Nik started brewing during his first year of uni with second hand fermenters and a bottle capper from the 60's. Three batches later, and a lot of time spent on the internet, his brew-partner and he had built a rudimentary all-grain system for $200. Looking back it was a terrible system, the HLT and kettle were combined, but they managed to produce beers they thought were good. A year later he managed to bluff his way into a job at Grain and Grape where his beer knowledge quickly grew.
Working at Grain and Grape also allowed him to brew at the shop on the prototype HERMS system. Very quickly his home system went into disrepair.
After finishing his undergrad in 2008 he spent 2009 collecting equipment to set up a tiny (500l) commercial brewery. The year also saw him brewing and re-brewing the same recipes to get the flavors he wanted to see in commercial beers. He thinks it was this slow process that has taught him the most about beer. Unable to put off postgraduate study any longer he is back at Melbourne Uni doing his Masters in Physics. This will mean a few more years before he produces anything commercially.
