Why did you start brewing?

Just curious why everyone out there started with brewing.

I got hooked about a year ago when some friends brewed an extract oatmeal stout. We drank it while it was stil green and thought that we wouldnt be brewing again, then a few months later found a few bottles in the back of a closet and it was heavenly...
Anyways, after that, we started brewing more, and I built up my equipment and have done a few solo batches now.
While I was deployed with the Marines, we tried making pruno a few times, the taste was too bad to even try getting drunk, so out that went.

Looking forward to hearing your stories

I moved from a place with good beer selection to a place with crappy selection and now I make my own.

I originally started brewing for a similar reason as humann. It was just easier for me to get good beer by making it myself. I would also say it's been cheaper than good craft beer at the store, but after a kegerator, brew stand equipment, stirplate, and the list goes on, SWMBO would disagree. Anyways, I now brew because I love not only the finished product, but I genuinely love everything about the process.

J

I had some friends that brewed in college and that got me interested. My fiancee (now wife) got me an equipment kit for my birthday right before I graduated and I haven't looked back.

I started because i took a tour of the Stone Brewery and the tour cuide basically told me how easy it is to brew beer. So I went home and looked up how to brew beer and found lots of stuff to help me. I'm a "do it yourself-er," so I thought of it as a challange to see how good of beer I can brew and also the cost savings in my head were a little factor.

I have used the same 'reasoning' to convince SWMBO that it will be cheaper than the good beer I want to drink. I guess I have kept prices down by building most of my equipment and use cash to keep SWMBO off my back

A guy I work with challanged me to a contest. We would make a batch of beer and see who got their clone closer to the beer we had selected.

I worked at Deschutes Brewery for 6 years, and for some reason never got into it then. I was in the kitchen but I hung out with all the brewers.

And I didn't realize how hard that brewing bug was going to bite, but when it did I realized I was hooked. Did 3 batches in the first 8 days and only stopped there as I didn't have space to put anymore fermenters.

I used to have another 'Home Made' type of hobby in the house but it wasn't as legal as Home Brewing but just as fun and rewarding. I missed that and even thought of doing so again only legally this time in Oregon. Would have been a little bit of a hassle but I enjoyed the hobby.

Home Brewing solves all of that for me. It's a great hobby that keeps me around the house and I can tell my mother about my brews! It's working out great for me!

My brother in law made some and it was good, as good as the beer I've been paying $7-12 per 6 pack for, so decided to give it a shot myself. So far so good!

I did it for the chics...

I started because I became an educated drinker, and learned to appreciate the finer qualities of a real beer.

I started so that I could drink the kind of beer I grew up with. I came to the states 10 years ago and drank BMC for years because it was the only thing available for the price I wanted to pay. I was not too keen on the craft beers because I prefer session ales. English commercial ales are crap in bottles or cans, so only one option left. After SWMBO bought me a Mr Beer kit one xmas I realised I needed to look into doing it properly.

I've never looked back since! Home brewed bitter from bottles is more like the real cask thing from the beer engines than pasteurized beer in cans and bottles will ever be!

I love to cook. And for me, brewing is an extension of cooking. I love the process and the wait of the reward. There is nothing like catching a buzz from your own beer. Plus, it tastes good as hell and that keeps me coming back for more and more.

Bottled: IPA and Irish Red Ale
Secondary: Imperial Brown Ale
Primary: Blood Orange Hefeweizen

I had always wanted to make country wines, but never really felt I had time.

That was until my own teammate broke my leg in a scrimmage, and she happened to be a winemaker. I was laid up for nearly 18 months, and really needed a hobby. So, she gave me some pointers on making wine.

I had made beer with a "Beer Machine 2000" a few years before, and it wasn't very good so I wasn't hopeful that I could use my winemaking equipment to make good beer, but I tried it. It was wonderful beer, and I was hooked.

because my wife didn't have near enough topics to complain about and we can't allow her to get too complacent. Now, she has volumes.

My Dad brewed a lot about 25 yrs ago so that was in the back of my mind. Had been drinking a keg of SNPA a month (with help of friends and wife) and figured it would be an interesting hobby, I could save some money, and develop a practical skill for when the apocalypse hits. I sure hope that Brewmaster's Warehouse survives the apocalypse too, or I'll be SOL. I did not anticipate the extent to which it would further increase my interest in beer, although I'm one-dimensional in that I'm really only interested in pale ales and IPAs.