Local store helps beer lovers bring brewing home

Scott Windsor knows the taste of quality craft beer, and in step with the growing number of beer lovers across Orange County, he doesn’t have to go to a tasting room to find it.

In June, the 34-year-old Huntington Beach resident opened Costa Mesa’s first supply store for home brewing — aptly named Windsor Home Brew Supply — in a shopping center on Baker Street in Costa Mesa. It is one of six home brewing stores in Orange County, serving a market that in recent years has absorbed some of the enthusiasm from the proliferation of craft breweries in places like San Diego.

“Home brewing has gone hand in hand with the success of craft breweries all over the place,” he said. “There’s been this push of people wanting to craft their own goods — beer, food, everything.”

Windsor, who this summer moved from Oklahoma to Huntington Beach, the hometown of his wife, Megan, is new to the Orange County beer scene. But his love of craft beer and brewing began more than a decade ago.

He developed an affinity for beer in his early 20s while he was touring as the lead singer and guitarist for his indie-rock band, the Umbrellas.

Though most of the venues where he performed offered bands cases of noncraft varieties like Budweiser, he remembers a club in San Francisco where he had his first beer from Anchor Brewing Co., one of the original craft breweries based in the Bay Area.

“I had never heard of it,” he said, “and, of course, now it’s a staple.”

In the years that followed, Windsor said, one of his favorite aspects of touring was sampling and learning about different styles of beer, from hoppy India pale ales to sophisticated, flavorful stouts. Some of his favorites have provided inspiration for his own brewing.

Windsor said he stumbled into beer making 11 years ago after a friend bought him a boxed home brew kit that he ordered online. He was hooked after he brewed his first batch of IPA, he said.

“I’ve never been a hobby guy, but brewing is fun,” he said. “It just clicked.”

As he got more comfortable with the month-long brewing process, he began experimenting with his beers, adding flavors like vanilla, different strains of yeast, varieties of hops and even aging his brews in whisky barrels to absorb the boozy oak flavor.

For the seasoned home brewer, the fun is in the experimenting.

The best beer Windsor has ever made? A 12% alcohol, by volume, imperial stout aged in a bourbon oak barrel, he said. He’s never tried to re-create it.

“I don’t try to make the same beer over and over,” he said. “That’s the struggle of working in a huge brewery – every batch has to taste the same. I like doing different things every time. The possibilities are endless.”

While he waits for his beer to be ready to drink, Windsor enjoys visiting area craft breweries such as Barley Forge in Costa Mesa and Beachwood BBQ in Long Beach and bonding with other beer buffs over their shared passion.

As he got more involved with his own brewing and got out of the music industry, Windsor decided to open his supply store in an effort to help other beer lovers create their own.

“The transition from music to beer was natural for me,” he said. “It’s just about being creative, I guess.”

Bottles, caps, beer making kits, boiling pots, fermenters and siphons line shelves in Windsor’s store at 743 Baker St. Dozens of strains of yeast and styles of hops are visible through the clear doors of the refrigerator along the wall. Trash cans filled with types of barley fill the room with an aroma that almost begs shoppers to find the nearest tap room for a frothy pint.

But Windsor’s goal isn’t just to sell products to other brewers. He also wants to teach people who are just getting into the scene. Too many times, he said, he’s heard stories from people who have been treated poorly at supply stores for being new to brewing. So each weekend the store offers brewing classes where about 20 students get together with Windsor to brew a batch of beer. The classes have been so popular that there’s a waiting list until October, he said.

“When you think of brewing, you sometimes imagine a creepy basement with an old dude who’s been making beer for 20 years,” he said. “I wanted to make the store welcoming for everyone. My number one goal is to make beginners feel comfortable.”