Keith Antul

Keith Antul recently placed in the top five of the Samuel Adams Patriot Homebrew Contest with the winner’s beer to be served on tap at Gillette Stadium during next season’s Patriots’ games. Antul estimates over 200 people submitted entries, and while he won’t be able to order a glass of his brew at a Pats game, he walks away from the competition with undeniable proof that when it comes to beer, he knows more than a thing or two.

Home … I have lived in Worcester for most of my life. I live in Quinsigamond Village neighborhood now.

Passion … The craft of the beer industry, whether it’s as a brewer or a consumer.

Best advice you ever received … Probably from a co-worker many, many years ago who convinced me to give some microbrews a try after I had abandoned beer altogether as bad-tasting swill.

So what beer did you enter in the contest? … I brewed a Helles Bock (also known as Maibock), which is a pale German-style lager. Despite the light color, this style of beer has a nice malty body and some noticeable strength at 7 percent ABV. … I also submitted a Cream ale and an American Pale Ale. The latter managed to take second place in its category.

What inspired you to start brewing? … I was already a big fan of craft beers, and I’d heard that it was possible to make beer at home, so I figured I’d give it a try. I picked up a copy of Charlie Papazian’s The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, and a basic equipment kit from an online supplier of homebrewing equipment. My first beer was an Irish Red, and it wasn’t bad at all.

What do you do for a day job? … I frequently joke that I was an English major, but I work with computers, but would rather be a brewer. I am a field technician for a medical software company. I deal with all of the hardware installation and maintenance.

Is becoming a full-time brewer a reality? … I’m definitely working toward starting my own brewery here in Worcester. I have been developing recipes through my homebrewing that I look forward to bringing to the consumer someday. I’ve also been lucky enough to do a bit of professional apprenticing with Dave Richardson of the Gardner Ale House to learn the commercial-grade equipment. I also had an opportunity to brew one of my recipes with Ben Roesch of Honest Town Brewery in Southbridge. We made a Scottish-style beer called “Antul’s 80” that could be found on draft at places like the Dive Bar and Armsby Abbey here in Worcester. At this point, it’s a matter of sourcing the funding to make it all happen.

Is homebrewing difficult? … Homebrewing is as easy or as hard as you want to make it. You can make beer rather cheaply and easily using malt extracts, or you can get involved in all-grain brewing, which involves considerably more labor and extra equipment. When you start out, there are a lot of critical factors, such as the temperature of fermentation, which you have to entrust to luck. As you learn more and invest more in your equipment, you learn how to completely control these parameters and make better beer.

Where do you go in Worcester for a good brew? … The Dive Bar and Armsby Abbey are hands down the venues for good beer in Worcester. There are some other places that are making good efforts, but Alec Lopez is the only guy in town who absolutely puts the beer first before all else. I can usually be found in the Dive or Abbey at least once or twice a week.

Do you have a “usual”? … Not really. I live for variety. I have some favorites that I return to from time to time, but I usually go for any beers that I haven’t tried before. It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that I try at least one or two new beers every week, and I’ve been practicing that for many, many years.

First beer? … My first beer was probably a Budweiser. After trying that and similar American factory beers, I pretty much gave up on the beverage altogether. A couple years later, I got into stuff like Samuel Adams, Bass and Guinness Extra Stout, which were considerably more interesting and satisfying.

The best time you’ve had drinking beer versus the worst? … For me, the best time is any time I’m drinking good beer, whether it’s at my usual haunts like the Dive Bar or Armsby Abbey, at a craft beer festival or when I’m travelling and get to try new beers in other areas. The worst would be pretty much any college party I ever attended. o