps quantity andvariety is thenameof the game. That can
costmore than a six pack of Miller Lite.
Given the camaraderie of homebrewers and their thirst for
sharing information and recipes, it’s not surprising that clubs such as
Sheboygan’s Sudzzers HomebrewClub sprang up. TomBadura is an
officer of the local group andhis son is amember, as isPeterMadden.
In fact, just about everyWisconsin city has its version of Sudzzers.
(Please see adjacent article on the club.)
It may have occurred to you that cooking up a batch of home
brew and cooking up a kettle of resinon the job at Plenco are similar.
“Stainless steel kettles, precisely measured ingredients, controlled
timing, and chemical reactions support the same process,” Peter said.
“Homebrewing appeals toprecision, and that’s nodoubtwhy employ-
ees inengineering andotherprecision jobs atPlenco seemdrawn to it.”
Sudzzers, Sheboygan’s
homebrewingclub
founded in1993, hosted
its 21st annual Oktober-
fest Oct. 18th at Kiwanis
Park, wheremembers
and friendswere servedWisconsinmicro-
brews andbeer brats andhamburgersmade
especially for the festival byMiesfeld’sMeat
Market.
The fund raiser benefitedHonor Flights
ofWisconsin, which transportsWisconsin’s
veterans toWashington, DC, where they visit
thosememorialsdedicated tohonoring their
military service and sacrifices.
Formore informationon theSudzzers, visit
