WORKING -- Keith Hinkle

-- Story by Deirdre Newman and photo by

HE IS

Helping people brew the perfect batch of beer

BARLEY AND HOPS

Walk into Shrine of the Brew God in Costa Mesa and high priest Keith

Hinkle will greet you with a dizzying array of hops, barley and yeast --

three of the four essential ingredients for beer.

Hinkle has been facilitating fermenting of the foamy brew for close to

eight years now. His store in a converted bungalow is a one-stop shop for

those brave enough to try making beer and wine at home.

The store is unique not just because of the variety of its

merchandise, but because Hinkle also provides his own beer-making kits in

flavors such as “Mother’s Milk,” an extinct milk stout.

“You can create beers that don’t exist anymore and some that never

existed,” Hinkle said.

JOY OF MAKING BEER

Hinkle started experimenting with home brewing about 15 years ago when

a former boss gave him a kit as a gift.

“I made very lousy beer,” he admits.

But after doing some research and more months of experimentation, he

knew he had found the favor of the beer gods when his friends actually

preferred his brew to the commercial suds.

So Hinkle kissed his day job goodbye and went into the home-brewing

business full time.

“It combines my two favorite hobbies -- drinking and alcoholism,”

Hinkle joked.

BREWER’S PARADISE

His store offers a dose of irreverence with all the necessary beer and

wine ingredients -- 20 types of leaf hops in vacuum-sealed bags so they

retain their potency and bitterness, 43 types of pellet hops, 35 forms of

barley, various types of liquid yeast, different flavors to spice up

beer, wine flavored with cranberry and strawberry kiwi, and chemicals

such as calcium carbonate that are used in making wine.

Hinkle also sells his own kits that have all the ingredients and tools

necessary for making beer from scratch, such as the all-important siphon.

Most people screw up by using their mouth, he said.

Customer J.C. Converse drives from Dana Point to get the ingredients

he needs for home brewing and to chat with Hinkle.

“This is one of the greatest stores I have been to because they have

everything I need,” Converse said.

A DRINK FOR ALL SEASONS

Hinkle said his business is seasonal, usually attracting beer makers

during the winter and winemakers during the late summer and fall.

Whenever they come, his customers share the same do-it-yourself attitude.

“It’s the satisfaction, creativity and pride of ownership,” Hinkle

said.

And there’s another advantage to brewing in your bathtub -- no

hangover, Hinkle said.

“It’s all natural ingredients, so you can drink it until you’re

bouncing off the walls and then wake up and go to work,” he said.