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**CBelli** · 09-08-2012, 01:42 PM

Been home brewing non stop for the past 4 years. Over the past couple of weeks I have found myself sitting back with a beer late at night and being amazed on how damn good it is... It is almost magical that a pile of grain, water and hops can be transformed into this beverage.

That got me thinking as to why I enjoy home brewing so much?
I imagine, unlike most members of this forum, I did not drink much beer at all before I 'found' home brewing. I drank about 3-4 beers a year. That all changed when a couple neighbors of mine started home brewing and invited me to watch/help. Once I did it, and tasted the results, I was hooked. It was the "process" that did it for me. The idea that you can make a 'grain soup' add some hops and yeast and it magically becomes beer was addicting to me.
I'm a photographer by trade, thinking back on what hooked me into photography as a profession, it it was the darkroom "process" . The idea that projecting a negative image onto paper and a positive image would magically appear!!
So, for me, brewing has filled the void left from going digital and not having a photo darkroom anymore.
That is what I got into home brewing.... What keeps me doing it?
I still love the process & gadgets but I find that the social aspect of having fellow brewers over for brew days and sharing each others beers very rewarding.

Whats Your Story??

**bad67z** · 09-08-2012, 02:03 PM

I'm a frustrated chef/restauranteur @ heart, I chose not to follow that carrier path, I made the decision that starting a family was more important to me due to the circumstances of the environment I was brought up in. Not knocking the profession, I know there are far too many distractions for me personally.

So that being said, I was intrigued with the fact so few ingredients and very subtle changes to the manner of how whey were prepared could make such a vast array of finished products. I also like the nuts and bolts aspect, building and evaluating equipment is a close second. Being of Irish descent and loving beer since I was far to young to purchase it legally also didn't hurt.

**E-Mursed** · 09-08-2012, 02:04 PM

Got tired of drinking swill like Bud, Coors, MGD.
Even disappointed by Heineken and Becks....

Found beer from Frakenmuth Brewery, Paulaner, Mackesons, and eventually Sam Adams changed my palette...

It was the Jim Koch story at Sam Adams that led to the term "homebrew" and to Charlie Papazian and The Complete Joy. I read that book front to cover at least 6 times. This was back in 1995 when there was a much smaller Internet.

Rohlk · 09-08-2012, 02:05 PM

For me it was the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. I drank more mead than I should have. Shortly after I decided, Hell, I can make this at home. After making a few batches of mead I thought to myself, "I love beer, why not start brewing my own?!" That was about 2 years and 200 gallons ago. Now I've built an all grain system after doing extract and partial mashes and will brewing my first all grain batch in about a week.

**HeavyKettleBrewing** · 09-08-2012, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CBelli

Been home brewing non stop for the past 4 years. Over the past couple of weeks I have found myself sitting back with a beer late at night and being amazed on how damn good it is... It is almost magical that a pile of grain, water and hops can be transformed into this beverage.

That got me thinking as to why I enjoy home brewing so much?
I imagine, unlike most members of this forum, I did not drink much beer at all before I 'found' home brewing. I drank about 3-4 beers a year. That all changed when a couple neighbors of mine started home brewing and invited me to watch/help. Once I did it, and tasted the results, I was hooked. It was the "process" that did it for me. The idea that you can make a 'grain soup' add some hops and yeast and it magically becomes beer was addicting to me.
I'm a photographer by trade, thinking back on what hooked me into photography as a profession, it it was the darkroom "process" . The idea that projecting a negative image onto paper and a positive image would magically appear!!
So, for me, brewing has filled the void left from going digital and not having a photo darkroom anymore.
That is what I got into home brewing.... What keeps me doing it?
I still love the process & gadgets but I find that the social aspect of having fellow brewers over for brew days and sharing each others beers very rewarding.

Whats Your Story??

Four years of 80+ hour work weeks running a small business. I needed something that I could do on the weekends to keep me sane. The hobby can be really soothing and the skills I have picked up will keep me brewing/drinking after the apocalypse this December.

**beergolf** · 09-08-2012, 03:00 PM

I talked about it for years, and a couple of years ago a LHBS opened near my home. I drove by one day and mentioned to my wife that it was something I wanted to try. She ended up buying me the equipment to get started.

I love to cook so to me it is an extension of that. I love the fact that you can take a bunch of ingredients and make something tasty. It also gets to my creative side. I really like formulating recipes that are to my liking.

Great hobby/ addiction.

**Hammy71** · 09-08-2012, 03:08 PM

I got tired of spending way too much money at the local bottle shop for quality beer. I was spending 40-50 bucks a week for a couple of sixers and maybe a bomber or two. While researching some brews on line I came across this site. Was intrigued. I like to cook, to drink good beer.....and I had a keggerator already. Hmmmmmm? Now I may stop by the liquor store once every 3 months or so. The rest is history.

**KeyWestBrewing** · 09-08-2012, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammy71

I got tired of spending way too much money at the local bottle shop for quality beer. I was spending 40-50 bucks a week for a couple of sixers and maybe a bomber or two. While researching some brews on line I came across this site. Was intrigued. I like to cook, to drink good beer.....and I had a keggerator already. Hmmmmmm? Now I may stop by the liquor store once every 3 months or so. The rest is history.

Mine is very similar to this. Dogfish Head was another big inspiration. I did some reading and found out how much money I could be saving homebrewing. I really enjoyed the idea of taking something traditional and pushing it to its limits in my own creative ways. All the options and possibilities just seem unlimited. It's the same way I cook and I like it that way.

Erroneous · 09-08-2012, 03:30 PM

The seed was planted years ago with the good eats episode amber waves. Say what you want about all the mistakes he made, it intrigued me. I would half joke about getting it for Christmas and eventually my wife got me a starter kit.

Since then I've moved from stove top extract + steep to biab to mash tun and keggle. I've got an arduino controlled fermentation fridge/kegerator now and I'm working in setting up a grain mill.

**unionrdr** · 09-08-2012, 07:59 PM

I started making wine with a kit pop got & let me try as a teen. I made wine up to about age 30. Then got tired of it. Flash forward to Christmas 2010 & I wondered about making beer. Curious,I looked on youtube for home beer brewing videos & found Craigtube,steeljan,& a few others. I couldn't believe how easy it'd become these days.
So I looked for sites selling all the stuff needed,& settled on the Cooper's micro brew kit. The OS lager came out pretty good,even my wife liked it. I thought it def needed hops & more body. By my second brew I was adding hops as a tea. Then started on making my own recipes for extract beers by my 3rd brew. Now,I'm going to try PM beer this weekend. It's cheaper to partial mash,& with everything getting more expensive,I need a lil of that.
I love the creativity of it all. I can brew something familiar but different. Or something very old that's been extinct until I made it again.
Not to mention watching others enjoy it,being surprised that it's home brewed craft beer,not just some hooch to get drunk on. That's the beauty of it for me.