Howdy, my name is Derek Springer and I am an advanced-level homebrewer and blogger from San Diego, CA who first started brewing in 2005. I am the events officer for The Society of Barley Engineers, proud AHA member, competition steward, and training to become a BJCP judge. In my professional life I am a software engineer for WordPress.com, contribute to open-source projects like the BeerXML Shortcode plugin for WordPress, and frequently speak at blogging conferences including the European and American Beer Blogger’s Conference.