Hello from Barrington, IL

Greetings HBT,
Been lurking the forums for several months now. Just wanted to introduce myself and thank everyone here for the wealth of information. Every brewing question I've had so far has been answered about a hundred times here. Have bottled three brews so far with an American Wheat in the primary. Thanks to all the knowledgeable people on this forum for an easy transition into a truly addicting hobby.
Kevin

Hello from Indiana. Hope to hear more from you! Thanks for joining the forum.

Always remember to use the search function, it's probably not ruined, NEVER DUMP your beer, try to relax, and always have a homebrew.

Hey Barrington. Batavia here. I post more elsewhere, but this has proven to be a very busy forum.

Heya, I'm from Dundee and work in Buffalo grove, welcome to the forum!

P.S. what is your local homebrew store in this area?

I shop (and work part time) at The Homebrew Shop in downtown St. Charles. Stop by and see us!

mklawz said:

I shop (and work part time) at The Homebrew Shop in downtown St. Charles. Stop by and see us!

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That's my old shop! Ed's "Beer Church" is what got me started in the first place. Used to live in Maple Park but just moved up to Woodstock a few weeks ago. Seems to be a few of us local to the area... somebody should organize something. Bueller?

My parents live in Gurnee and whenever I'm in town I always go to Perfect Home Brewing Supplies for my brewing needs.

I'll be back in the area for the winter holiday if there is a gathering.

Sounds like fun, i go to church up in woodstock.

conpewter said:

Heya, I'm from Dundee and work in Buffalo grove, welcome to the forum!

P.S. what is your local homebrew store in this area?

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I am originally from Buffalo Grove. You ever go to the Half Day on Half Day rode before it closed down?

ha- i grew up in Barrington! welcome from St. Charles!

Never been to Half Day, I just started the job in Buffalo Grove a month ago, before that I was working in Schaumburg.

Glad to see so there are some homebrewers in the area. I usually order my supplies from Midwest, but have stopped into Perfect Brewing Supply in Libertyville and Brew and Grow in Rosselle.

conpewter said:

Sounds like fun, i go to church up in woodstock.

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Excellent! I used to live in Crystal Lake before I was in Maple Park and have started going back to First United Methodist there. Sunday mornings are obviously taken but we could always meet up after noon. We just moved to a "hobby farm" in Woodstock and we have a set of outbuildings with PLENTY of space to brew. We just got the bar and arcade games moved in this weekend. :rockin:

The next few weeks are out as we're still unpacking and organizing our life but once we're settled my door is always open. toastbrew and I had talked about this a while ago actually.

Suburb dwellers


Hello!

Belated welcome from Saint Charles, IL. There are a lot of Fox Valley guys around these parts!

Are there any local homebrew clubs in this area?

Chicago Beer Society » Home
HomeBrewTalk Groups - Chicago land brewers

Damonic said:

Are there any local homebrew clubs in this area?

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Urban knaves of Grain is the big one in the Du Page county area. They meet the last Thursday of every month and John's Buffet is Warrenville.

Did a little searching as well and found that the Midnight Carboys are based in McHenry County/Crystal Lake. Plus they meet at the bar I used to bounce/bartend at.

This is cool. I am from Elgin and go to the store in St. Charles too. Small world.

Hey you NW burbers... I think I have a water problem. Chlorine, perhaps. Every one of my AG’s have been astringent. Some with a only hint, some downright undrinkable because of it. Anybody else dealing with such issues?

I wouldn’t normally knock a thread off topic like this, but if my problem is really my WATER… well, it’s a bit of a problem, ya know?

Welcome Blanco!

By the way, I shop at Perfect Brewing Supplies in Libertyville. I have been blessed with the great gift of being able TO WALK to my HB shop.

hehe. <smug laugh>

The whole staff is cool, but my go-to guy&#8217;s name is Billy. Bearded, stoic-looking fellow.

Judochop said:

Hey you NW burbers... I think I have a water problem. Chlorine, perhaps. Every one of my AG’s have been astringent. Some with a only hint, some downright undrinkable because of it. Anybody else dealing with such issues?

I wouldn’t normally knock a thread off topic like this, but if my problem is really my WATER… well, it’s a bit of a problem, ya know?

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I think I have the same problem. But I think I even had it before switching to AG. I think my problem is water hardness. My bicarbonates are literally off the charts. I dont think I'm drinking Lake Michigan water though, I think it's mostly ground water.

I've been using bottled water and also my tap water cut 50% with distilled water. I'm not sure how my AG batches will turn out since I've only done 4 of them and nothing is ready to drink yet.

Send in a sample to Ward Labs and see what you have in your water.

I feel bad about hijacking the new member's thread for my own gain, so I've taken the conversation here, for those interested:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/nw-burbs-chicago-bad-water-88260/#post948064

Howdy suburbanites.

I'm a little to south for most meetings. Although I do get up to see my brother in Barrington couple times a year. I'll have to check out one of those beer stores. We don't have any around here.