Jess Lebow worked for Budweiser and Redhook selling and distributing beer in the Seattle area during the microbrew boom of the late 1990s. During that time, he tried nearly every craft beer in the Pacific Northwest and any he could lay his hands on from around the nation. Five carboys, nearly 100 delicious batches, at least a dozen not-so-delicious ones, and only god knows how many crimped bottle caps later, he figures he's drank his weight in beer many thousand times over.