I feel kinda like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, only better, because anyone can make fire...

Anyway, I popped the cap on my very first home brew this past Saturday. It was a variation of the beginner recipe on howtobrew.com, but with 3 lb each amber and light DME on the recommendation of the store owner to keep from having unused malt extract. Also, I kept back 1 and 1/2 cups of the amber extract for priming, rather than using corn sugar. Everything else was pretty much as directed on howtobrew.com.

I left it in primary for 2 weeks, secondary for another 2, and conditioning in the bottles for 4. It is nicely carbonated, has a good head, a nice brown color. It is a bit more bitter than I prefer, but this is apparently typical of the style of american ales, and from what my friends say, I am more of an english ale guy.

At any rate, the most gratifying part was when I took some to a gathering of friends. I have heard horror stories about home brewers inflicting their home brewed beer on their friends, but after distributing my brew to the beer drinkers there, I had 1 left over. It was quickly snatched up by the first to finish his beer, and a mostly friendly argument ensued about bogarting the last beer.

Any way, I thought I would share a success story. I look forward to my next batch.