Chino started home brewing around 1995 and, after a long hiatus, has been homebrewing fervently for the last eight years (since 2013). He started out with an extract porter kit at the original Northern Brewer store, which came complete with exploding bottles equipped as a standard accessory. Since then, Chino has brewed using most types of equipment and methods, and is currently most likely to be brewing a small batch (2.75 gal) of Dark MIld, indoors, on one of his electric all-in-one systems.
Chino is a moderator and active contributor at the homebrewing subreddit at reddit.com, a multiple-times presenter at Homebrew Con, and author of homebrewing articles. He uses these platforms and his experience to help beginner/intermediate brewers and to advocate for evidence-based brewing methods that are more streamlined and less time consuming. For example, Chino was an early and vocal proponent of several innovations along this line, such as “overnight” mashing, skipping vorlaufing, and dunk sparging brew in a bag (BIAB) batches, as well as being a pioneer in describing brewing innovations like the Chino Cannon.
Chino is also a fan of open fermentation in home brewing (see podcast episode 73!) and the use of oats in brewing.
In terms of his personal life, no one can prove that Chino did any of the things he has been alleged to have done. Sure, he may have been escorted out of a few unlikely places, but those were probably totally undeserved. That one time after a show at CB-GB when the trajectory of a 40-oz bottle had an unfortunate intersection with the stationary position of a segment of windshield glass on Avenue A, no one was more surprised than Chino. Except probably the bottle. As per a study published in the journal Pediatrics, a kid listening to loud, rebellious, or deviant music is statistically far more likely to vandalize cars than a kid who listens to jazz. So point to Tipper Gore. Chino now lives a happy life with his wife and kid, listening to jazz, in a suburb of the Twin Cities. Chino’s favorite muppet is Animal.
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