- Joined
- May 5, 2007
- Messages
- 4,471
- Reaction score
- 35
No, I didn't find religion. I rediscovered the fun of homebrewing...an extract epiphany! A wort awakening!
At the tender age of 19, I tried a friend's homebrew at his fraternity. Impressed by the taste, and having inherited my father's fierce predilection for DIY, I bought a starter kit at a local HB shop and started making my own ales. Simple stuff mind you: extract syrup and supplemental grains....a week in the carboy at room temperature, and once the bubbling ceased, right into my collection of Corona bottles. My kit came with a hydrometer, but I never bothered to use it. While my beers were rather cloudy, they tasted good and were pretty damn strong to boot. My kitchen floor was perpetually sticky, but my fridge was always full.
At some point I stopped brewing. Probably driven by some other change in my life. A new job, a new home, a new woman...whatever. Who can remember.
Cut to twenty something years later, and one day I mentioned to my girlfriend that I used to brew beer. She liked the sound of that (this girl could be a keeper!) so off we went to the old homebrew shop, which I'm happy to say was still thriving. I bought the ingredients for an English style brown ale and replaced a few bits of missing hardware. Brewed it up Sunday before last, and nine days later it's resting comfortably in the old carboy, which is now serving as a secondary. This time around, I'm hoping to refine the process a bit, and increase the quality of my brew. I'm sure glad I kept most of my gear all these years!
Anyhow, it's sure great to find that the hobby is reaping the benefits of the Internet revolution. I've been lurking in this forum for the past week, and I can tell it's an amazing resource. I look forward to learning from the expertise of others, and sharing my own experiences.
Cheers,
-Lars
At the tender age of 19, I tried a friend's homebrew at his fraternity. Impressed by the taste, and having inherited my father's fierce predilection for DIY, I bought a starter kit at a local HB shop and started making my own ales. Simple stuff mind you: extract syrup and supplemental grains....a week in the carboy at room temperature, and once the bubbling ceased, right into my collection of Corona bottles. My kit came with a hydrometer, but I never bothered to use it. While my beers were rather cloudy, they tasted good and were pretty damn strong to boot. My kitchen floor was perpetually sticky, but my fridge was always full.
At some point I stopped brewing. Probably driven by some other change in my life. A new job, a new home, a new woman...whatever. Who can remember.
Cut to twenty something years later, and one day I mentioned to my girlfriend that I used to brew beer. She liked the sound of that (this girl could be a keeper!) so off we went to the old homebrew shop, which I'm happy to say was still thriving. I bought the ingredients for an English style brown ale and replaced a few bits of missing hardware. Brewed it up Sunday before last, and nine days later it's resting comfortably in the old carboy, which is now serving as a secondary. This time around, I'm hoping to refine the process a bit, and increase the quality of my brew. I'm sure glad I kept most of my gear all these years!
Anyhow, it's sure great to find that the hobby is reaping the benefits of the Internet revolution. I've been lurking in this forum for the past week, and I can tell it's an amazing resource. I look forward to learning from the expertise of others, and sharing my own experiences.
Cheers,
-Lars
