Hello from Western MA!

Hi all. I have been reading HBT for around 10 months now, but haven't really had anything to contribute, so I've been simply lurking and trying to absorb as much as I can. I find the information here to be a fantastic resource, and reading for a couple of months is what finally got me motivated enough to dive in and buy a starter kit and get going.

I've only been brewing since November of 2007, and in that time have only brewed three extract kit beers. I have Apfelwein bubbling merrily away in my basement at the moment. I'm currently waiting on my reducers, which should arrive at my house tomorrow, to build the CFC that Bobby_M was kind enough to share instructions for (wish me luck -- I've never used a torch before! )

So, thanks to everyone who shares their knowledge here, and thanks in advance for welcoming me into the fold. Cheers!

- Pete :fro:

Welcome! I was born in Pittsfield

Edit: and I should add, lived there for the first 18 years of my life.

Welcome, Pete! Good to have another Berkshire guy around! Bnutting is down in Pittsfield, too, and you know there's a homebrew club that meets at the Elks Club once a month (I kinda dropped out of that, though).

We've already got one "EvilTwin" around here, though... I'm not sure HBT is big enough for two!

Welcome from Attleboro.

Welcome from Norton!

I almost died Sunday driving through the Berkshires. Jeeeeeeeeeesus I've never seen rain like that. I had to pull over three times coming through on the pike. Not fun stuff. I thought there was a freakin' tornado coming with all the rain, then hail and then debris flying around.

Thanks for the welcome, guys.

the_bird said:

Welcome, Pete! Good to have another Berkshire guy around! Bnutting is down in Pittsfield, too, and you know there's a homebrew club that meets at the Elks Club once a month (I kinda dropped out of that, though).

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Yeah, I've been a member of that club since it started last fall at Brew Works. I was one of the people at the very first meeting. I remember seeing you there a few times early on.

I'll come up with another user name at some point...

Wait a minute... Pete, that sounds familar. I think I remember you! How's the club going? I missed a few meetings due to some family issues, then just kind of fell out of the habit (and I much preferred the Brew Works to the Elks Club).

You might remember me more clearly if I mention that I was the only person at that first meeting that had never brewed before!

The club is going pretty well in my estimation. We have had between 10-15 people per meeting for the last several months, with some new guys from Williamstown joining up in May.

There's a fair amount of skill in our little group now, with me on the bottom end of that scale! There have been some pretty good beers coming into the meetings... We tried to do a "beer of the month" where everyone brews a specific style to bring and share, but people have such erratic brewing schedules that it didn't really ever take root, so people just bring in what they have and we pass the bottle around to pour out a little taste.

Elks Club is really good for our meetings because it's typically quiet, so we can actually communicate from one end of the table to the other. That and the $2 draft pints, which I can't/won't complain about! The problem with Brew Works is that they couldn't guarantee us to have that backroom to ourselves, or at all really, and if we got bumped to the dining area/bar, we couldn't take out the homebrew to sample, which defeated a good portion of the purpose of the meeting.

Sometimes a group of us go to Brew Works after the meeting for dinner/beers. Last meeting (the 18th) I think half the group switched venues to BW and had some good food, good beer, and good conversation.

I think the "Beer of the Month" idea was mine...

Have they insituted dues yet? I might try and make it back for a meeting; I was getting frustrated as hell because it was all B.S. about procedures and bylaws and bull**** like that. Seemed like we hardly spent any time at all talking about beer. But, I liked some of the people I met, Chris and Kevin were really cool.

The Wife and I went to the Brew Works for dinner with our daughter this past weekend, and I was pleasantly surprised. They've significantly improved the menu, and they actually weren't out of half the beers!

the_bird said:

Have they insituted dues yet? I might try and make it back for a meeting; I was getting frustrated as hell because it was all B.S. about procedures and bylaws and bull**** like that. Seemed like we hardly spent any time at all talking about beer. But, I liked some of the people I met, Chris and Kevin were really cool.

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No, the dues have not been collected yet. I don't know why, and I'm not bringing it up.

That couple of meetings where they were hammering out the details of the workings of the club did suck, but really just gave me more incentive to sample multiple Brew Works beers in one sitting. :cross: I think all that stuff is out of the way now, fortunately.

A handful of us are planning on going to Hunter Mountain in September for their microbrew/wine festival. Should be a good time. 6 or 7 of us went to the one in the spring and it was too much fun... Chris and Kevin are definitely a hoot.