Profiles in Brewing: A Conversation with Eric Nocerino

By George Horning

Behind every great homebrewer is a great origin story. For Eric Nocerino of Goleta, California, that story involves a "dry" college campus, a helpful local shop owner, and a lifelong appreciation for the simple art of crafting a good pint.

We sat down with Eric to talk about his brewing journey, his philosophy on sharing the good stuff, and why sometimes, a pale ale is just a pale ale.

How did you first get into homebrewing?

A few friends of mine actually started back in high school, which was my first real introduction to it. But I didn’t actually brew my first batch until college at the University of New Mexico.

UNW was a "dry" campus, so a few of my roommates circumvented the rules by brewing their own beer. They were way more than casual brewers—they were doing all-grain, meads, and ciders—so they exposed me to a wide variety of styles and techniques right off the bat.

Albuquerque also had a fantastic homebrew shop back then. The owner loved setting newbies up with equipment and a solid malt extract kit that included steeping grains. His philosophy was simple: if your first batch turns out great, you’ll come back for more. It certainly worked on me.

What is your favorite part of the brewing process?

Honestly, I love putting the recipe together. I typically stick to very simple malt extract recipes with some steeped grain, but I really enjoy exploring how different combinations of hops, grains, and yeast interact.

Years ago, a friend printed out the entire Cat’s Meow beer recipe website and handed me the hard copy. I still love flipping through those pages and looking at online sources to narrow down a style. It’s incredibly fun to look at all the variations of a specific style and then try to build a recipe that sounds good to me. I’m not doing anything overly elaborate; I just like tweaking ingredients in small ways to see what happens. Sometimes it tastes exactly like I envisioned, and sometimes it doesn’t. That’s the beauty of it. Sometimes a pale ale is just a pale ale, and that works for me.

You’ve been at this for a while. How many batches are you up to?

The batch you recently helped me with was actually number 45! My brewing frequency has definitely slowed down over the years between raising kids, going back to school, and working.

Usually, I get inspired to brew again when I pick up an interesting new beer at the liquor store or try something great at a local brewpub. Right now, my interest has been totally rekindled because a friend who was moving out of town sold me all of his ingredients and supplies.

"At first, it seems like a lot of steps. But after you do it once or twice, you develop a rhythm. It’s always been a fun process with a great outcome."

How do you feel about sharing your creations with others?

It’s funny—when I first started out, I loved sharing, but I definitely coveted the better batches. The college friends I learned from did the exact same thing; we were all a little protective of the really good stuff.

Now, I actually prefer to share the best bottles. I tend to want to move on to the next batch and try something new. Having 48 to 50 bottles of the same beer on hand is a lot, so the best way to keep things moving is to pass them around.

Do you find the process difficult?

At first, it can feel like a lot of steps. But like anything else, once you do it a couple of times, you develop a rhythm. It speeds up and feels a lot less complicated. Because I stick to basic malt extract recipes with steeped grains—only occasionally adding a more complex hop schedule or extra sugars like honey and molasses—I don't find it difficult at all.

What advice would you give to someone looking to try brewing for the first time?

Just give it a shot: Especially if you enjoy different styles of beer and want to understand how they are made.
Find a community: If you don't know anyone who brews, do a quick online search for a local homebrew club and reach out. In my experience, homebrewers are incredibly generous and always happy to show a beginner the ropes.
Keep it simple: Start with a basic kit. Get a few successful, straightforward batches under your belt before moving on to complex techniques. Like any hobby, it’s easy to get carried away buying equipment and trying to do too much too soon.

Eric’s Top Picks & Lessons Learned

The Hits	The Misses
Colorado Pilsners & Lagers: Brewed close to traditional German and Czech styles, but with more body, flavor, and a distinct freshness.	The Over-Heated Hefeweizen: Fermented a bit too hot, resulting in overwhelming banana and clove flavors that never mellowed out.
The Denver ESB: A perfected kit from a local Denver shop. Consistently excellent over three separate batches, even when tweaking the hops.	The Exploding Fountain: A batch that got infected with wild yeast during bottling. It tasted off and erupted like a volcano when opened, forcing a trip down the sink.

What is your all-time favorite beer style?

Extra Special Bitter (ESB) is definitely my default. Commercial-wise, I usually go for Redhook ESB, though I think British imports like Fuller's have a bit more depth of flavor. There are some fantastic microbrew versions out there, too, they can just be tough to track down. I think ESBs are the perfect middle ground between a blonde ale and an IPA, and I’d love to see more craft breweries brew them.

Aside from that, I’m very fond of Belgian Tripels. Dogfish Head put one out a few years back that I absolutely loved, though the name escapes me.

George: Well, it sounds like you’ve avoided any major homebrewing disasters! Thanks again for sitting down to chat, Eric. I can’t wait to taste that batch of stout you have fermenting away right now.