California handyman turned brewer wins awards.

Associated Press--Bill Wood is a beer lover and an artist--a combination that has won international recognition for him, his brew and the small pub that hired him five years ago as a handyman and barkeep.

The genial Wood, who used to brew suds at home for his friends, captured a double whammy in a prestigious national competition featuring more than 400 breweries and 1,900 entries.

First, he won two gold medals for two brews--his Otis Alt and Diamondback Wheat Ale. Then, he was named Small Brewpub Brewmaster of the Year.

His awards at the 18th annual Great American Beer Festival in Colorado, an event little known to the public but watched closely by professional brewers and beer aficionados around the world, instantly propelled Wood to the front ranks of brewmasters. He already won medals of lesser rank in earlier competitions; The latest round was like icing on the cake.

"He's really learned on the job. He's like an artist, and as he gets better at it, he perfects the blend and the taste, and it all comes together," said Jackie Andersen-McAuley, Wood's boss and owner of the Brewery Restaurant, a rustic pub-eatery in a century-old brick building in Elk Grove, CA, about 15 miles south of Sacramento.

Wood, 34, seems more chemist or engineer than brewer as he explains the intricacies of turning water, hops, barley, malt, yeast, wheat, sugar and other ingredients into the popular beverage.

The gleaming copper-and-stainless steel brewing equipment, which cost about $250,000, gurgles and grumbles as it produces beer in 310-gallon batches five times a month and pipes it to storage tanks. Wood makes ales, porters, stouts, lagers and other types in a search for the perfect brew, sometimes as diners look on.

Each batch takes about 12 hours to brew, but that's only the initial step. Then, the beer is carefully aged--ales for two to three weeks, and lagers up to three months.

What makes a good beer? "You look for complexity, richness, aftertaste, whether it bites you or whether it is smooth. Taste is the most complex part. You look for body and finish. It's a question of educating the palate," Wood said.

"It's artistic like cooking is artistic. You take these raw ingredients and put them together a certain way, and the artistry comes through in the flavor and appearance of it," he said. "That's like beer, getting the right color, the perfect clarity and the perfect head."

Judging beers is an equally elaborate ritual. At the Colorado event, 94 judges examined 1,920 entries submitted by 409 breweries.

The judges are "blind"--they don't know who submits the entries--and the beers are categorized by type, rather than by brewery. That means small pub brewers like Wood may compete directly against large breweries with vastly more resources--this is one reason that the winners of the events draw so much attention from beer lovers.

"There are even people who will seek out medalists and their breweries when they travel. So we have a brewery 'locator,'" online, said Paul Gatza, the festival's judging manager and head of the American Homebrewers Association, a lobby and trade group.

Companies, too, may have a huge stake in the outcome.

"It gains prestige for the breweries and gives them a marketing tool. A company may spend $125 to enter, but if they win, they'll spend millions to promote their award," Gatza said said. "If there are two brewpubs in a town and one 'medals' and the other doesn't, there's a good chance the winner will get more business."

The judging is divided into three-hour sessions. Judges taste I-ounce samples of brew and follow printed guidelines for each of the 54 categories updated regularly by brewers. Three judges may work each category at a time, with six in the finals.

The granddaddy of beer contests, the World Beer Cup, is coming up in April in Wisconsin, a beer-brewing heaven for microbreweries and large companies. The state, its beer tradition stemming in part from 19th-century German immigration, has more than 50 breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs representing a $5.5 billion economic impact, the Beer Institute of America says.

The World Cup already has drawn 600 entries from 20 countries, said marketing director JoAnne Carilli