49 replies to this topic

[MoreAmmoPlz]

Woke up one day while on vacation leave and decided that I wanted to brew beer. My uncle had been brewing for a while and I guess the idea simmered in my brain until I decided that I wanted to make beer too. I promptly went to the LHBS and purchased a starter kit and made an amber ale. That ended up being a pretty decent beer and I've been hooked ever since.

[BarelyBrews]

I started with the MR.Beer kits , and then some info from a guy at work. Then He told me of the blue place, which was helpful in its day. Now im here, graduated to all grain a couple of years ago , and kegging just a few months ago. Remember my first five gallon batch really well, Open fermentation Old Ale.( a sack cloth for top) and No hydrometer just waited seven days then bottled it. Big yeast cake on the bottom , and really good two weeks later. That was the biggest throttler for me.

[cbbrown40]

I came back from a tour in Germany in 1993 and was craving Dopplebock. I was stationed as a Drill Sergeant at Fort knox KY and I met this other Drill sergeant and we were having a drink and i told him that I sure wish I could get a Dopplebock. He told me that if I could boil water that I could make good Dopplebock. So I bought a cheap set up and made Dopplebock by myself and haven't looked back since. What is that 16 years ago Yikes

[ChefLamont]

...It is important to mention beer=BM. There was no C on east coast at this time. No great loss IMHO....

"Dont you know, boy, that's bootleggin!"I love that movie.Anyhow, back to the meaningful posts.

[DubbelEntendre]

I've been absent for a bit, but I'll add my story.My father has been a beer drinker for as long as I can remember, so I thought it would be a fun Father's Day bonding experience to make beer with him. I was about 20 at the time, and away at school. So, I got a halfway decent starter kit from the LHBS to brew up a batch. We followed the instructions, and made the wort. We put the plastic fermenting bucket in the basement, and lost track of time. I went to school out of state, and went back in the fall, and we still hadn't bottled the beer. Every time I came home we said that we needed to bottle it, but I was only ever home for holidays, which were always busy. That first batch sat in the bucket for about 5 years and I have just recently dumped it. Yes, the first beer I ever brewed. I never got to try it.Between making that first batch with my dad, and dumping it. I had a couple friends buy a kit in college. They made their beer towards the end of the semester of our junior year. They left the bottles in their apartment to carbonate over the summer. When we got back to school in the fall, their neighbor found and drank all of their first batch. They didn't get to have any either. After that another friend had tried to make beer without doing much research on how to do so. He didn't buy a kit or an ingredient kit. I'm not sure where he got his recipe, but he ended up using bread yeast to ferment it. Needless to say, I didn't want to try any of that.So after I had experienced all of these home brew catastrophes, I decided that I wanted to give this another go. At the time, the bucket was still sitting in my parents basement full of 4 year old home brew and I lived out of state. So, I purchased a shiny new kit of my own from another LHBS. Along with that, I purchased a copy of "How to Brew". I read that book cover to cover, and then reread the section regarding your first brew day. For my second batch, with the help of the Palmer book, I went all grain.Long story short, I learned how to not make beer three times before I had the chance to have a home brewed beer. Now, I have one just about every day.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I had a couple friends buy a kit in college. They made their beer towards the end of the semester of our junior year. They left the bottles in their apartment to carbonate over the summer. When we got back to school in the fall, their neighbor found and drank all of their first batch. They didn't get to have any either.

That neighbor would be a dead man. I'd never forgive him.

[RommelMagic]

That neighbor would be a dead man. I'd never forgive him.

Hhhhhmm. Drawn & quartered...

[buzhazzard]

I learned from a friend which really sped up the learning curve.

[MAZ]

I learned from a friend about 20 years ago. No internet, no forums. Just Charlie P's first book and a little expendable income from my first real job out of college!

[DaBearSox]

same ole Mr. Beer story got me started, of course after the first batch I knew there had to be something better, online forums/Charlie P got me to the good stuff...but most of all trail and error