Madden has been head brewer with the Capital City Brewing Co. since 1995. A native of Long Island, Madden worked in sales after graduating from Gettysburg College with a business degree. "Threw away the big money corporate job to get into the little money brewing career. Love it, and stopped gritting teeth," he says. He joined the Capital City, a DC Metro group of brewpubs, after graduated from the Masterbrewers Program at The University of California at Davis in 1995, where he studied under Dr. Micheal J.Lewis. His beers have won five GABF medals and three from the Real Ale festival. "This is my fifth year entered in GABF and have never been there to collect awards," he sayd. "This year CCBC is sending brewers to the event and I wonder if we will jinx ourselves."

» Sept. 14
"I think too much about what I could have done differently with these beers and have to stop. There is nothing I can do now."

» Sept. 15
"Mike's other choice was a bold one. Imperial IPA. This is a new category at GABF and he decided to go for it. When making the choice for your entry to a festival that is to be judged its good to know prior winning entries. This is unchartered waters and will be interesting."

» Sept. 16
"We never advertised the Imperial IPA in the brewpubs, but still people in the know heard about it and would call ahead to be sure it was on tap."

» Sept. 17
"Thoughts on GABF today ... not much. I have too much to do than to think about that."

» Sept. 18
"It will be a weird day for business with the beer growler crowd coming in to get the necessary supplies for a storm."

» Sept. 19
After Isabel ... "Came in this morning and everything was fine. Electricity was on and the refrigeration unit (mounted on the roof) was in perfect running order."

» Sept. 22
"Whew! ... I have a lot to do before getting on that plane."

» Sept. 24
"The GABF and the Craft Brewers Conference are the two best places to get new ideas for the brewery and I have been away from both of these events for too long."

» Sept. 26
"Well ... gotta go shower and pack. Then the actual trip to Denver starts. But it started months ago with our beer entries."

» Oct. 6
"There are some brewers who will leave GABF having not received an award and think it is a crap shoot or fixed for Colorado or California brewers. That is all garbage."