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ORAL HISTORY

Allan Sepkowski

James River Homebrewers

Allan Sepkowski is a homebrewer originally from rural upstate New York. Known by his friends as “Shiny Head,” Allan is an active member of the James River Homebrewers. During Allan’s childhood, he saw his mother cooking for their family of seven and learned a few recipes from her, including a chocolate mayonnaise cake. Allan realized he loved serving people what that he made during a world food project in school where he made an Indian-inspired curry chicken. During his career, he worked for food distributers. Allan started homebrewing in the early 2010s, starting off with a pale ale that he made on his stove. As he expanded his operation, Allan connected with members of the James River Homebrewers at a Brew Day and started going to their meetings. He “caught the bug” of homebrewing and dove into the craft. He learned from research and from his fellow homebrewers. Allan has also submitted his beers to competitions and has won silver and bronze medals for his brews. Allan sees the technology of homebrewing improving to the point where he anticipates more folks getting interested in the craft.