You might not know much about Andrew Dykstra, but we’re here to help you get to know our stellar goalkeeper, currently leading the Black-and-Red through a 4-game unbeaten streak. He isn’t just a talented goalkeeper and graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in Exercise Science, but also a dabbler in a hobby all of us enjoy— beer.
“It goes back to college,” he recalled. “My roommate was a Chemistry major and became interested in beer. Every time we would go to the store, we would pick up something we never tried.”
WATCH: Unmarked Ep. 1 - Ben Olsen mic'd up
Once they figured out which beers they enjoyed and which they could do without, the brewing began.
“It came to the point where he ended up brewing these five-gallon batches for the guys on the team. When I moved out on my own, I said I would like to do that but on a smaller scale, where there is more turnover and I can experiment a bit more. I got a starter kit in our off season and went from there.”
The starter kit involves mixing some grains and hops in pots over the stove and always accounting for how long fermentation takes. Having just started, the product hasn’t exactly been top notch.
“I started with a stout,” Dykstra told DC Brau Brewer Brandon Skall. “It didn’t exactly turn out so well.”
Thus far, the multi-talented keeper has experimented with a few different brews, other than the formerly mentioned stout.
“I have a porter aging right now,” he said. “And then I have two wheat beers fermenting.”
Considering he compared his stout to gasoline yesterday, I’ll wait to ask for a pint. But once those brews are perfected, maybe there’s a DC Brau – Andrew Dykstra collaboration in our future.
Stay tuned to dcunited.com and follow @DCUunmarked for more on Andrew Dykstra and possible post-soccer career path.
