My name is Pat Walls, and I am an independent culinary historian, sensory scientist, and the director of the North American Guild of Beer Writers (NAGBW). I have earned a Certificate in Applied Sensory and Consumer Science from University of California, Davis, Master of Arts in History from the University of San Diego, Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts with a minor in History from Concordia University, Irvine, Certificate in Film and Television from Bond University, as well as the the titles of: Certified Cicerone®, Certified Beer Judge Certification Program® (BJCP®) Certified Beer/Mead/Cider Judge, American Cider Association (ACA) Certified Cider Guide, Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) Certified BBQ Judge, Oyster Master Guild (OMG) Certified Oyster Specialist, and AFicioNAdo™ (AFNA) Beer Certified™. I am an experienced culinary and writing competition judge and organizer, and I am a member of the Slow Beverage initiative within Slow Food International, and I previously served as the co-chair of the the Craft Maltsters Guild (CMG) Education Committee, member of the CMG Conference Committee, and the QUAFF Club-Only Competition coordinator. I live in San Diego, California, the Capital of Craft Beer.
During the day I am the Doctoral Program Specialist at the San Diego State University College of Graduate Studies where I supervise a team that oversees 33 doctoral programs with 900+ doctoral students including joint programs with Claremont Graduate University, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Barbara, manages ~$9M in competitive graduate student funding, and provides graduate program institution research and analytics. I am a Graduate Council and Graduate Policy Committee member, and I previously served as a University Senate senator, the Staff Affairs Committee chair, the Committee on Committees and Elections chair, and a member on the Senate Executive Committee, Sustainability Committee, Commencement Committee, and Graduate Student Support and Communications Advisory Committee.
Just as murals are large public art displays that simultaneously build and represent communities, Mural Brewing is a place to explore the communities of beer, brewing, food, drinks, and culture. I intend to have various types of posts here, from historical to personal, mainly food and drink related. I am building a habit of writing so hope to post at least twice a week (though that has yet to materialize).
My first book, The Buffalo, Pumpkin, and Hops: A History of Bill Owens and Craft Beer was published in 2017 by White Mule Press and can be found here. I wrote an article about the San Diego Estate Beer Project in the November/December 2022 issue of Zymurgy Magazine. I presented From Nomad to Farmer: Brewing Local at the 2023 Homebrew Con. I wrote a short article about the SDSU and CSUSM San Diego-grown hops research conducted by students on December 5, 2023. I moderated a technical panel at the 2024 Malt Con, and I have guest lectured on hop sensory evaluation and the history of beer styles.
I am working on a number of interrelated longform book projects (which I don’t recommend to anyone). The first book is a cultural history of food and drinks competitions focusing on the people involved (organizers, judges, volunteers, entrants, and consumers) and the decisions they make. This project will span over two centuries from the birth of county fair competitions in the US in 1811 to the present, and it will highlight all manner of foodstuffs: beer, wine, cider, spirits, cocktails, malts, barbeque, chili, baked goods, tortillas, and many more. The focus is on the non-profit and trade organizations and organizers who celebrate specific culinary crafts. Some questions that will be answered include: why do folks participate in culinary competitions? How are they organized and how are entry categories or styles devised, developed, and evolved over time? Why are particular rules created and expanded? How are qualified judges selected and trained? What type of judging sensory training is provided or available? What do entrants gain from the competition experience? This is focused on the single or multi-day events sanctioned by organizations like many of those listed above, not on televised commercial cooking competitions (although that is a future area of interest). This book will rely on primary and secondary resources as well as oral histories of many individuals involved as organizers, judges, and/or entrants over the past 40+ years.
The second book is an attempt to redefine terroir in beer through the lens of the Slow Food motto of Good, Clean, and Fair. Beer is simultaneously an agricultural and industrial product that has measurable sensory evaluation and laboratory evidence of “a taste of place” and the decisions made by the farmers and brewers.
Thank you for visiting and feel free to email me at muralbrewing (at) gmail (dot) com if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Mural Brewing 