John Tull began making beer for himself and his friends in 1994 just prior to moving to Utah to begin graduate school. While working on his Ph.D. in Reno, Nevada, John became interested in judging beer, mead and cider through his friends and colleagues in the Washoe Zephyr Zymurgists, a homebrew club with strong and early representation in the Beer Judge Certification Program. He took the BJCP exam in 2001 and gradually has risen to the rank of Grand Master I. John has judged in more than 50 beer competitions and organized eight, including the AHA National Homebrew Competition final round in 2009. Outside of his life as a beer judge, John is a wildlife ecologist focused on conservation of fragile desert landscapes and the wildlife that live there. He and his wife Marlene have two wonderful daughters and a French Brittany named Jaca.